Reviews (page 5 of 6)
This was a really fun listen. Playful songs with a chill vibe, nimbly drawing on a variety of musical influences. Remember when this kind of creativity wasn't so rare in music? Fave Songs: Maybe, Breakout, Don't Worry About It, Jump, Thrasher
N.E.R.D moves without moving, a feat I'll reduce to Pharrell as it's his sound that provides the constant. The end of the record feels distinct from the start, the energy played out somewhat; Each song in the middle is less a point in the established space but a question mark. Genreless in a pop-fun mode, the record can inspire in terms of dance, perhaps craft.
C'est un bon melange de style bien prduit. Mais c'est pas exceptionnelle. Ils ont eu de l'influence c'est certain . 3.75
"Fly or die" . Ok let's get urban and possibly deeply ironic, yeah :-) . It ticks a genre box I suppose. I'm curious as to why it's on the list... I drop my bias for a moment... I looked for their most popular track.. "she wants to move".. and reluctantly, I can say , on the 2nd listen, does have a certain catchy and original style, on the 2nd listen. Sometimes you have to give new music some time... As the album cover advertises so well what it is, it's easy to see this as juvenile american boy music with attitude. Mostly not for me, and at first it really defies me to see what it defines, achieves or says. ... I actively disliked much if it. As the review mentions they worked hard to make something that others see... Party Rap rock. I started to hear influences of Nirvana harmonies and heavy 90s rock updated ....with modern bit band overtones - moments of Timberlake without the vocal gifts. So that's how I got to 3 stars instead of 1. Bruv slates, andLive long and prosper, fellas. (But I am not sure you broke the metaphorical shell of our understanding of brash American culture).
Production is very good, had no idea Pharrell made stuff like this
Maybe was my favorite track. Otherwise, the main thing I got out of this album is that Pharrell Williams is 50. 6/10
This one surprised me a lot! Looking at the cover art, it immediately gives me the impression that I was about to listen to some copy of a copy of the worst of Beast Boys or something like that. In the end, I was kind of right about it (😅), but at least they do a good copy, and they are almost bright with some novelty in their best songs. Never heard about them before, look like a cover band, sounds like a good cover band and it was a nice listening session. 3
More familiar with the Neptunes and Pharrell's solo work, of it's era.
Some good tracks. Not a fan of Pharrell's voice particularly
I didn't have much of a chance to listen to this because I'm busy watching the World Snooker Championships :) I'll say that I was happy it wasn't rap, the overall sound and especially the singing is fairly unpolished, especially when comparing this to R&B LPs over the last two decades; "She Wants to Move" and "Maybe" are good songs.
All new to me -- the group and its music -- and this is a fun one. Nice blend of hip-hop, rap, R&B, pop, and rock in here. I enjoyed it.
Album #116: Fly or Die - N.E.R.D Genre (W): Art rock, progressive pop Singles: She Wants to Move, Maybe I have not listened to this album before. Thoughts?: As much as I could’ve loved this album, I felt apathetic towards it. I don’t know why, it just sounds boring to me. Only one song kept it from being a one, however, this whole album was pretty stale to me. Favorite songs: She Wants to Move
Very slick, feels like an hour long advertisement for deodarant.
The production is fine. Some of the synth tones they use are cool; they feel like an early Playstation or N64 video game sound chip. I don't think this is necessarily bad, but I don't connect with this at all.
Achei bem chatinho o álbum, bem repetitivo. Nada me impressionou, só o fato deles serem muito ouvidos.
Didn’t land with me
I think maybe I would have liked this in 2004, but it doesn’t do it for me in the present.
ick
I really want to like this album, but it just wasn’t for me
это такая задница я не знаю что они хотели сделать просто сколотили группу и что-то написали такой проходняк понравился один трек нет хитов не переслушаю 2
2-3
Fun
I guess the bottom line here is that it’s just not for me. Kinda funky, but I’m not connecting with the music.
They didn’t make this album for me. I was interested to hear it but it won’t be in my regular rotation. I quite enjoyed listening to it but can’t get my head around rapping gritty lyrics over a jolly backing track.
Very hard to remember or form an opinion on this album at all. What I took away was some really boring, basic beats and falsetto singing and fairly immature takes on relationships and stuff. It's so nothing despite (apparently) pushing genre boundaries.
Kinda tough to get through at times, very much an album of the 00s but Pharell has his moments to shine
Tellement underwhelming. Ça me parle pas ben ben le "rap rock". Le cover et la musique sont très black eyed peas adjacent.
I found this pretty boring...partly because I love their first album "In Search Of..." and this does not hold up to it. Sadly the aforementioned album is NOT on this list....but at least we have 11 Elvis Costello albums.
I am not even going to talk about his
Hard to tell from a limited selection
Hard to judge from what Spotify let me listen to but on the basis that it’s all a bit sweary and can’t get a full listing 2*
freaky ass muzyka
rap + rock = shit ! Never heard of it before, happy to never hear about them in the future.
sommige ok, sommige echt afgrijselijk
It sounds like what people in the 90s thought the music of the future would sound like. It wasn't for me.
uh i like the instruments those were nice.
Not bad. The music better than the lyrics.
No real standout track(s) for me. Even the one that has 75 mil Spotify listens doesn't excite. And seriously what is this hidden track rubbish? Just dead airtime leading up to nothing clever. One point for the Vulcan salute on the cover art. I want to deduct a half point as the "Fly" on the cover looks more like "Flu" thus the album is: "Flu and Die" - great name for an album if it was released during COVID. Pass.
A bit all over the place
I respect what they were trying to do but couldn’t get into it
Purely going off the album cover, this really feels like it was going to be a super cheesy and generic hip hop album. And while I'm somewhat relieved that it's not that, there is still so little that this album actually has to offer. It's still very much on the generic side, with pretty much none of it being particularly memorable. Plus one star for at least exceeding my expectations by not being cheesy, while I didn't find this to be all that interesting, I can still appreciate that at least it's not annoying, more like completely innocuous background music.
