Timbaland's Shock Value

Timbaland's "Shock Value" is the sophomore album of one of music's hottest and most successful producers. This second offering does not disappoint, as it lives up to the high standard associated with music produced by Timbaland Himself.

The CD features multiple guests laying vocals (and in Elton John's case, playing piano) to showcase Timbaland's music spanning ability. The song creating the largest buzz is "One and Only", featuring Fall Out Boy. When rap artists try to incorporate rock aspects into their music, the resulting song can be amazing, but the clash between the rap and rock sounds within the music is obvious. Timbaland manages to blend the two sounds flawlessly with this track. In another nod to the rock genera, he remixes the song "Apologize" by One Republic. The band isn't hard rock by any means, but Timbaland turns the original song into a slightly more up-tempo ballad that showcases the voice of the lead singer. Throw in a third song that utilizes a rock band (Throw It on Me featuring The Hives), and Timbaland's mastery of music mixing is easily well established.

Another talent that Timbaland seems to easily amplify is the female vocal. "Scream" featuring Nicole Scherzinger and Keri Hilson(Pussy Cat Dolls), "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson, and "Fantasy" featuring Money all seem to highlight the vocals. While Timbaland's strong point is his beats, he is able to tone them down to highlight the lyrics and voices of the women singing them.

Timbaland's latest hit, pre-shock value, was his work on Justin Timberlake's "Future Sex Love Sounds". Their music relationship stays sharp as Justin is featured on three songs (Bounce, Release, and Give It to Me). "Give It to Me" also features Nelly Furtado, who has also kept close to Timbaland following their smash single "Promiscuous Girl" last summer.

The only area in which Shock Value falters comes when he raps for long periods of time. His vocals in "Give It to Me" are right on, but on other songs on the album, he misses the mark. "Oh Timbaland" starts off the cd with an amazing beat, but the lyrics are hard to swallow ("What you know about me dawg? Not a Damn Thing"), seeing as how he isn't really seen as a "Hard" rapper, and his voice is too monotonous to really pull you into the lyrics. "Kill Yourself" suffers the same fate; an awesome beat with questionable lyrics. His rhymes just seem to be rusty at best; he's capable of better, but he's spent too much time producing to really get a good flow going. "Come and Get Me" is saved from Timbaland's sub-par rapping by 50 cent and Tony Yayo, saving a great beat with some good rap toward the end.

As far as personal favorites go, "The Way I Are" and "Fantasy" are two of my three favorites. The one favorite I've yet to talk about, however, is "Boardmeeting". The beat is amazing and switches every chorus, bringing constant life to the track. He doesn't try to rap, but instead half sings to help carry the beat. This song is all about the music, and finds the perfect blend between the vocals and beats.

Overall, this CD is full of billboard hits. "The Way I Are" as well as "Give It To Me" have already seen success on the charts. "Fantasy" and "Scream" will surely capture the nation's pop attention. The CD is amazing, bringing together a wide array of musical styles and talents. The guests on the album amplify Timbaland's production talent. This is flat-out entertaining. 5 out of 5 stars.