N.E.R.D. - Seeing Sounds Review
Posted by Patrick Robinson on 06.19.2008
N.E.R.D. return with their third release, Seeing Sounds! Described as "a big album of LSD", is it something worth listening to, or a drug induced mess?
Ok, a quick history lesson for anybody that may be confused.
Pharrell Williams has been involved in three different musical projects. Apart from his own solo career which has spawned the album, In My Mind from 2006 and numerous guest appearances, he is one half of the production team, The Neptunes along with Chad Hugo and are responsible for tracks such as “Shake Ya Ass”, Hot In Herre”, “Frontin’ “ and “Drop It Like It’s Hot”.
Both Hugo and Williams along with Shay Haley (who is the guy on the cover of their In Search Of… album) form a trio known as N.E.R.D. (with asterisk symbols actually, but HTML makes that into bold words and makes life difficult).
N.E.R.D. uses live instruments for their production, with Pharrell on the piano, rhythm guitar and percussion, Chad Hugo on piano, saxophone and bass guitar and Shay Haley on drums, percussion and backing vocals.
The trio have previously released the aforementioned In Search Of… album, and in 2004, Fly Or Die which received mixed reviews.
Largely hailed for their strong sounds in funk rock, hip-hop, soul music and alternative rock, N.E.R.D. have a unique sound in the hip-hop world that many people feel is hit or miss.
Chad Hugo stated in regards to the album that: "It's a big album of LSD, sonic drug,"
Is it worth a listen or is it a sonic drug induced mess?
Tracks
1. Time For Action
2. Everybody Nose (All The Girls Standing In Line For The Bathroom)
3. Windows
4. Anti Matter
5. Spaz
6. Yeah You
7. Sooner Or Later
8. Happy
9. Kill Joy
10. Love Bomb
11. You Know What
12. Laugh About It
I’ll get this out of the way right now, N.E.R.D. won’t be for everyone. I’ll admit that they’re not one of my favorite groups, but I have enjoyed some of their work in the past.
As I mentioned, N.E.R.D. is well known for their unique sound when it comes to their production and indeed, song choices. When the group plays to this strength, they can make a funky beat that sounds different to the norm, without straying too far into ‘unknown’ territory.
Songs such as the opener, “Time For Action” and lead single “Everybody Nose” are good examples with good use of the guitar in the former and percussion in the latter. The lead single I imagine will become very popular in clubs, it’s got a great tempo and you can picture girls standing in line etc. screaming “oh my God I love this song!” when it comes on.
Pharrell’s light falsetto crooning is quite popular amongst some and stands out on tracks like “Yeah You”, “Love Bomb” and “You Know What” which are tracks mainly for the women. “Yeah You” features a light use of the saxophone over a very mellow beat, perfect for relaxing. “Love Bomb” shifts from a light guitar line to a heavier almost orchestral affair in-between verses as Pharrell again croons along. “You Know What” is a lot more upbeat with another funky feel to it, but with an almost space age twist to it during the hook.
So, that’s singing Pharrell out of the way, what about rapping Pharrell? Well, unfortunately, he’s even more hit or miss than singing Pharrell with some great verses in the bank (“Drop It Like It’s Hot”) and some truly terrible ones such as on “Anti Matter” where he suggests at the end of the synthesizer induced beat, that we jump around: ”like we ADHD”.
“Spaz” sounds strained and mixes between a kind of rap-singing like Nelly, but can’t really decide if it wants to or not, and ends up being a bit of a mess. Likewise, “Windows”, far from being an ode to Bill Gates (although there is a Microsoft reference thrown in for good measure), blurs the line between the rap-singing but does so a lot better as the vocals are clearer and the song has a better direction lyrically.
The worst song on the album would probably be “Sooner Or Later”. Things start off well over a gentle piano loop and percussion but reverts between this and another mess of synthesizers for the bridge between the hook and the verses. It certainly doesn’t help that it’s almost 7 minutes long and Pharrell comes off as whiney at times.
The last song on the album though, “Laugh About It” is another one of the better ones. The funky feel is back, Pharrell is energized, sounds like he’s having fun at the same time and it’s a good way to round out the relatively short album.
The 411: Sadly, the album suffers from too many missteps production wise with some truly awful synthesizers being used on occasion and a lack of upbeat feel on some tracks. N.E.R.D. however, have made some really good songs though and there are some moments where the classic N.E.R.D. sound comes through on the production. If you’re not a fan of the N.E.R.D. sound, or you don’t particularly like Pharrell’s style of singing, or rapping for that matter, give this one a miss.
