Fly Or Die

Musically somewhat interesting in spurts. Lyrically, sounds like a bunch of 13 year old boys wrote it. Overall, couldn't wait for this album to end.

Standard, every day pop music, just with actual drums and guitars. Some catchy hooks but pretty unremarkable.

Lacks energy in the recording. Maybe would be more fun with different production? This album should sound a lot better than it does.

Hmm hvorfor er den her på listen

decent

Maso

Thought I would like this one but nothing really jumped out at me

This is really, really bad. 1.5 🌟

it’s like some reasonably talented high schoolers and an 808 machine

I went back and forth between mild enjoyment and boredom. This album has elements of hip-hop, rock and pop; I normally like cross-over but in this case it didn't really work for me. The lyrics did not save the day. OK for a few songs but not an entire album for me. Not sure if this is a must-hear album.

Revolutionary production

I always thought NERD would be right up my alley. I'd heard so many good things about them. But you know how it is - you listen to an album and it's not bad, but it all just slips right off you. That's what this is like - it sounds like talented people playing around with a lot of ideas and equipment but there's nothing here that I'd put on a mix, ya know?

A decent album but not as strong of an outing as their first. There are some decent songs and collabs on there but for the most part it just kind of disappeared into the background. Unfortunately not for me.

lastenmusiikkia... pikku kakkonen päälle ja katellaas... mikä päällä jaa pelle hermanni... ei aina tarvi innovoida... david gilmour vocals? yksittäiset biisit hyviä.. kokonaisuus, rikkoutuu.. pirstoutuu. hei kuunnelkaas heh: taitaapi . pohdiskelee lentääkö vai kuolee.. taitaa kuolla.. ei lennä heh........Because I'm happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof Because I'm happy Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth Because I'm happy Clap along if you know what happiness is to you Because I'm happy Clap along if you feel like that's what you wanna do...... breakout

Welp, this album is a hot mess. I wanted to like it but couldn’t. The genre crossing is almost cool but comes off cheesy. I’m giving Fly or Die a two because the mix is good, solid production. The actual project is terrible.

probably 2.50-2.75. always thought i should be more into them than i was could i write poetry to this? n

The songs with Kravitz are the best of the bunch, but even those are just OK.

It was ok. Felt like it was from the early 90's rather than the 2000's...and not in a good way.

Le premier morceau, terriblement répétitif m'a pratiquement fait arrêter l'écoute. Les morceaux suivant s'améliorent, et quelques morceaux originaux (trop peu) m'ont fait augmenter la note.

It’s not bad, just that I was bored listening and kept contemplating turning it off 2.5/5

I was surprised to see this album on the list, I vaguely remember this being kind of a flop at the time. The only notable track was "She Wants to Move", which didn't blow up the charts, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Overall I'm left a little confused as to the inclusion. The music is, fine, but the lyrics are a particular weak spot. There is a creepy tone to the singing and lyrics of "Backseat Love", and the line "Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride" on "She Wants to Move" was cringe at the time, and has only worsened with age. Overall it comes off as an album from some talented producers who made an album out of boredom without anything interesting to say.

I know this rating seems crazy but there is 1 MAYBE 2 songs I will ever listen to again on my own accord. if it wasn’t for Maybe; it might have gotten a 1. would ask if anyone could change it if it was a small group setting.

Not my thing.

These lads were shit.

Fine

Passed me by unmoved. The first track sounded vaguely like some sort of James Brown tribute, but after that I don't remember anythin at all. I only 'woke up' when spotify started playing random artists after the album ended.

"Her ass is a spaceship that I want to ride" Not serious, but a fun album that mixes R&B and pop punk. Not super blown away, and I don't think I would return to it, but it was OK for the listen.

Tried to find some joy with this one but only a few interesting moments. Is it rap? Is it hip hop?

2.5

I didn’t like all the repetitive almost shouting bits at all but I liked wonderful place

Not for me

2/5

I can't, in good conscience, give this a 1-star review even though I hated nearly every minute of it. Pharrell is such a blatant, sell-out poser. The intro for "Fly or Die" is right: "this is for the kids." It's so juvenile. The lyrics are idiotic and the performances are straight amateur hour. The only - and I mean ONLY - good thing about this album is the production. Production is on point. Too bad nothing else is. Hard pass.

