On December 4 2009, music lovers were shocked with Timbaland’s follow up to the platinum selling Shock Value, with Shock Value II. Here’s our Timbaland Shock Value II review.
The seventeen piece repertoire is an upbeat array of musical candy from an audio production king. On the album’s opener, “Carry Out,” the listener is greeted with Justin Timberlake’s vocals as they carried across a rubber band of trademark Timbaland keyboards and percussion backing.
“Meet In tha Middle,” livens up the experience with its head nodding refreshing beat. Brandy tastes rap on the cut as well with her alter ego, Bran’Nu. The radio friendly, “Say Something,” features rapper, Drake, and adds club flair to Shock Value II.
Shock Value II strides onto the dance floor with “Morning After Dark.” Collaborating with Nelly Furtado and SoShy, Timbaland soars into a sonic galaxy with drum patters and a memorable chorus. The cut is pleasant, but becomes engulfed in Timbaland‘s safety zone of contemporary sounding tracks that leave little breathing room for his notable trademark. “Ease off the Liquor” features the popular auto-tune, where Timbaland goes at it alone.
Timbaland was quoted as saying Shock Value II will give fans the best of him as well as “a glimpse of their favorite artist in a completely different light.” The melody of “Undertow,” is a mix of coffeehouse acoustics and alternative melancholy making it Shock Value II‘s dark horse. It features both The Fray and Esthero. OneRepublic join Timbaland once again with “Marchin On,” that although does not excite on first listen, becomes a fanfare of claps and distinctive sonic ingenuity.
Shock Value II is a boundless feat from a studio phenomenon. It puts together an assortment of artists of different genres making for a commendable journey throughout. On “Symphony,” Timbaland shouts that he is a “music psyclone, when I’m {he’s} in the zone,” and he may be right.
Shock Value II review – Album Receives PARL
Rating:
P… Horrible
PA…Tolerable
PAR… Good
PARL… Kinda Great
PARLÉ… Classic
Tie for best tracks
“Carry Out” & “Undertow”
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