Seeing Sounds

Well i have been a fan of NERD for a while and i really like a lot of their stuff. But it seems like they have trouble with putting together a really good album of their own. Most of the tracks just seem like they were rushed and they put them on the cd just to add length. But the songs i enjoy make it worth it for sure. I recommend buying this if you have always liked NERD.

Fans that have followed the trio of Pharrell, Chad, and Shae will be refreshed at the ever-evolving sound of N*E*R*D.

The theatrics of "Time for Some Action" sets the pace, with the kicking bassline, but the tempo changes are a prelude to the many pace changes of this album. The transitions slow the energy down, allowing for a groove, but then energy kicks back up near the end of songs.

Windows and Yeah You are stalkeresque, similar to "Stay Together" of In Search of...

The female vocal on the hook of "Anti Matter" brought the energy lower compared to their live show, but the flow of Pharrell and Shae compensate for that. Clearly, the distinctness of Pharrell and Shae resonates more on this album than ever. There is a Lil' Jon quality to the "What? You Punk B*tch," but then again the song sounds excellent on a booming system. The intricacy of all the songs are stellar, and indicative of their production skill.

Love Bomb, Happy, and Sooner or Later is very Fly or Die in feel and that's a great thing.

When I saw them in May for the Glow in the Dark Tour, they announced their album release date, and I waited patiently to run to Best Buy as soon as the mall opened to support them. The album art is amazing. Overall, awesome listening experience.

i always like N.E.R.D there beats are just very creative and always go with all the songs they produce now this album i can say is a classic cd i tough the cd was not going to be like their other cds due the everybody nose song but once i listened to the cd it was like their past cd with their soft beats that make you want to relax and chill i enjoyed the cd i have listened to cd like 30 times since it came out great cd thats i all got to say

This is a great album. N.E.R.D. has come with it on this one. Each song is original and you can tell the amount of time and energy that they put into each track to get it where they wanted it. Each time you listen to it you can take something away from it different than the last time because of the amount of different things going in on each song. I purchased this album because someone recommended it to me. I played it not really expecting it to be that great. A week later I know almost every word of every song. I have only one complaint about the album which is keeping it from that 5th star. As unique and diverse as each song was, the voicing of the album wasn't as diverse. Pharrell is the only voice on the album with Chad and Shae getting a word in here and there. Pharrell is awesome and can offer a variety of different sounds and styles, however he is still one man. I wish they would've had feature artist on the album. Listening to it there are a couple tracks that would sound great with an extra voice. I would've put the version of "Everyone Nose" with CRS and Pusha T on the album, I also would've added Lupe Fiasco to "Anti-Matter", Jay-Z to "You Know What" and Travis McCoy to "Kill Joy". Other than that it was a fantastic album. Big ups to N.E.R.D.

N.E.R.D or (No one ever really dies) is the hobby project of the superproducers The Neptunes, Pharell Williams and Chad Hugo with the assistence from Shay Haley. They make the kind of music that neither Pharell nor The Neptunes could do by themselves. Instead N.E.R.D is more exprimental with alot of Rock influences and Pharell has never made a secret of being a long time Rock fan. In 2002 they recored their debut album In Search of... which was an instant success, although it lacked big single hits (Lapdance and Provider being the closest) it was an artistic fulfillment of talented producers doing it by themselves (and it later triggered a myraid of other producers going solo) But N.E.R.D's debut album is diffrent cause it sound completely diffrent from their usual stuff and proved their musical versatility, Although the original released album (in Europe only) from 2001 was much better and less stripped down with it's rock arrangement but instead with more drum machines and synthesizers. Check it out cause it sounds very diffrent!. However, the band released another good release in 2004 called Fly or Die with a simular formula to their debut, at the time of it's release the neptunes were the most popular producers in the world and it even led to Pharell going solo with In My Mind which was a mix between Hip Hop and 80's inspired Prince R&B. The album didn't get very good reviews even if it wasn't bad in any means. In recent yeras the were close childhood friend Pharell and Chad went seperate ways in their production, and we had Pharell producing Madonna while Chad produced Ashlee Simpson some time ago. On this, third album we have Pharell producing most of the songs and setting the standard for how it's gonna sound, with Hugo only co-producing 3 songs. This album is also more exprimental with more R&B and Funk influeces then Rock, on the other hand it feels more beatoriented then the last album with some awesome and un-orthodox trademark Neptunes beats. The problem with this is the lack of hooks and good lyrics too!, but then again Neptunes are first and formemost beatmakers not pretty pop hook makers.


This album seems to have anything from songs sounding like Lapdance, Provider and even beat-oriented songs like Milshake and Boys that they produced for Kelis and Britney. With other words it's exprimental but it got something for anyone. Opener is called "Time for Some Action" and it starts with Pharell talking by his youth and how he could "see sounds" when he closed his eyes. The rest of the song got nothing to do with his youth but the bassline is deadly but it feels a bit limited. The next song is the first single "Everyone Nose" which is an beat-oriented exprimental song with another remarkable bassline and deals with partying girls "standing in the line for the bathroom". It also get a little repetitive after sometime. "Windows" with it's rock riffs is a midtempo that sounds like it came out in the middle of British Invasion. I never bothered much with the lyrics but I don't think Pharell cares much himself. "Anti Matter" is a rock song in fast pace with aggressive bass and a girl singing the hook. It's stands out as one of the highlights. "Spaz" is simular to their first single and is also a beatoriented song with rather odd arrangements, Pharell sound like a metal-rapper here but it also lack a good hook. "Yeah You" with a very simular bass as the rest is slower with more latin-jazz inspired sound. The next song is called "Sooner Or Later" and is a beatlesque pop-song a bit simular to "Provider" that starts with stripped down arrangements concentrating non melody and hook, eventually it speeds up and becomes a real rocker with guitar solo's and majestic arrangements, highlight. "Happy" is a simular rock song, but slightly faster and ditto with "Kill Joy". Next song "Love Bomb" is another Provider kind of song, it's got a nice hook though even if I could live without the lyrics. "You Know What" is another proof of Pharell's obsession with disco, and reminds me of the songs he did for Madonna. Not my cup of tea, we're in not in 1978 come on!. The beats for the closer "Laugh About It" are probably the best here and it compensates Pharell's inadequate vocals. The song is good anyway. On the British version there's also a song called "Laser Gun" which is more Hip Hopish then anything and sound like it could've been given to Kelis just aswell. A shame it was just a bonus song.

Overall, This album obviously suffer from limitations in vocals, lyrics and hooks but the beats and arrangement compensate for that. I don't think many new fans will be won over with this but old fans should be content. Like aformentioned, There's also more variety in this release then on their last two with more diversity in sound and production. Either way, it's a solid album and you probably get what you expected. 3'5 stars.