Lowkey what is this. I don’t think I like it. It’s just too grungy. But it sounds poser. I don’t know I just don’t like it ig. Yeah I just don’t really like this. Some bops but nothing super interesting or special tbh. Idk. It’s just there. Lenny Kravitz?? Oh it reminds me of Pharell. Favourite: She Wants To Move Least favourite: Fly Or Die
Variety: 2 Adequacy: 3 Listenability: 2 Uniqueness: 2 Emotionality: 2 = 2.2 rounded down to a 2 "It's almost over now/ Almost over now" I had to break my soft rule of no peaking and was amazed to find that their debut album, In Search Of, was not on here. It was one of the only albums from the genre I bought during this period, and remember it being a pretty big deal critically. That said, I have never heard this one ( not even sure I knew it existed - which does not bode well), and maybe it's way better. I'll try and keep those expectations out of mind while listening though. THE TRACKS "Don't Worry About It" - I wonder if this was offered to Prince? Certainly influenced by him, but a bit more aggressive musically. Maybe this is more Lenny Kravitz's speed? Terrence Trent D'Arby definitely too meek for it. "Fly or Die" - Bit lighter, and liking the synthy parts quite a bit, but the rock guitars and live drum sound is not gelling for me. "Jump" - This was much more of what I was hoping to hear. The rock stuff falls to the back and this one is a bit more funky and full of forward momentum. It leans towards the future Pharrell solo stuff in a way that I'm digging more so than the previous tracks. "Backseat Love" - Ugh... right away again with the Lenny Kravitz ( third rate Hendrix wannabe himself) guitar and some uninspired repetitive lyrics that Gene Simmons would blush at. "She Wants to Move" - One of the few ones I could find a music video for, so this tells me they hung a lot of this one as a probable single. It starts off great, with some catchy ass layered rhythm. This definitely shares some DNA with "Milkshake" by Kelis. It wanders away a bit too far in sections, but the strong points in this are plenty enough to overcome its deficits. "Breakout" - Big change of pace as we downshift into a depressive little number with some Chic-inspired funk lines that occasionally lighten it back up. Half of a really good idea here, but it flounders. "Wonderful Place" / "Waiting for You" - The first half of this is some unoffensive, twee, downtempo stuff that falls right into my wheelhouse, but never soars to memorable heights. The second half is much more successful. Right away it has a voice the first one lacked. The strings and little touches like the finger cymbals add a lot of flavor, and Pharrell's vocals are the best on the album, really diving into an emotional area that these guys seem to mostly avoid. "Drill Sergeant" / "Preservation" - Another seemingly pointless split with what was a hidden track on the cd release I guess? The first part is fine if a little generic in its melodies. There is little to fault these guys with musically, but when they zag instead of zig it sees to go sideways more often than not. Are they dropping musical allusions to the Beatles here? Hard to tell. The second half steers us back into that rock sound that's failing to hit for me. On that first album ( yes I will keep comparing them) the guitars were used in much more inventive ways, and felt more like accent or punctuation, where it's a primary part of the composition here. "Thrasher" - Kind of a throwback sound here. The beat on this would not be out of place on an old school Wu-Tang track. The light touch over top of it adds some good dynamic contrast. But it evens out fairly quickly and doesn't go anywhere beyond that first idea. "Maybe" - This is what I wanted. The jazzy piano, slots well into the guitar sound where it's used as an effect. The martial beat and the unencumbered vocals are the best part. But... it still can't escape that Frankenstein's monster feel the rest of the album suffers from. It's lumpy and angular just when it should be round and soft. "The Way She Dances" - Ooof... did Rob Thomas and Santana drop by the studio and lend some ideas leftover from their "Smooth" recordings? "Chariot of Fire" / "Find My Way" - Part one needed to stay in the oven another 20 minutes I think. It sounds like a half improvised Tiny Desk concert performance. In the worst possible way. Part two is somehow even worse. That opening guitar sequence sounds like the worst of the modern adult alt Starbucks compilation dreck of the era. Then we get super generic R&B verses in between that travelled forward in time from 1996 or the sole purpose of boring me to tears. HIGHLIGHTS - "Jump" - "She Wants to Move" - "Waiting for You" MIDLIGHTS - "Don't Worry About It" - "Fly or Die" - "Breakout" - "Wonderful Place" - "Drill Sergeant" - "Thrasher" - "Maybe" LOWLIGHTS - "Backseat Love" - "Preservation" - "The Way She Dances" - "Chariot of Fire" - "Find My Way" FINAL THOUGHTS This was not a million miles away from the sound on In Search Of, but they leaned WAY harder into the rock and live production sounds on this one and it just didn't work for me. As an example "Lapdance" or "Rockstar" from the first album both sound like so much more considered and fine tuned ideas than anything on here. at first album is also more varied, and danceable in parts than this. This was not a dumpster fire by any means, it just pales so much in comparison that I find myself questioning it's selection over the first one. And on top of that their well of hooks seems to have mostly dried up. Or maybe by this point they were farming out all their best ideas to hotter artists and collecting fat royalty checks. A big fat disappointment. PLAYLIST ALTERATIONS - Ugh... not sure I'd even want to revisit the highlights anytime soon. Maybe "Waiting for You" will get some love. FURTHER LISTENING - In Search Of by N.E.R.D. - Stankonia by Outkast - Gorillaz by Gorillaz - Bastard by Tyler, The Creator
moderately fun on occasion but not much more
Musically this was interesting - I liked the variety of styles and mixing of genres. But I couldn’t figure out the lyrics or point of anything. The singers voice didn’t fit. And is he making constant jokes? Is this parody or just trite. And halfway through - is that Lenny Kravitz - and why is he involved. In the end I found it confusing, underwhelming, and easily forgettable. 2/5
Not great and I really wanted to like it
Not my style.
mehh
It was fine. Nothing special.
This album feels like its from a universe where Weird Al Yankovic invented rap
album #28 pros: i enjoyed the genre blending aspects, and i do think more albums need to be comfortable with not fitting into a specific 'labelled' genre. cons: a lot of the album gives off a teen incel vibe, especially backseat love. that and pharrell is a rotten zionist so fuck off! ꩜ average track rating: 2.4/5 ꩜ favourite track(s): jump, drill sergeant ꩜ least favourite track(s): backseat love, wonderful place ꩜ album rating: ★★☆☆☆ ꩜ number of albums left to review: 1,061 ꩜ number of albums from the list that i agree with being on the list: 14 ꩜ albums from the list that I would consider on my list: 6 ꩜ albums from the list I won't include on my list: 22
I had Outkast on Monday and honestly couldn't tell the difference
I give it two Pretzel Logics. The exact exchange rate of that assessment is nebulous - but it can't be good. Fun as it would be - I am not here to relitigate the artistic merits of the Dan. And I don't really want to spend any more time on this album - which similar to the Dan - has so many elements I find compelling but I just get the final output. Blah.
Ok
I had never heard of this group or album before - so I had no preconceived notions, which is nice. But - yikes. After the first track, which is a pretty decent rocker, I haven't heard anything of quality. At all. There's a mix going on here of rock, hip hop, and Pharrell Williams's production style, and I have to say I hate it. This record sounds the way old Saturday morning cartoons look. Over stylized, fake, corny. I'm not digging this. I'm still listening to this but goddamn it will take a miracle to pull this away from TWO STARS
It's not like it was necessarily bad, but it was really boring.
I really enjoyed NERD's debut when it came out, but my god this follow up is boring.
I appreciate that this is different but all the songs just kinda suck.
I remember this being better
I don't know how I thought NERD was but it wasn't this. This would be good if it's your friends band from music school and they're doing a gig as a bit of fun. Otherwise, CBA
It was ok, not as good as their first
It's okay. Liked the first song. The others are just meh.
In the Czech Republic the beginning of [Fly Or Die] is used for a show called ,,Prostřeno", which is based on UK show [sic] called ,,Come Dine With Me". I think this YouTube comment captures something about this album, very much radio friendly pop music with the stylings of something supposedly 'edgier', which makes it prime fodder for TV. The electric guitar is very much of its time it just sounds cringe today. There are points such as 'Drill Sergeant' where it tries to say something 'political' but it's such a blunt tool it comes across as entirely one dimensional.
kinda funny, maar soms wel beetje ass
# Album Name: Fly or Die # Artist: NERD # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: Didnt particularly enjoy this. Not their best work. That album with lapdance on is much better imo. Couple of decent tracks. Too long. I do lik ethe more rock focussed sound of the band tho. # Top Tunes: Maybe / she wants to move # Would I listen to it again? No
This was a hard listen. It reeked of early 2000s genre dysphoria. Pharrell trying to to alternative rock... kind of? I would have much rather had listened to a hip hop or r&b record.
