Timbaland has endured plenty of dude-is-done gossip recently, but on Shock Value II, the sequel to 2007’s Shock Value, the once-untouchable producer proves his Rolodex, at least, still knows no equal.
Timbaland hoped to sign up Madonna, Beyoncé, T.I. and Jay-Z for this album — a NOW That's What I Call Music in his own image. Instead, he settled for Drake, Daughtry, Chad Kroeger, Miley Cyrus, his protégés OneRepublic, his little brother Sebastian and BFFs like Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado.
Timbaland does not stock Shock Value II with quite as many guests, and performs a higher percentage of the vocals, and what results is less schizophrenic and more directly pop than its antecedent.
This album is two years too late; perhaps as an offshoot “B-side” record for the original release, this would have sparked some interest. As a standalone release, however, it’s a convoluted mix of country and hip hop songs, and Timbaland himself fails to deliver much of his production genius over 17 bloated tracks.
Shock Value II is the kind of bonus fluff that you can get away with releasing when you’re as famous and respected as Timbaland.
Timbaland is a revered rap producer who also practically reshaped pop in the 2000s. To say this guy's contributions to music are legendary would be an understatement. So it's even more head-scratching how a musicial genius would actually release this project. Shock Value II is bad. Not the type of bad where artists don't perform to their usual standards but the type of bad where the artists themselves have 0 business being on the songs they're on. Timbaland has never been much of a vocalist ... read more
At first I thought: "This is utter garbage", but then I started vibing to "Can You Feel It" and "Timothy Where Have You Been". Then I knew it was garbage.
1 | Intro (by DJ Felli Fel) 0:48 feat. DJ Felli Fel | 74 |
2 | Carry Out 3:52 feat. Justin Timberlake | 75 |
3 | Lose Control 4:28 feat. JoJo | 79 |
4 | Meet in tha Middle 4:00 feat. Bran' Nu | 69 |
5 | Say Something 4:00 feat. Drake | 64 |
6 | Tomorrow in the Bottle 5:28 feat. Chad Kroeger, Sebastian | 49 |
7 | We Belong to the Music 4:28 feat. Miley Cyrus | 71 |
8 | Morning After Dark 3:51 feat. Nelly Furtado, SoShy | 71 |
9 | If We Ever Meet Again 4:52 feat. Katy Perry | 83 |
10 | Can You Feel It 4:44 | 44 |
11 | Ease Off the Liquor 5:58 feat. Melody Thornton | 44 |
12 | Undertow 4:22 | 64 |
13 | Timothy Where You Been 4:47 feat. Jet | 62 |
14 | Long Way Down 4:23 feat. Daughtry | 50 |
15 | Marchin On (Timbo Version) 4:12 feat. OneRepublic | 65 |
16 | The One I Love 4:34 feat. Keri Hilson, D.O.E. | 75 |
17 | Symphony 4:21 | 70 |