Record Review

N*E*R*D - Seeing Sounds

2008 Star Trak/Interscope Records

Noel's Rating: 4/5

N*E*R*D is by no means new to musical success and critical acclaim. The band was formed by super producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo (collectively known as the Neptunes) and their childhood friend Shay Haley. In 2002 they released the cult classic, In Search Of... which fused hip-hop beats with hard rock instrumentation. This effort was followed up by the more eclectic Fly or Die in 2004. Fly or Die featured tracks influenced by almost every popular musical genre. Seeing Sounds shows the band's continued growth and their new focus on live performance and does it in short but really fun album.

The album opens with a monologue by Pharrell explaining the album title. Apparently, at the age of 7, Pharrell started "seeing sounds," which I still don't completely understand but he said in a recent interview that it is in reference to a scientific field of study called synesthesia. The intro leads into the opening track, Time for Some Action which is a hard rock tune with vocals from Pharrell, Shay and the lead singer of the Hives. The second track is the lead single Everyone Nose (note: I know that the spelling is funny, I'm not an idiot, listen to the song). This song is a bouncy fun track warning young females against a life of partying and club hopping. This one is followed up by the poppy Window which makes Pharrell sound like a somewhat creepy "peeping Tom," but I think it's really his inner 13-year old boy self coming out. After Window, comes one of my favorite tracks from the album the hard rock/hip hop fusion track, Anti Matter. This track brings the heat that the Neptunes are famous for, banging beats and catchy hooks. The next track, Spaz rounds out the head banging hard and fast first 5 songs. By now you've probably heard this song a few times as it is on the Zune commercials and on the MTV new music week commercials. This was my favorite song that N*E*R*D performed at the Glow in The Dark Tour.

After Spaz, you can finally catch your breath with the smooth and jazzy, Yeah You which features Pharrell and Shay trading verses about psycho groupie stalkers (something we all can relate to right?). Sooner or Later is next and it is being hailed by many critics as the best song on the album. It features the Pharrell crooning that we've all come to know and love over a simple beat and piano solo before a crazy guitar solo at the end. Happy and Kill Joy are sandwiched between Sooner or Later and the politically charged Love Bomb. You Know What, another jazzy disco type track, and Laugh About It, a punky dance jam, close out the album's official track list. There's one bonus track, a real gem for fans, the Everyone Nose Remix featuring Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco and Pusha T. This hip hop track makes everyone hope that those rumors about a CRS (Kanye, Pharrell, & Lupe) album will one day come to fruition.

Overall this album is a ton of fun to listen to. The great thing about N*E*R*D is that you know what you're going to get: futuristic sounding space-age production, corny (but fun) lyrics, and a good time. Seeing Sounds picks right up where Fly or Die and In Search Of... left off.

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Tonight I think I'm going to try a running diary of Game 6 of the NBA Finals. Ashley's away at girls camp so I'll be here by myself watching the game. We'll see how it goes.