"Fly or Die" opens with 'Don't Worry About It', it had echoes of Prince to it. Very good. The second track, the title track, was Ok but I had already began to tire of it before it finished. The third track, "Jump" I didn't really care for. If I wasn't reviewing this album I would have stopped there and said "This is not for me". The remainder of "Fly or Die" progresses pretty much along the lines of those first three tracks from my perspective - some tracks I didn't care for at all, others being OK. It's well produced and performed but on the whole it's not an album I will revisit. I found it a little bland and derivative. Two stars. 1 "Don't Worry About It" (2/5) 2 "Fly or Die" (3/5) 3 "Jump" (featuring Joel Madden and Benji Madden) (2/5) 4 "Backseat Love" (2/5) 5 "She Wants to Move" (3/5) 6 "Breakout" (2/5) 7 "Wonderful Place" / "Waiting for You" (2/5) 8 "Drill Sergeant" / "Preservation" (2/5) 9 "Thrasher" (3/5) 10 "Maybe" (2/5) 11 "The Way She Dances" (2/5) 12 "Chariot of Fire" / "Find My Way" (2/5) Total - 29 Average - 2.42 272/1001 147/272 albums reviewed were new to me
569/1001
Started out good. Kind of interesting, but really wasn’t into it.
A bit of a rollercoaster. Sometimes it finds its groove, but more often that not either the lyrics and vocals feel completely detached from the music. Then we get to lowpoints like the panting noises and lyrics like 'her ass is a spaceship I want to ride' on She Wants To Move, seriously? Fucking cringe.
In Search Of... has been on my to do list for quite some time due to a couple of recommendations, so I was surprised when a completely different N.E.R.D. album I've heard nothing about popped up today. I'm starting with this one, I guess. Honestly, nothing about this makes me want to go through the rest of their discography any time soon. I wouldn't say I strongly disliked it, but the songs feel haphazardly put together and the melodies feel like an afterthought. It's well-produced, but overall a bit plain, which is really weird because it obviously draws from a bunch of very different influences. I will still listen to In Search Of... someday, but I really hope it's better than this.
Got sick of Pharrell's voice very quickly. There were a few decent ones and good ideas here though. 2.4.
This just doesn’t work at all. It sounds BAD! There’s something about the instruments having mid 2000s pop production that sounds so awful. And the lyrics are embarrassing. I don’t get it
Decent
2.5 revisit
5.5 / 10
Well that was stupid
Yeah, sorry I tried to get into this, but just can’t do it
I wanted to enjoy this! It is very obvious to me that they understood and appreciated what Outkast was doing around this time, but they were not able to reproduce it themselves. Outkast has a fresh sense of humor and relentless pace that this doesn't have. This still would've gotten a 3 if it wasn't for some of the lyrics. Lowlights include "Her ass is a spaceship i want to ride" while someone squeaks "She's sexy!" In complete earnest, along with the disastrous verse later in the album about banging a mermaid.
Fly or Die was released 2004 and first edition of "1001 Albums..." 2005 so this is a prime example of recency bias. There's no way that this would make the cut now. "You" should listen to "In Search Of..." instead of this before you die
I appreciate that they were trying to do different and unique things. It just wasn't for me
Well I guess it's nice to see what Pharell gets up to when he's not working on Despicable Me...
Album #68 N.E.R.D: Fly or Die Another case where I am quite perplexed as to why an album is on the list. I had never heard of this band before, but after minimal research, I quickly discovered that it was fronted by Pharrell Williams, whose involvement in the project made it seem like a somewhat more justified choice. Pharrell, of course, is a legendary producer, yet it always seems like people only really appreciate him when he is collaborating with, or featuring on, another artist's music. His solo career is quite controversial, with songs like “Happy” being considered one of the most annoying songs of all time. Although after discussing with my friends who are much more into this type of music than I am, they assured me that N.E.R.D did have some good music, especially their album “In Search Of”; confusingly, however, they had never heard of this album. So I checked RateYourMusic, which obviously isn’t a great source, but I wanted a feel for how this album was perceived, and yet again, it seems like this is an entirely forgettable album. Oh well, I will still give it a fair chance, and maybe I will understand its inclusion… No, this thing is pretty unremarkable. I didn’t mind it as much as I thought I would, but there really isn’t anything here that appealed to me too much. There is interesting genre-blending and some cool instrumentals, but the lyrics often don’t resonate with me too much, not really big on the whole nerdcore hip-hop thing. I normally don’t spoil albums on the list for myself, but I was curious if “In Search Of’ also made the cut, and I am quite surprised it didn’t. So overall, just another baffling inclusion on this list, not terrible, but nothing special. Best Songs: Breakout, Find My Way, Drill Sergeant Worst Song: Backseat Love Score out of 10:4.5
That’s some fucking heavy filler
I couldn’t get into this album, I don’t know what it is. It just kinda felt dragged out, none of the songs really stood out to me. I didn’t hate the album but it wasn’t for me.
I can't quite put my finger on why Fly or Die sounds so amateurish. I mean, this is the same team that made In Search Of... with two more years of experience under their belt. In spite of this, the album somehow sounds wishy-washy, but it works in a very weird way. The DIY-esque sound despite being produced and engineered by a team of very talented people is different if not kinda fun. Nothing feels too over-produced which is definitely a big criticism I have of a lot of mainstream music from this era. The eclecticism compliments the more stripped-back sound surprisingly well. That being said, on a song-by-song basis this album is extremely forgettable. There's almost no stand-out tracks and the melodies are very weak. Songs never really get into a groove in the way I'd want out of this kind of music, it's all kind of flat and unadventurous. Overall I really don't see who this album is for. There's no radio appeal, it's not soulful enough to appeal to the Neo-Soul crowd gaining traction at the time, and it's not funky enough for the groovers. Genuinely the only use-case I can find for Fly or Die is a Neptunes historian wanting to explore their production range. I won't say it's an awful record, it has it's moments; but really? This over In Search Of...?
Strange punk-pop hip hop? It is different, unique. Don’t know that it’s something I would voluntarily pick up and listen to. 2.5 if I could.
1.92
She wants to move is a great song. Not enough of them on this mish mash of an album. Nerd as a concept doesn't really work as its just pharrell with some others. Not his best work by a long stretch.
chato
Sometimes fun, sometimes annoying. Although I usually seam to have a sweet spot for rap-rock this time the vocals are not my favour. And in total way too blend.
It's like the most lukewarm version of early 2000's rap-rock I've ever heard. BORING
Some interesting songs, not sure if it works for me, but I wouldn't rule out another listen
I knew rockstar from them before and based on that, this album isn’t what I expected. The first track that is a Prince rip-off got me interested, but the rest of the album became such generic nothing pop. Struggled to finish it due to boredom. A generous 2.
