Timbaland - Shock Value II Review

Posted by Michael James on 12.17.2009

What happens when hip-hop's Carlos Santana leaves hip-hop to walk a mile in Carrie Bradshaw's heels?


Back in 1999, Clive Davis brought guitar god Carlos Santana back from the brink of commercial obsolescence with the inspired Supernatural, which paired Santana with music’s brightest lights, including Mary J. Blige, Dave Matthews and Rob Thomas. End result: fifteen million albums sold and nine Grammies. In 2002, Davis and Santana went back to the well with Shaman. Despite collaborations with Michelle Branch, Chad Kroeger and Dido, lightning didn’t quite strike twice, as the album sold a solid but unspectacular two million copies. With 2007’s Shock Value, Timbaland went the hip-hop Santana route, collaborating with bold faced names like Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and Fall-Out Boy, going platinum at a time when that was much harder to achieve. Now he’s back with his Shaman, applying the potpourri formula to Shock Value II.


1. Intro (feat. DJ Felli Fel)
2. Carry Out (feat. Justin Timberlake)
3. Lose Control (feat. JoJo)
4. Meet in tha Middle (feat. Bran’ Nu)
5. Say Something (feat. Drake)
6. Tomorrow in the Bottle (feat. Chad Kroeger & Sebastian)
7. We Belong to Music (feat. Miley Cyrus)
8. Morning After Dark (feat. Nelly Furtado & SoShy)
9. If We Ever Meet Again (feat. Katy Perry)
10. Can You Feel It (feat. Esthero & Sebastian)
11. Ease Off the Liquor
12. Undertow (feat. The Fray & Esthero)
13. Timothy Where You Been (feat. Jet)
14. Long Way Down (feat. Daughtry)
15. Marching On (Timbo Version)(feat. OneRepublic)
16. The One I Love (feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E.)
17. Symphony (feat. Attitude, Bran’ Nu & D.O.E.)

In a recent MTV interview Timbaland said he was “quitting” hip-hop to make music for the Sex and the City set. A quick look at the track listing shows how serious he was: Drake and unspectacular protégé D.O.E. are the only rappers featured on the album. Even rumored appearances by frequent collaborators Missy Elliott and Jay-Z are no where to be seen. Instead, Timbaland sticks to the framework of the original Shock Value’s biggest hit, “Apologize (feat. OneRepublic),” enlisting a wide range of radio rockers, from Daughtry and Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger to The Fray and Jet.

The results are mostly predictable and make the album’s title a misnomer. “Tomorrow Never Knows” incorporates a catchy hook from Kroeger as Timbaland breaks out the autotune to stress over grown up things like finding a job and supporting his children. Kroeger was a good choice for an everyman track, but the song is repetitive. Daughtry gets a meatier role on “Long Way Down,” but it’s ultimately nothing more than a Daughtry rocker with groovier percussion and some Timbaland warbling.
Timbaland really should stick to producing, as his vocal contributions more of then not detract from the songs. “Undertow” is a tender duet between The Fray’s Isaac Slade and Esthero which only kicks into gear after Timbaland’s croons the opening verse. The opposite can be said for “Timothy Where You Been,” where a beautiful acoustic intro courtesy of Jet gives way to Timbaland literally reading his resume for three and a half minutes.

Not all of the guests on Shock Value II acquit themselves as well, however. When the album’s initial track listing was released, the most intriguing name was Miley Cyrus. While I admire Timbaland for thinking outside of the box, the mall-country hoedown “We Belong to Music” is truly awful. But that wasn’t the album’s most inexplicable cameo—that would be the not one but two separate features Timbaland gives Brandy to display her awkward rapper alter ego Bran’ Nu. Every watt of Brandy the singer’s star power is completely absent in her awkward raps on “Meet in the Middle” and “Symphony”.

Timbaland’s greatest successes come when he doesn’t stray too far from his tried and true formulas. The upbeat dance track “Morning After Dark” features Nelly Furtado and French singer-songwriter So Shy and recaptures the dark club feel of the first Shock Value’s “Give It To Me”. “The One I Love” finds Keri Hilson recapturing the robotic ice queen vibe of her solo hit “Turnin’ Me On,” while Drake also stays in his comfort zone on the woozy “Say Something.”

The new direction which Timbaland allegedly plans to pursue is evident throughout Shock Value II on a trio of dance/house tracks strung through the middle of the album, “If We Ever Meet Again (feat. Katy Perry)”, “Can You Feel It (feat. Esthero and Sebastian)” and the tongue-in-cheek cautionary tale “Ease Off the Liquor.” While I’m sure Timbaland will be able to pad his elite pedigree with more hits, so far his work lacks the same vigor as his hip-hop work.

If you’re like me, most of your music ends up in an endless .mp3 “shuffle.” In order to preserve your valuable disk space, here’s what’s Ipod-worthy off Shock Value II: “Lose Control”; “Say Something”; “Morning After Dark”; “Undertow”; “The One I Love”

The 411: Timbaland may be trying to expand his horizons, but more often than not, his efforts are unsuccessful. Instead, he achieves his best results when he stays in the hip-hop and R&B vein where he has been a pioneer for more than a decade. Even where the production is impressive and the guest performance's strong, Timbaland's insistence on fancying himself a vocalist outweighs the positive.

Final Score:  4.5   [ Poor ]