I applaud their originality but the offensive lyrics toward women and purpose built strangeness triggers eye rolls.

Fly or Die is the second album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D. The band actually learned how to play the instruments needed for this album instead of using outside musicians like on their debut album. It was interesting how these rap geniuses were able to make a decent multi-layered progressive pop album. It has been certified gold in Australia and the US. For the most part I enjoyed this album. It's not normally the type of music I would listen to, but it did pass the time. It's worth a listen for the uniqueness alone.

producer pharrell > frontman pharrell

I don't know, it's not terrible I suppose. Just not really hitting me either. Definitely a couple good songs though. It's probably like a 2.5 for me.

2.4/5 Best Track: Drill Sergeant

Hate him or love him, Pharrel Williams is een belangrijk persoon in de muziekindustrie. Als artiest en producer heeft hij meermaals bewezen dat hij een sleutelfiguur is, vooral bij de wat experimentelere hiphop. Hierbij laat ik de twee andere kereltjes van NERD ff buiten beschouwing, niemand weet toch wie zij zijn. Er wordt best geëxperimenteerd met rock, hiphop, funk, etc. Maar dat je dit moét luisteren voordat je doodgaat, hoeft van mij niet per sé. Zo zijn er zat artiesten die het genrebenden in dezelfde tijd (beter) gedaan hebben: Kanye, Tyler, Andre3000/Outkast, Frank Ocean. Liever daar een albumpje van dan van Pharrell. Rating: 6,5/10 Highlights: She Wants To Move, Breakout

Dit is - net als het reeds gereviewde album van OutKast - echt een voorbeeld van hoe hip hop zich na de eeuwwisseling los heeft gewrongen van het 90s stigma, dat het een genre is dat onlosmakelijk verbonden is met street life, gang culture en achtergestelde communities. Een muziekstijl dóór en vóór de hood. Wat het absolute einde van de eeuw al voorspelde met een transformatie van pure hip hop naar een fusie met R&B, wat een breder publiek trok, werd het genre steeds sterker door de mainstream mee gesleurd. Niet alleen werden er thema's gecommuniceerd die klikte met de midden- en hoge klassen van de US, maar deze werden ook bijgestaan door samples en instrumenten vanuit andere hoeken dan de traditioneel zwarte stijlen als jazz, funk en soul. Dit album bijvoorbeeld heeft qua thematiek en instrumentarium meer voeten in de aarde in de pop punk wereld dan in de klassieke hip hop. Dit voelde je direct, en het werd volledig bevestigd toen twee zangers van Good Charlotte insprongen bij 'Jump'. En ook al is pop punk een genre wat me koud laat, ik respecteer de nieuwe en creatieve invalshoek. Later op het album doet ook Lenny Kravitz nog op een tweetal songs een duit in het zakje, waardoor de brug naar de pop rock wereld werd voltooid. Ook deze nummers raken niet de juiste snaar zoals de rappende rockers (of rockende rappers) als de Beastie Boys of Rage Against the Machine dat vaak wel deden. Misschien zijn het ook wel gewoon de ietwat cringy topics die worden bezongen, waar de coming of age onderwerpen niet ver verwijderd zijn van die van high school punk bands als Blink-182. Voor het onbetwiste hoogtepunt moeten we luisteren naar 'She Wants To Move'. Het is ietwat cheesy, en ruikt enorm naar Black Eyed Peas, maar de nostalgie neemt de overhand. Die hook heeft zich vastgegrepen toen ik het nummer vroeger op m'n MP3-stickie had, en ik merk nu dat hij nog steeds op z'n plek zit. Andere songs die zijn blijven hangen zijn 'Maybe' en 'The Way She Dances'. Die eerste klinkt heel John Lennon-esque, brengt een Britpop vibe, en etaleert de waanzinnige drumkunsten van Questlove. De tweede heeft een aanstekelijke groove. Het hele album - en dit nummer in het speciaal - heeft overduidelijk artiesten als Bruno Mars en Justin Timberlake beïnvloed. Hoewel de productie en de samenwerkingen een nieuwe stap richting de 'Hip Pop' van vandaag zetten, en het moedergenre weer een stap verder verwijderd van haar roots, is N.E.R.D. vooral een kennismaking met het exceptionele oor voor hitjes van Pharrell Williams. Echter kan ik zijn stem vaak moeilijk hebben, vooral in combinatie met die ultra-positieve teksten. Vandaag de dag zijn de meeste producties van hem bijna maniakaal vrolijk, maar ook hier schuurt het al een beetje met mijn muzieksmaak. Daarnaast zijn de elementen die worden geïntegreerd vanuit andere stijlen niet echt mijn pakkie an, en vind ik het vele malen minder uitgevoerd dan een ''Stankonia'', wat wel degelijk ook een breder publiek probeert te bereiken. 5,5/10 Highlights: She Wants To Move Maybe