Removed Album #25 (List: https://pastebin.com/cSThNiK9) Fuck yeah, another ex-album. My favourite of all the albums to review as I find their existence interesting, if somewhat tragic. I was pretty close to listening to this one of my own accord. I've been working my way through the remaining hip-hop albums on this list in chronological order, and I was ten albums out from giving this one a listen. I've never heard of N.E.R.D. before, though I'm guessing I'm in for something comedic. Like the gameshow skits on 3 Feet High and Rising, but if you spun an entire album out of that. Dead wrong, as usual. Apparently this is more of a rock/pop album than a hip-hop one, if the Internet is to be believed. I wanted to get into this one, but just couldn't. The vocals are an admirable deviation from the norm, but they push me away just as much as they reel me in. It's difficult to articulate why. They work on account of being attention-grabbing and shrill just as much as they don't. To coincide with the unorthodox vocals, the album adopts a prominent, ever-changing rock influence for the instrumentals. This is also a bit of a mixed bag. The guitars have a decent bit of kick to them and I appreciate the wide array of instruments which feature on this album. I particularly enjoyed the piano, organ and some of the electronic flourishes on these tracks. That being said, these instrumentals err on the side of being a little tacky. There isn't much depth or authenticity to these performances, even if they were performed with real instruments. Overall, this album has many ideas, but they never click together into something which is cohesive. I'm doubtful as to whether they could in the first place, truth be told. Book time. Added to the 2005 edition of the book. Removed from the 2008 revision. The book says this album is the product of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who were revolutionising hip-hop music at the time and spun off to produce this album. Apparently it's a big pivot from their previous work in hip-hop. Ahh, I knew Pharrell Williams was a familiar name. He did that song from Despicable Me 4, which is one of the few times I've been blindsided by a hip-hop song. It was making the rounds online at the time and I was fully prepared to point and laugh at the gimpy vocals only to be immediately struck by how solid the songwriting was. Good tune. Anyways, getting back on track. Wikipedia says this album had a successful single and sold well, but only garnered a moderate reaction from critics. I guess that last point is why this album was snubbed - these guys don't seem to be prominent enough. That being said, I can stick my neck out for this album. It's different enough from the norm, and Pharell Williams/Chad Hugo seem to be prolific enough within the music industry to where I think they earn their stripes. If not with this album, then I think they deserve to be immortalised in some other prominent way. I cosign this inclusion.
Didn’t enjoy it all that much. Surprisingly, I had never heard a single song from this. Most of it sounded the same.
This was pretty interesting, but it's something about Pharrell's voice that doesn't click with me. But it was fun enough, something else, nice fusion of rap with jazzy bits and a bit of rock.
felt like I was in a rave for nerds im pretty sure they started chanting nerd nerd nerd nerd during one of the songs 5/10
It’s a meh for me. Very dated to the time period. There are some flashes of brilliance, but it’s just monotonous to me.
Not in my edition of the book! 2004. 2 stars. Peculiar blend of styles - soul, rock, jazz - that doesn't really work, and there are no standout tracks. Once heard, immediately forgotten. Bonus point for the production.
This album is pretty lame, but not as lame as I thought it would be based on the cover. There are some pretty cringe lyrics every now and again too. A lot of the songs also feel like they are 20bpm too slow, and a lot of the riffs that get repeated are way too simple for them to be looped sooo long. I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the album that got cut in future editions of the book. High 2.
I genuinely liked a lot of the ideas they were trotting out, I like other artists who came after them who perfected it a lot more. Honestly, these guys just sound fucking annoying.
More dross from the list! There are so many more albums I’d prefer to be listening to!
Not really my thing. Pharrel's voice kind of irks me, like he's trying to be sexy but comes across as creepy - just too breathy and whiney
I listened to this late. I enjoyed listening to it. But, it is kinda middle of the road, average. Their sound didn't make me want to listen to more of their stuff. I enjoyed listening to the album this one time but I think that's it. Doubt I'm gonna seek it out again.
This album cover is dumb as hell, but the music kinda slaps. Well, the first track did anyway. It fell off a cliff into utter boredome for me right after. Cool to see these guys in such a random band though. Also really cool that they learned the instruments to be able to play all of it. That said, the music, while catchy at times, is pretty simplistic and unassuming. But you're probably here for the grooves and not so much a crazy musical awakening. The standout on this listen was "Don't Worry About It" and that's kinda it. I was pretty bored with the rest of it. It just wasn't anything. Took me forever to get through. 2/5
Sometimes this list baffles me. Nothing about this album feels noteworthy. Is it influential? Idk, maybe; it does sound like a precursor to a lot of vapid, soulless pop that has come out in the past two decades.
Strangely annoying music
This album is relatively recent and was only in one edition of the 1001, near as I can tell. These are hallmarks of bad albums, and this one is no exception. It's not terrible, but it's not good, and I have no idea why it's on the 1001.
Peppy, preppy, lightweight, twinkly nonsense, packaged as hip hop but couldn't be much further from it. Something uncannily dry and synthetic about the production as well. Sets my teeth on edge.
When this started I thought I would live, I was annoyed and ready to turn it off by track 3. I pushed through and though I can say it had some nice grooves, I can’t say I liked much else about it. 2/5
I had never heard of NERD. At first I was like oh this is cool. But it got old fast
Gear: DCA ÆON 2 Noire Artwork: 🖖🐣🇺🇸 Production: 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🎨🫦🙄 Rating: 🤓🤓(🤓)/5
I cannot listen to this bro, it's pissing me off more and more as I continue to go through it, the lyrics and vocals are unbearable, the only reason this isn't a one star is because the instrumental is OK *I guess*
stfu
Cool if you are a teen in the early 00's. Considering Pharrell was not a teen when this was made is weird. 2/5
2.0 Too much going on to create anything cohesive. I think there is some good songwriting hidden in there somewhere. Minus .4 of a point for those, including those Good Charlotte wankers
Not vibing with this one. I appreciate the mix between hip hop and rock, but this just isn't that appealing to me. I wasn't a fan of the lyrics and the instruments aren't helping much.
An interesting listen. Not my favorite Pharrell work. But for sure a different sound for the time
Sorry, but no album with the guys from Good Charlotte needs to be listened to.
Didn’t find it that interesting
(40/100)
Post-"Happy", it's easy to forget now that The Neptunes were one of the most exciting, boundary-pushing producers in music for about a decade, creating many of the best moments from Clipse, Mystikal, Jay-Z, and many others. When NERD's debut, "In Search Of…" came along in 2001, it didn't cleanly fit into the alternative or rap landscape. It became something of an indie fixation for forward-thinking "Kid A"-embracing webzines that were already moving well past genre limitations. By 2004, "Fly Or Die" was one of my most anticipated records of the year. Alas, it was a letdown. There was enough good songwriting to sustain interest for an hour, and occasionally songs like "Maybe" and "She Wants to Move" brought some genuine Neptunes magic. But most everything else sounded rehashed and generic, and it hasn't fared any better with age. Of course, "In Search Of…" still holds up, which naturally means it is nowhere to be found on this list.
I was ready to fall in love with this and it did almost nothing for me.
Maybe
This was the first album in the list to not be on streaming services , so I had to listen via YouTube and my experience was marred with adverts. This was good. Didn’t really blow my mind, but it is well executed and produced. I expected it to be something different, though I’m not sure what. I think what is on offer here can be found better elsewhere, but that may be unfair as I had to deal with an advert between each song. Maybe I’ll revisit it one day.
An almost unclassifiable mix of rock, pop, funk, and R&B. Unlike a lot of modern acts that blur those lines though, this isn't just a bunch of hazy ballads. It's constantly hitting you with new sounds and is always upbeat. Because of this though, it very rarely gets into a groove. The rock influence mostly comes in the form of short guitar riffs, which make the album bouncy but not really danceable. "Maybe" is one of the few songs that feels like it's going to have a memorable chorus, but then like on most of the tracks it ends up clashing with the rest of the song. There are good elements here - the guitar on "Thrasher," the funk on "She Wants to Move," the unpredictable vocals on the title track - that don't quite come together into great songs. I can't help but feel this would be more successful if each song used one or two of these influences rather than every song using all of them.
To be fair I only listened to like two or three songs but I just didn’t like it. Sue me
Ahh you know what, I didn’t get anything out of this. Simpsons: Yes
It wasn't bad but no reason to ever listen to this again.
