Timbaland – Shock Value

I just got a copy in pretty good shape. Prices are high on this one but I think it's the kind of record to own in the future as it's getting rarer.

Sound quality is one step above all kinds of CDs I've tried in the past, it sounds clear to me while bass depth and soundstage add something really good to the listening experience.

I have side A and B does anyone have a second lp they’re willing to sell?

Will this ever get a repress? I hope so eventually!

Thoughts About The Music Itself: Good
I used to really like this album back in 2007. It was catchy and diverse and also had many of the chart hits and just generally the Timbaland feeling over it. Sadly in retrospective I gotta it that some tracks just aren't that good and remind more of filler material. Still, pretty decent record if you want some 2007 RnB overview with different styles. Time is my secret favorite. I also recommend the Give It To Me (Laugh At Em Remix) and The Way I Are (Vs. Nephew) b-side versions. A shame they aren't on the main record. The Laugh At Em Remix doesn't even remotely sound like Give It To Me but instead like a really good Rap track on which Timbaland and even Jay-Z show their best. The Nephew The Way I Are version is probably close to what the track should have been to begin with since originally they were supposed to feature but it didn't work out due to time schedules.

Noise: None

Brickwalling & Clipping: Loudness War

Clicking, Crackling & Other Audio Stream Errors: Few

Mastering In General: Solid
This record is a prime example of the loudness war. There is heavy brickwalling and volume clipping all over the record. Your typical Pop record mastering straight outta 2007. I heard worse but that doesn't make the problem better. It is certainly listenable but definitely borders on the limits on what I want to deal with.

Final Verdict Audiophidelity: 6.5/10
How Enjoyable The Music Is In General: 7/10

'07 was a great year for myself, that's when I started puberty, that's when I first starting peeping music videos as well and I saw the clip of Keri Hilson in "The Way I Are", a little over a decade and that track as well as the others included within "Shock Value" sound just as well, if not better, than it did back then when I was just dipping my toes into hip-hop and wasn't sure what was truly pleasing to my ear.
Album's by producers are touch and go since non can really stand up to "The Chronic" series by Dr. Dre. Timbo's comes close though in a lane of his own. Just check out all of Side B. Tracks like "Fantasy" and "Come And Get Me" show Tim's versatility that he exhibits throughout the whole record, taking pop stars and pushing them through the limits over his experimental melodies.
It truly is amazing to see Timbaland's beatboxing demolish the usual 808 that would be put in place on the average pop single. Proving Timbaland as one of the more underrated samplers in the hip hop community (listen to "Kill Yourself") this LP proves Tim as "More than a piano man". With tracks like "Boardmeeting" to "Apologize" (which sounds way better in 2018 than it did when it was in constant rotation on radios in 2007, trust me) fitting finely together on wax, "Shock Value" is can't miss and has a constant replay value, despite a few throwaways on Side C, Timbaland shows why he deserves to have a chip on his shoulder by crafting this timeless record.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Timbaland (alongside the Neptunes) was THE producer to go to for mindblowing, genre-redefining beats in the R&B and Hip Hop area. Aaliyah, Missy Elliott, Ginuwine - these were all great artists, but I doubt that they would have had the same success if it weren't for Timbaland's beats.

Then, some time around 2006, he started losing it. His productions were still strong from time to time, but there wasn't anything futuristic about them anymore - it was just OK pop music. There must have been some profound change in his life which made him turn into a different musical path. I reading an interview with him around that time in German "Juice" magazine, where he talked about how he had started pumping iron and how he wanted to create a new form of music, called "Mosley Music".

Well, according to the "Shock Value" album, this is what Mosley Music consists of: mostly bland, unfunky beats, guest vocalists who apparently have only been selected because of how many records they sell, and some of the lamest lyrics and song ideas I have ever heard on an R&B or pop record.

You have to hear the trainwreck that is "Bounce" to believe it: A supposedly sexy song with some of the most unsexy vocal performances ever. Justin Timberlake tells you how he would like to see "me on you, and you on her" and can't even pronounce "ménage à trois" right, Missy tells you about her "big ole butt", Tim talks about "big titties" - I can hardly think of any song intended to be sexy that is more off-turning, except maybe QB Finest's "Oochie Wally".

Furthermore, we get a handful of songs that are boring and unoriginal but at least can work on some dancefloors if you don't pay attention to the lyrics. These were all released as singles: The Way I Are, Sream amd Give It To Me. The latter has some of the most ridiculous diss lyrics: Who cares about a rivalry between two vanilla producers - a guy who works with the Pussycat Dolls and the producer of Ricky Martin songs? Who gives a damn about what Nelly Furtado, or anyone at all, thinks about the Black Eyed Peas' Fergie? And who seriously thinks that Justin Timberlake, whose fate depends on a handful of high-profile producers, could be a threat to Prince, one of the most creative musicians in pop music? I have to give Timbaland some credit for "Scream" though, which is a nice pop song that somehow reminds me of Shakespear's Sister's music.

This is how the album goes on and on and for the most part it made me think: Well, this is all pretty bad. But at least a little spark of Timbaland's old talent can still be recognised in the songs, since they reference sounds of his old, career-defining records from time to time. Then I listened to the end section of the album and couldn't bear it anymore. The most obvious mainstream rock songs with cheap electronic beats underneath - how could anyone consider this a good idea? This is also the part of the album on which Timbaland has the most problems with making the songs his own. While up until then, the record could be considered a Timbaland album packed to the maximum with guest musicians, here it turns into a compilation of other people's songs that just happen to have a little contribution by Timbaland in them. This is most apparent in One Republic's "Apologize", where Timbaland wails like a baby seal, just so he could say that he was featured as a vocalist on the song. Not even Elton John can save this record, and by the time the bonus track starts, most people who liked Timbaland's earlier work will long have turned off the stereo.

It is not often that I give a record a one point rating, but this is one of those rare occurences where negative points would be fitting. Sadly, in the five years since "Shock Value" was released, Timbaland's productions have only gotten worse, and it does not look like he will be returning to form anytime soon.