Despite its imperfections, Timbaland's latest solo album presents an engaging, inclusive tour through modern-day pop music, with the world's greatest producer as director and guide. To Timbaland, there is no genre of music he cannot successfully absorb into his singular aesthetic, and for the most part, he's right.
Having conquered the pop music airwaves and charts last year with two masterstrokes, Nelly Furtado's Loose and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, he invites them to guest on his winning first single, ""Give it to Me."" It features Timbaland's clattering, thumping drum machine, smooth synthesizer chords, and a boastful verse from all three artists.
There are other familiar sounds on this record. The Southern guitar-and-bump of ""Oh Timbaland,"" the opener, recalls the producer's stellar work on Bubba Sparxxx's 2003 album Deliverance. ""Bombay"" continues Timbaland's infatuation with employing Indian singing and instruments within a hip-hop context, following gloriously in the tradition of Missy Elliott's ""Get Ur Freak On"" and 2003's ""Indian Flute."" ""The Way I Are"" sounds like an amalgam of the synthesizer line from ""My Love"" and the clicking drums from ""SexyBack.""
Timbaland also self-consciously collaborates with a slew of unlikely guests, with mixed results. Fall Out Boy appear for the catchy ""One & Only,"" which does not sound significantly different than any other FOB song, but for the occasional inclusion of some Timbaland vocals and drum breaks. This is the best of the rock-oriented pairings.
""Throw it on Me,"" the collaboration with the Hives, features some rather tired Timbaland drums and vocals, background yelling/screaming from Hive frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist, and a mantra-like chorus. Maybe it'll grow on me.
The song with She Wants Revenge, ""Time,"" is moody and pretty boring. Timbaland's ""rapping"" and Justin Warfield's robotic moan do not a happy musical marriage make. It should be noted that Timbaland is a pretty boring rapper throughout, including collaborations with 50 Cent and Dr. Dre.
For the grand finale, ""2 Man Show,"" Timbaland coaches Elton John on how to successfully place his piano lines on top of a Timbaland beat. Then the gospel choir comes in, and Shock Value coasts to an end.
The listener is left with about half an album of solid cuts, including a handful of potential hit singles. One can applaud Timbaland's determination to try his hand at an increasingly diverse array of genres, but the results often do not match the quality of his previous work.
This is a nice appetizer of Timbaland's work; the main course will be the next time he pairs up with a like-minded artist to create another daring, innovative pop albumA-A-—or at least a killer single.
Timbaland's contributions to Bjork's new album are starting to arrive, he has recently paired with Timberlake to produce songs for Madonna's next album and there's always the next earth-shaking singles for his old pal Missy Elliott. Timbaland's reign as the world's most innovative and thrilling producer shows no signs of ending.
