Is it a hit, *hit or miss?
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N.E.R.D.
– Fly Or Die
by Dan Grote
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N.E.R.D.
– Fly Or Die
Label: Virgin
Records
Hit, *hit or
Miss?: Hit
Rating: 
You have to give it to the Neptunes: they’ve
got balls. For their second LP as rock and soulers N.E.R.D., the group
abandoned its backing band Spymob and learned the instruments they damn
selves.
Do they have the chops? Not really, but
it gives their spaced-out sound a surprising punk edge, perfect for a hip-hop
band trying to connect with the Hot Topic set.
After playing things cooler than a polar
bear licking an icicle in a snowstorm on “Don’t Worry About It,” the opening
track, the N.E.R.D.s jump into two tracks about child-parent conflict,
the latter of which, “Jump,” features mallcore darlings Joel and Benji
Madden of Good Charlotte.
Despite this “reach out and touch some
white kids” ethos, some of the sexual freakery of the band’s 2002 debut
“In Search Of” remains, especially on songs like “Backseat Love” and the
album’s first single, “She Wants to Move.”
Deeper into the album is a mish-mash of
songs from the Black Rock Coalition Vibe of “Maybe” (featuring Lenny Kravitz
and ?uestlove), to the angriness of “Thrasher” to the spiritual and singer-songwriter-y
“Wonderful Place,” which ends with a story about a mother who rescues a
baby from the ocean.
VERDICT: N.E.R.D. is one of those rare
bands skaters and thugs can both agree on. Between Pharell’s strained yet
soulful falsetto and the band’s rock leanings, N.E.R.D. incorporate every
genre it can get its hands on and still sound like they’re from the future.
Instrumentally, it’s not as tight as the previous disc, but Fly or Die
makes up for it in lyrics and concept.
CD Info and Links
Tracks:
Don't Worry About It
Fly Or Die
Jump - (featuring Joel Madden/Benji Madden)
Backseat Love
She Wants To Move
Breakout
Wonderful Place
Drill Sergeant
Thrasher
Maybe
Way She Dances, The
Chariot Of Fire |
Listen
to samples and Purchase this CD online
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