The biggest surprise is Timbaland’s reliance on Auto-Tune, which turns his rapid-fire musings into slick, slightly awkward crooning. The percussion sizzles, with the track “Morning After Dark” and Timberlake collaboration “Carry Out” competing to burn up dance floors. “Shock Value II” offers another dose of Timbaland’s futuristic pop-R&B aesthetic, but the producer pushes even harder to establish himself as a featured artist instead of just a maestro behind the boards. ARTIST: TIMBALANDĪLBUM: SHOCK VALUE II (Interscope/Blackground Records)Īfter producing mega-hits by Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado in 2006, Timbaland took what felt like a well-deserved victory lap the next year with his first “Shock Value” album.
And if some of the song arrangements overreach, the nearly 10-minute “The Man Who Laughs,” complete with orchestrations and Tommy Clufetos’ four-minute drum solo (take that, Iron Butterfly!), ends the album on an appropriately epic note.
Movie dialogue loops and titles like “Jesus Frankenstein,” “Werewolf, Baby!” and “Werewolf Women of the SS” keep Zombie on well-established B-movie terrain. With a facile band and a particularly fertile collaborator in guitarist John 5, “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” is a more diverse and wide-ranging affair, from the industrial grind of “Sick Bubblegum” and “Mars Needs Women” to the garage-y fury of “Death and Destiny Inside the Dream Factory” and the bluesy, slide-fueled classic rock stomp of such tracks as “Virgin Witch” and “Burn.” Acoustic guitars (talk about horror) even pop up a couple of times. While “Hellbilly Deluxe 2” certainly captures the Saturday afternoon matinee spirit of his 1998 solo debut, it’s also a different kind of creature. Sequels are tricky in any art form, but Rob Zombie - who has revived the “Halloween” horror film franchise and has “The Blob” on his radar - certainly seems like the right guy for the job. (Ke$ha blares on the chorus, “You need a CAT scan!”) But she does have a point: This music is definitely not for the faint of heart.ĪLBUM: HELLBILLY DELUXE 2 (Loud & Proud/Roadrunner Records) Another misstep is the ageist, Vanity 6-biting “Dinosaur,” which could appeal only to the most heartless of teens. The song “Take It Off,” which lifts heavily from Robert Miles’ 1995 trance-lite hit “Children,” demonstrates how easily individuality can get lost in a sea of Auto-Tune. Luke” Gottwald still has plenty to prove on her debut album, “Animal.” Luckily for her, the set teems with choruses that stick with the listener for days, from the blissful “Your Love Is My Drug” to the catty “Backstabber.” Equally prevalent, however, are the heavily processed vocals, which make it difficult to tell whether Ke$ha can actually sing. 1 hit with her frothy first single, “TiK ToK,” but the 22-year-old protege of Lukasz “Dr. ARTIST: KE$HAĪLBUM: ANIMAL (Kemosabe Entertainment/RCA Records)
Throughout the album, Blige solidly reinforces why she endures as a fan favorite. That’s especially evident on another midtempo charmer, “I Feel Good.” A Blige album wouldn’t be complete, however, without a heart-wrenching, emotional tug, which is supplied here with the poignant “I Can See in Color” from the “Precious” soundtrack. on “Good Love,” Trey Songz on “Hood Love”), unadulterated Blige remains the drawing card. The metaphor-rich “Kitchen” (“Never let a girl cook in your kitchen”) finds the singer-songwriter wittily admonishing would-be man-stealers. Hip-hop/pop lead single “I Am” perfectly captures the album’s overall mood: Blige has never been in better voice - or more adventurous. On her ninth studio album, “Stronger with Each Tear,” the soulful chanteuse struts confidently through a tight set of 12 songs about love, devotion and inner strength that leans more midtempo than ballad more uplifting than angst-ridden.
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Like fine wine and Brett Favre, some things just get better with time.