I choose die
Meeeeeeeeeh. I liked a song or two, but it wore on me. I didn’t like it.
Hmm mix of hip hop, jazz, prog, and rock. eclectic - yes but original not really Not what i was expecting ( waiting for a Pharrell Will.i.am pop rap ) but this mix was interesting just not funn. Does not bring anything new to the table . It’s pretty much just meh most of the way through
Decent upbeat pop - seems forgettable
This album got worse with every song. Boring and repetitive after song 3/4. I don't know why I needed to listen to this before I die. Meh.
Not horrible.
December 1
I knew Pharrell had had a career before becoming inescapable with "Happy", but I hadn't had a clue what it sounded like. It sounds alright, but there's nothing here that's got me interested in coming back to it. RateYourMusic tells me that there's a different N.E.R.D. album that's considered *a lot* better than this one, maybe I'll have to check that out to see this group at their best?
Nothing new, nothing memorable. 2/5
Not my thing
I did not care for this.
I kind of hated this, especially since it's Pharrell's band. Good for him branching out into new genres, but it's so generic sounding
Solo me han probocado indifierencia
porra fiquei triste nesse acho o primeiro album que o n.e.r.d lançou (o in search of...) genuinamente bom, em 2002 os caras tavam explorando sonoridades que só iam estourar depois de 2015, completamente a frente do tempo dito isso, achei o fly or die bem chatinho, até meio frustrante...
I actually did know one of the songs from this going in, that someone shared with me years ago. That said, it's still not my thing.
Gimme a frigging break, who has ever even heard of this band? It’s just not that good, certainly not good enough to be something you have to “hear before you die”. Mid at best.
Fine I guess, but they got the wrong NERD album. No track on here is nearly as cool as anything on “In Search Of”
Awkward writing, but I think that's what they were going for?
I have come to the conclusion that this album is only on the this list because of the dipshittery NERD pulled around their debut album. They released the superb electronic version of In Search Of... in Europe, but then pulled it entirely and re-released it as a rock album. The original is basically unavailable through reasonably legal means, and no one should listen to the rock version. The problem is that no one really needs to listen to this album, either.
Loved the first and looked forward to the rest of the album, but it was all the same beats and music. I really dislike repetitive lyrics too. Sad.
This was kind of interesting but at the same time, a little off. There are glimpses of something but they're not quite there yet.
N.O.T F.O.R M.E
Nice to hear.
The music sounds somewhat interesting. The singing sounds extremely half-assed, while the other half of the ass is the lyrics.
meh.
They lost me by that line about the spaceship ass and to be honest I don’t feel like they worked especially hard to get me back
Breakout and Don't Worry About It were my standout tracks but it wasn't a tall bar to clear to begin with since these are some plain, basic pop beats. Wonderful Place got corny at the end and then the whole album went even further downhill. It's pretty wack
This is instantly forgettable. Why is it included in the book, I wonder.
2000s horny anti war black eyed peas Kanye graduation too much Lenny kravitz. Feels a little try hard but hits at times. Maybe need more context about neptunes etc.
Didn't really vibe with this N.E.R.D. album.
Disappointing
Ok
I thought the first half was really lame, and was prepared to give a two. Then I listened to the second half on another day, and thought it sounded pretty smooth. I don't really want to listen to the whole thing again, but it's nearly to a three.
• 2/5 • Sophomoric R&B: musically simplistic and lyrically inane
I fully understand this is an inherently wrong question to ask of art, but I can't help it here: why? What for? "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could [blend Prince and Red Hot Chili Peppers while reminiscing about that Aerosmith & Run-DMC song], they didn't stop to think if they should." ? There are some alright ideas and hooks here, in this, but for all the music that's so crammed full of 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧 and production tchotchkes these producer genie guys found in browsing their record and CD shelves, it's remarkable how hard and quickly the feeling of boredom hit me. As a bonus, an extra peeve: try reassembling the egg from the two shell pieces. Someone got paid for this, smh.
In the early 00s, I didn’t know enough about hip-hop to appreciate the importance of producers in crafting the sound. Around that time, someone who did, told me that “everything The Neptunes touch turns to gold” and this statement seemed cool and sophisticated enough that I faithfully parroted it for the next few years. So naturally I had to back this up by finding out what The Neptunes (two thirds of N.E.R.D) had actually produced and led me to buy their compilation ‘Clones’, followed by digging into the N.E.R.D albums. If this list allowed compilations then I’d fully understand and expect Clones to have made the cut over this record. I would soon discover that The Neptunes were at their best when channeling and featuring some of the best talent in hip-hop at the time and putting them at centre stage. What we get on Fly Or Die is essentially The Neptunes (and friend) cosplaying as a rock band, learning to play real instruments and putting themselves at the forefront. It’s not my place to tell anyone what kind of music they should make or gatekeep rock music at all. But music journalists are capable of hearing something like this and calling it what it is. The fact it’s included in the book of 1001 albums you MUST hear before you die is pretty embarrassing really. It’s decent in places. They do know their way around a hook and some tracks are memorable but it’s not an album I came back to for repeat listens and hearing it again after 20 years, I don’t feel tempted now. I’m sure there are less proficient artists in the 1001 who got away with faking it, but The Neptunes thankfully continued producing good records for other people while their side project has now disbanded. Do yourself a favour, pop this one back down and give Clones a listen instead.
Oh god oh god be obligated to hear this shit
It's cool that they played their own instruments on this - but I don't care for pop-heavy hip hop. Some of the songs are alright.
This was enjoyable to listen once through, but I doubt I'll remember much of it. Don't see myself returning to this album unfortunately, though I appreciate how it blends genres.
Really not sure why this is here. Is it to add diversity for the sake of diversity? Now I'm not an anti-DEI person, but this release is about as generic, bland, uninteresting, and out-of-its time as anything I've run across. It sounds like some folk that don't really know what they're doing but do know they don't want to be put into a 'bucket', so they do nothing interesting, toss an overabundance of foul language in, mix it all together, and spit out a release that fails to interest in any respect. There's talent here, but it's absolutely NOT on display - this garbage is anti-adult-alt-rock put out there to trick some white basement dwelling, chickie nugs eating, incel, vote for fascists because he won't stop thinking women owe him sex, jackass into thinking they're not racists since they listen to 'one of the good ones' black rock.
A very meh album, with a lot of "oh she's hot" songs. I'm typically down for a fun time in music, but yeah it's not that fun. Sonically it's minimalist but efficient, and coherent without being the same. It's not terrible, just lyrically very very poor, and the music isn't experimental enough to salvage the whole thing. Some moments are shining, like Breakout, but over all it's quite forgettable. The hidden tracks are a throwback for sure, but 3 is one too many. In the end, if feels like a producer's album, with very little to actually say and no need to be heard.
