Timbaland, Timbaland presents Shock Value, Interscope
There’s been massive hype surrounding the release of Timbaland presents… Shock Value, and understandably so. The producer was on fire in 2006, crowning Justin Timberlake as king of pop with FutureSex/LoveSounds and morphing Nelly Furtado into a sexy dance-floor queen with erotic beats on Loose. But, even though Shock Value is loaded with similar flourishes, it is weighed down by stale vocal collaborations.
In a recent interview, Timbaland claimed, “I’m not just hip-hop … my mission is to take over top-40 radio–what they call popular music, different genres of music–and reach all types of people.” Held to that statement, the record is an obvious success. The guest list is varied and enormous, including heavyweights like JT, 50 Cent and Elton John. But for every one of these major collaborations, there are collaborations with significantly less interesting artists like Sebastian and Attitude, One Republic and Amar.
Unfortunately, those unimpressive guests kill the flow of the record around its halfway point. The first four tracks, most notably “Oh Timbaland” and “Give it To Me,” featuring Timberlake and Furtado, are fantastic and almost absurdly danceable. After Timbland wastes the talents of Dr. Dre—”Bounce” is disappointingly weak—the onslaught of mediocre guests commences. It’s enough to get tired of the record before getting a chance to hear some of the gems toward the end, including “Time,” featuring She Wants Revenge.
As it is, though, Timbaland’s beats are still hot, and the album has enough interesting moments to pass the time.