Very 2004, I don't think this aged well. It's attempting to be fun, but it ended up boring and shallow instead
Maybe I bigger this one up too much in my head before listening, but I left feeling underwhelmed
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for this. She wants to move is great but didn't like the rest
1. Don't Worry About It - 5 It's okay. Lyrics are sometimes good, sometimes too generic. Instrumentally it's alright as well. Nothing phenomenal or terrible on this track. 2. Fly or Die - 3 Drums are really pleasant on the track but the lyrically writing is absolutely abysmal. Leave this track in 2004. 3. Jump (feat. Benji Madden & Joel Madden) - 1 This is as if the song should be on a Kids Bop album but the artist isn't a kid anymore and decided to be edgy by slipping a swear in or two. It's not very good. The outro in particular is horrible. 4. Backseat Love - 1 Way too repetitive and just not a great track in general. Lyrically it's incredibly bland. The background vocals are particularly very poor. 5. She Wants To Move - 3 Painful to get through the absolutely dreadful lyrics to enjoy the tempo beat and sound on the rest of the track. 6. Breakout - 3 The choruses before the constant monotonous repetition of "breakout" are very good but the verses are terrible and the bridge even more so. Instrumentally good, the track cannot recover from the awful lyrics on the rest of the song. 7. Wonderful Place (Contains Hidden Track/Waiting For You) - 5 Lyrically still very weak, the instrumentals are too loud and completely drown out some of the vocals throughout the higher parts of the song. Waiting for You is significantly better however and is quite enjoyable. 8. Drill Sergeant (Contains Hidden Track/Preservation) (feat. Lenny Kravitz) - 3 Significantly better song but still lyrically not the best thing on the album, or even that enjoyable. Preservation is however not a great sound no enjoyable in any sense. 9. Thrasher (feat. Lenny Kravitz) - 6 Guitars are great on this track as are the added strings. The constant "ohh" is rather annoying but other than that it's a pretty solid track. Verses and choruses are a lot strong on this track. 10. Maybe - 7 Hands down the best thing on the album. A complete track. I'm not cringing at some of the lyrics and the instrumentals burst with sound at just the right moments in order to supplement the lyrics so well. The busts of guitar riffs in and out is great. 11. The Way She Dances - 2 Lyrically this track is horrible. They ruin any enjoyment from the rest of the sound on the track which isn't bad but nothing to really exalt either. 12. Chariot Of Fire (Contains Hidden Track/Find My Way) - 0 Really unenjoyable. Find My Way isn't great but it's more in line with a She Wants to Move in terms of the quality. Chariot of Fire is the worst piece on the album. Really forgettable track on what's been a forgettable album. Average Rating: 3.25 Adjusted to 5-Point Scale: 1.63 Rounded Up: 2 Stars
It's fine. Whatever.
It's so much of its time that it hurts but at least it's not yet another country album or a boring ass singer-songwriter.
Meh
Reasonably pleasant. A bit too smooth (saccharine?) at times. I liked “Don’t Worry About It” far more than either of the singles; it just had some edge, and relatable(?) weirdness, that the rest of the album lacked. This probably wasn’t one of the best 75 albums of 2004; there’s simply no way it should be on this list. I’d give this 2.5 stars if I could.
I can appreciate the merging of several different styles of music, but the execution makes for a discombobulating experience. It's like pop-rock combined with smooth R&B, but with slightly bigger drums. It's like if you mixed two recipes: Beef Chili and Chicken Noodle Soup, and then topped it off with MSG-encrusted pork rinds.
Together Chad and Pharrell are one of a kind. The make tomorrow music that can also sound like yesterday. Sometimes that works amazingly well. Other times it’s a miss. This one feels like a miss.
Not a fan. Not quite hip hop, not quite r & b. Just pop with not a lot of pizazz
This album just didn’t do it for me, despite it being a Pharrell / The Neptunes record. “She Wants to Move” is incredible - still sounding as unique as it did 20yrs ago, but the rest is, despite some talented guest appearances, a bit of a let down. “The Way She Dances” is a funky joy with a great guitar hook. I suspect I would have much better enjoyed an album in the same vein as those two standout tracks. I also expected more from a producer of the talents of Pharrell Williams when it comes to track length - he, if anyone, should have the ability to craft and execute a tight pop song in less than 4mins. No need for any of this 8 and a half minute nonsense.
I was forgetting this faster than I could listen to it. I'd already forgotten the last track before I'd even got to the second half of this astonishingly unremarkable album. I'm going with an unremarkable score of two stars.
2. It is quite average to me. The melodies aren't really my type whatsoever. I can tell that there is good thought put into the songs.
Mid
Didn’t hate it, didn’t love it. It’s cool and was the start of the singers eventual command of the pop industry but.. meh. Won’t listen again most likely
Album 851 of 1089 N.E.R.D - Fly Or Die (2004) Rating : 2.5 / 5 Not my usual genre, but this turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It didn’t lean into the aggressive, macho posturing that sometimes turns me off in this space. Instead, it offered up some fun, laid-back tracks that felt like they came from a group of good-time, good-hearted guys just enjoying the music. I’m not rushing to recommend it, but if you find yourself giving it a listen, don’t despair — you might just enjoy it more than expected.
Certainly an album. Not really sure what it was trying to be at any given point.
2.1 Better than expected?
Disappointing. Take away the fact that it is Pharrell and it felt like a well-produced demo disc that you may listen to once and forget about.
A lot of cool musical ideas, unfortunately mixed with a lot of lackluster ones. Fantastic production, as to be expected from Pharrell, but the vocals, lyrics and most of the hooks leave a lot to be desired. The lyrics definitely being the worst offender, saying a whole lot of nothing but still trying to sound so artsy while doing so The whole album also has a strong smell of the mid 2000s, which is definitely nostalgic for some but in my opinion tarnishes it's ability to age very well There was definitely a lot of moments that I personally didn't like, but I can understand why someone would like them so they don't lose any points for those, but still overall a much weaker album than I was hoping for
This wasn’t bad, but wasn’t spectacular either, some decent songs and some clunkers in there too. I’m not likely to revisit, but I would not leave the room if someone put this on, 2 stars.
Including The Neptunes in a list like this is a must, but we could have done Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse instead. I can only hope that In Search Of… also is here because that one is significantly better. This is just kinda meh to me. Favorite songs were Don’t Worry About It and Maybe.
I found it really hard to enjoy this album. It's disjointed and seems to be trying way to hard to be avant-garde and interesting. Had I heard this prior to Pharrell's more recent successes I may have had a different opinion.
So Pharrell basically…
Band of the hour…not decade…not good enough for the list imo
Not really feeling this, though was interesting enough
N.E.R.D does some decent work here. N.E.R.D is probably most well known as Pharrell's old band, and they are a neat combination of hip hop, rock and RnB. The more "Pharrell-y" songs on here show a lot of promise, and are generally pretty good. However, the production choices, and some of the songwriting in general sounds kind of dated, especially on the more rock leaning tracks. This did kind of slowly win me over during the course of its runtime, and by the end I was having fun, but I don't think I'll really revisit it, and even the best songs here are only fine by my taste. This is a hell of a lot better than the CeeLo Green album I had earlier with Pharrell on it, to the extent that this almost makes it make a little more sense. However, I'm still only so into this.
I hope that the earlier “In search of…” is also an album on this list. To me that was a much more satisfying and enjoyable album. I bought this when it came out on the strength of the previous one but did not buy anymore after being disappointed by this one. I feel the same this many years on.
cross-genre goodness
Thank god Pharrell improved his production and writing skills
What a fucking weird album. I didn't give this a fair shot I'll admit. 2 stars.
Ihan hauska tunelma albumissa i guess
Not a very good album
Sounds like an unpolished Timberlake album, which isn't a surprise. Good energy, but execution isn't good.
Everything that sucked about early 2000s music in one album.
I loved this when it came out and was excited to have a follow up to their impressive debut. Sadly it has not aged so well for me. Whilst the production values are undeniable and the Neptunes were pushing boundaries in the 2000s - everything they touched turned in to a hit - lyrically this album has not aged well. Backseat Love and She Wants to move being particularly cringe worthy efforts, even the collaborations on this seem to have aged badly…The Madden brothers anyone?!? It was still fun to relisten to this album but I’m happy to leave it behind in 2004, somewhere it fits perfectly, safe in nostalgia for a different time in my life and when what they were doing felt so unique.
Agressivamente OK. Nada aqui se destaca, nem de forma positiva nem de forma negativa. Todos os elementos são decentes, a voz do Pharrell, a produção dos Neptunes, é tudo formidável. Mas é o tipo de música que entra por um ouvido e sai pelo outro. Esquecível. 2.5/5
Note : Release Date 2004 Don't Worry About It - *** (Good intro to mixing staple sounds for different genres, really sets up for the album) Fly Or Die - *.5 Jump - ** Backseat Love - *** She Wants To Move - ***.5 Breakout - *** Wonderful Place - **** (Most Cohesive and smooth for listening (doesn't require active listening) Waiting For You *Hidden Track* - ** Like poetry slam but with orchestral background idk Drill Sergeant - ** Preservation *Hidden Track*- * Thrasher - **** Easily the best track on the album Maybe - **** The Way She Dances - **.5 Chariot On Fire - ** Find My Way *Hidden Track* - **** (Another smooth easy listen compared to most on this album)
it’s fine but i was fine not knowing about it, too
2,4/5
Oké, niet verwacht, maar dit is voor m'n horizon te verbreden. She Wants to Move is iconisch, maar de rest niet (en voor een reden denk ik). 1.5
I like the idea behind this album/sound more than I really like the results. Sort of a progressive pop rock that implores a variety of influences and instruments. The music is well made with interesting arrangements, deep layers, bouncy rhythms, and good sound. The songs flow and progress smoothly, pivot naturally, and parts come in and out of songs seamlessly. But the lyrical concepts and topics I don’t care for much. Overall I feel like this could be cool if tweaked in certain ways, but just doesn’t end up being as interesting as I think it could be.
This is a weird album. It’s at a crossing point of genres/influences and generally I found it ok but it’s weak. I assume it merited inclusion as it attempted to do something weird and eclectic but it fails to fully lean in - lazy experimental music makes it a bit of a miss.
Not really my thing
Wtf was that drill sergeant song?
Sounds unfinished and lacks polish. There's a handful of catchy riffs along the way, but they don't really develop into anything. Often an annoying overdub clutters the listening space, not to mention the irritating vocals. I noticed that The Neptunes produced this. They missed an opportunity for some mentorship to get this material out of demo territory and refine the arrangements into something release-worthy. The mixing needs more work. Now that I know Pharrell was part of this project, I can hear the seeds of his later career. Maybe there was some reason in 2004 to put this on the list, but in 2025, it's yet another "strike this from the next edition."
You'd think with some of the big names working on this (i.e. Pharrell, the Good Charlotte guys, Lenny Kravitz) that the result would be a whole lot better. It gives "background music you'd hear on a shitty MTV show" vibes. She Wants To Move was a pretty solid song and one I've heard somewhere before. I think that saves it from 1 status to get into the 2's.
Not a huge fan of this. Feels like this style has legs, but it's lacking a lot of polish. The falsetto voices aren't doing it for me. A lot of the later songs sound like a precursor to Anderson Paak.
I've heard of Pharrell Williams side projects but never really listened to any of them. Halfway in and I'm pretty happy I hadn't before this. This is some bottom tier Rock/Hip-Hop when it comes to the genre. Just laughing at Drill Sergeant. Can definitely hear Lenny Kravitz all over this record, and while I liked aspect of his solo album we had this kinda falls flat. Going high 2 here because some of the instrumentals worked, but found myself pretty bored throughout.
This album is a mix of rock, hip-hop, art-pop among others, and it's very well produced (by The Neptunes/Pharrell Williams) which is a plus. It has an unique sound yet I couldn't really get into it and none of the songs stood out. It was an OK listen, but nothing more.
2/5
Not too sure what to make of this. It’s a bit different to what I was expecting - poppier, goofier, more playful and more all over the place. But is it any good? I think it is in places... There’s talent there, and some originality, which I rate, but the quality is patchy - it’s not exactly one of the standout albums of the noughties. That Pharrell chap might have a future, though. 2.5
This is another album that feels DATED. 20 years is maybe the sweet spot where things start to feel dated without having the shine of legacy. Overall I think NERD suffers from sounding SO MUCH LIKE NERD. I think they are eclipsed by the hits that NERD has done for other people. It sounds like a Snoop Dogg or Justin Timberlake song without those key stars.
Never heard of this. The music was pretty decent but something about it just didn't click with me.
Define it however you want, but that was the sound of the 2000s. And lord could it be cringe sometimes. ⭐⭐
What if Weezer had a little bit (more) rap, keyboards and some funk? That’s N.E.R.D. Fly Or Die may as well be called Party Rock 2014. It’s sooooo desperately trying to be that. Every song has all the instruments but occasionally despite it all, it kinda works. I can’t decide if it’s an Ok album or the worst shit I’ve ever heard. 5.1/10
This is so 2000's, back when Pharrell was the man...but it did not age well. The music is still enjoyable. Good beats and rhythms that mixes styles and genres of music, making something different and unique to the changes in pop the rap genre of the 2000's. However it is height of douche bag, f@ck boy era. This would have been my high school era...how did we not expect more from the lyrics and dudes. Get over yourself and your wanna be six pack for two minutes and not just sing about a girls boobs and ass and spending time in the backseat. Didn't age well boys, not every internal thought should be made into a song.
I'm not really into this. I'm at a 2.5 with it and gonna drop it to a 2 for over using the hidden track bit.
I tried, but it just didn’t do anything for me.
Tää oli mun muistikuvissa paljon parempi lätty. 2.5
Twas alright. Not very consistent stylistically or quality-wise.
Meh
It's alright I guess. So this is where Pharrell Williams started off. Ok. Good, but very clean, production. Very reminiscent of Outkast but more rocky. It's all catchy, but no particularly memorable tunes. And a couple of irritating bits. The single passed me by without noticing.
The lyrics feel like a fifteen year old's notebook, written for other fifteen year olds. Luckily for my ears, there are some good sounds here and some interesting mixes. I really don't care for the Neptunes and their all encompassing sound of the early 2000s (ditto for Timbaland, if we're keeping score) and plenty of that shows up here, but there's a lot more experimentation on top of it. Feels a little bit like failed beats that they turned into their own stuff by adding things deemed unlikely to be commercially successful plus Pharrell's ridiculous brain. A lot here: beatles, queen, uhhh, shitty guitar rock; just no focus. Anyway, this shit kinda sucks, liked it way less than I thought I would, but I bet some people have fond memories of it.
meh
Wow, I knew modern funk rock was generally boring but this is a new low
I prefer to die.
Full of good musical ideas executed in the worst possible way. And it aged very poorly. Good lyrics and delivery would have also be appreciated. The best was yet to come for Pharrell Williams.
Pop rap. Some good stuff for the radio i guess.
I've always been skeptical of Pharrell. He seems like a pretty big phony. Very smug. This music hits the same chords. Just learned Pharrell is Timbalands cousin.
Not bad! I connected with a few of the not "insanely horny dude" songs like Maybe & Wonderful Place (fun key change & cool backing vocals). Another cool dimension was reading into Pharell Williams' journey and how the band got Quest Love and Lenny Kravitz to help them out on a few songs. Im not a huge fan of any of those dudes, but they are everywhere in the industry today Last note: they seemed like a band that had the determination and grit to go for it (apparently the group didn't know how to play many of the instruments used before the album started). 2.5 stars and rounding down because it was too long
2.5
Not my cup of tea. The songs seemed repetitive and simple. I found myself skipping through song after song hoping to find something interesting but unfortunately I didn’t.
sounds a bit of an anomaly now, saw them live one time and they were a bit all over the shop
Tylsä levy ja todella matalamielisiä lyriikoita. 2/5
mehhhhhhhhh
2 - This felt like it was trying to write hits through the whole album. Super processed and not much soul personally
Nuria: 3 Jaime: 2
What a disappointment, given the musical talent making up N.E.R.D. Didn't resonate with me. High 2*.
Its not horrible but it is forgettable. One and done.
The music is okay but the longer I listened the more dumb the lyrics felt. I get the concept of merging rock and hip hop but this did not work like the Linkin Park/ Jay Z album.
Very creative & energetic, but feels disjointed. I don’t love the musical palette.
🎧I recall liking She Wants To Move as a kid. Today, not so much. Nothing particularly noteworthy or memorable here. I hope to never hear Jump again. Favorite track: Maybe
This is honestly one of the few albums on the list I don't have an opinion with either way. I'm disinterested and really I would categorize this as mediocre and not essential at all and though there are some redeeming qualities in some the songs, it wasn't enough for a second listen. I'm sure if I listened more carefully, I might get more out of it. I don't hate it, but it's not good.
Not available on UK Apple Music it seems ... and that always makes it a bit annoying to listen to. I've never really got the NERD hype. Pharrel obviously has a golden touch ... but the universal love in for NERD always confused my slightly. It's OK. Expertly produced, poppy, catchy ... a bit bland? It's OK.
< In Search Of (by far)
No, sorry. This is too bad. I hate this. Urrrrrr, some of this is not that bad, but it's overall just weird in a bad sense. And the sound is not very pleasing. It's probably a 1.5/5.
Słuchając tego myślałem sobie, że może czarni ludzie powinni zostać przy czarnej muzyce, a biali przy białej. Przeczytałem potem, że pracując nad tym albumem chłopaki *zaczęli* uczyć się grać na instrumentach, żeby móc wykonywać własne utwory na żywo. To by tłumaczyło ten nudny instrumental. Jakby nie ma nic jednoznacznie złego w tym albumie, ale jest po prostu nieciekawy.
This band feels like they're trying to do way too much at the same time. There's too many influences informing their music that don't work together to me.
Meh.
It sounds like they had a lot of fun making this album. That being said I don't think it was all that good.
Fine. Don't think I needed this in my life though.
1 banger Lots of mash
An uncommitted reprise of In Search Of (which ought to be here instead of this).
Emo Hip Hop? This sounds perfect for US college radio, with its mix of guitar and beats. A little too perfect, as it sounded formulaic to me. Pleasant enough, but not one I would revisit.
I wasn't expecting this to be so guitar heavy. It was refreshing to hear lyrics that I could understand, and also had a social conscience. Oh. Hang on. Just heard: "Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride." Scrub that social conscience. The Daisy Age this isn't.
Not really digging the lyrics. The beats and rhythms were good. Pharrell did better as a solo artist with his pop music, at least in the singing.
Like a few albums that came out around the time the first edition of this book came out, I think Fly Or Die has benefitted from a generous helping of recency bias with its inclusion here. I think this album has aged like milk. It sounds incredibly dated. Trying to do a bit of Prince, a bit of Aerosmith, and not really as satisfying as either. 2 stars solely for She Wants To Move, or it would be a 1 all day
..
How the hell has Pharrell managed to get his finger into so many pies over the years? It's a fun album of jazzy rap-rock, but I do feel that after an hour it starts to get a little tiresome. I don't think the tracks are strong enough to carry it for that long. If you like Pharrell a lot you'll probably enjoy this a lot. I thought it was alright.
På förhand var jag bombsäker på en etta. Efter lyssning så blev det i alla fall en tvåa.
vid första lite slarvigare lyssningen så gillade jag det mer men sen vid nogrannare hörlurslyssning så gillar jag det inte alls. men en pluspoäng för att dom spelar själva och att det verkligen är nyskapande och att lyssnaren inte fattar vilken genre det är. men skit ner dig nu.
It was fine.
Pharrell and co have been very influential in modern music but this album just isn’t good. I would have maybe expected their first album to be the one on this list.
unfortunately i find Pharrell rly annoying and that cast a pretty major shadow over this
I didn't hate this but I also didn't particularly enjoy any of it
This is #day97 of my #1001albumsyoumusthearbeforeyoudie challenge, and... here's to another record from 2004 that I didn't know about. Nothing is outstanding here, except learning there's Pharell, whom I've always found extremely annoying. Again, what's the significance of this album to earn its entry on the list? This is nowhere near must-listen, not to mention must-listen before you die. I'm giving it a 2 out of 5 solely due to my sentiment for the year it was released. Looking forward to #day98.
Funky, very 2000s sounding album. Interesting to see a new side of Pharrell Williams. Probably wouldn't relisten but was interesting.
Not completely repellent but nothing I would listen to again. I think I understand what they were going for. They didn’t get there.
Interesting musically. Hints of Hendrix both vocally and musically. Not what I expected. Better than Dylan
Mjoah, ganz ok, aber nicht meins
Hab etwas mehr erwartet. Bin aber auch kein Fan von Pharrell. Kein lied Erinnerungswürdig außer she wants to move
Ei ollu erikoinen.
2.5/5
This album was pretty cheesy but I gotta say that they blended genres pretty well which I was not expecting. All of the songs sound a little different and non-cohesive which makes this feel like a playlist instead of an album. Despite this, the contents were pretty dull and not memorable.
Idk
Fine but uninteresting
Voice sounds strange
There's plenty of great production on this album, but Pharrell is his own enemy here. He has negative charisma, negative sex appeal, and comes off like a major dork who doesn't realize he's a major dork. There's also like, three hidden tracks? What's up with that? I'm cool with one at the end, but there's two smack dab in the middle of the project, back to back even. Weird.
This was barreling towards *1 territory until the two tracks featuring LK came up. These were not banger tracks either, but I was able to find enough of a groove to keep this out of the basement.
At first, I thought this sure does sound like a band trying to emulate Prince and Lenny Kravitz, only to then see that two tracks feature Kravitz. Those songs probably keep it out of 1* territory. But as I paid more attention to the ridiculous elementary lyrics I thought this must be what Spinal Tap would sound like as rap band. Tough listen. N.O.P.E.
Those who can’t do, teach. I think Pharrell’s talents fit much more behind the mixing board than they do behind the mic.
I hated the vocals on this. Like literally the way their voices sounded. And the mix. And their breathy and weird inflections. Very amateur. A shame because I thought some of the songs had potential. Although there were a couple moments where I was like “wait, isn’t this just a Pharrell song? Get lucky? Or happy?” I don’t care enough to look up which songs. I also thought Maybe “borrowed” some parts from popular songs.
Haha this really kinda sucks. I had a favorable impression of NERD from the only album I'd ever heard by them, and still quote rhyming on top of a cop car all the time, apropos of no appropriate situation. I respect that they learned instruments or whatever, but it starts boring and only the weird fishing vignette, and a couple more catchy ones at the end save this from a one.
I was excited about this one! Remembered loving them back in the day. I only like "She Wants to Move"
Meh. Their first album was better.
She Want's To Move is good, but besides that it's rubbish.
Meh.