Musical taste is really something.

At least they tried to be different.

"Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride." 🤮 I'm not impressed with the lyricism (there were multiple moments where a line made me say "Wait, what?") and many of these songs are too long, but this is fairly well-produced and (most of) the vocal performances are fine. I can understand why somebody would really enjoy this. Personally, I am unconvinced of needing to hear this before I died. Highlights: Don't Worry About It, Breakout, Thrasher Songs with particularly baffling lyrics: Wonderful Place, Drill Sergeant, She Wants To Move, The Way She Dances, Chariot Of Fire

so bland. 2 stars

It felt too all over the place.

Would have been a 4 star rating except for the weird rapey car backseat song

Not bad.

In a nutshell: rap rock meets…jazz? It’s shown its age but it also shows how talented Pharrell, Chad, Shay and co are. The opening track reminded me of Prince a la Darling Nicky. As to if it’s Pharrell’s intention to sound seductive, I don’t know. Some catchy drumming (noted that Questlove appeared on Maybe) and bass. Overall: 3/10

It’s an interesting album. Seems like early 2000s where so much was changing with everything. Wouldn’t recommend but there’s a few good songs. Not my thing tho.

D.U.M.B. I heard that Tyler The Creator and Frank Ocean love N.E.R.D., the funk-rock-rap brainchild of production duo The Neptunes, i.e. Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. Guess that... a) Pharrell is probably a friend of Tyler and Frank by now. And since, outside of this particular project, he's still a gifted producer with gold in hands, it's tempting to find the same sort of genius in an album such as this one. Except that nothing's really "genius" about it. It's more like: "let's throw everything we have onto the wall and hope most of it will stick the landing". Newsflash, boys: a lot of it didn't. b) Given the number of genres or subgenres that are tackled in *Fly Or Die*, you could forgive Tyler and Frank for thinking this is the sort of album that opens minds and break barriers for many listeners. Heck, good for them if this record played that specific part in their respective musical upbringing. But the sad truth of the matter is that large chunks of this record are borderline unlistenable today. Actually, N.E.R.D. were already borderline unlistenable in 2004. But thanks to the "power" of catchy single "She Wants To Move", target demographics among general audiences gave Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo--plus whoever that third guy in the band was--the benefit of the doubt. At the time, N.E.R.D. were also helped by critical pundits, who sent tons of unwarranted praise their way--confusing creativity, dynamic production and open-mindedness with derivative endeavors, sloppiness, and lack of meaningful inspiration. Just like its horrible cover, *Fly Or Die* is filled with copied-and-pasted ideas that don't match each other very well. With sometimes a copied-and-pasted attitude *within* the album, which adds to its grating aspect. For instance, one track towards the end of the album, "The Way She Dances", is basically "She Wants To Moves 2", with callbacks to that single so obvious that you might want to roll your eyes at your hi-fi speakers. "She Wants To Move" is not that interesting as a single anyway--it was supposed to age badly, I guess, but it actually aged even worse. It's a hot mess. It's always been so. Not that each and every track in the album sucks, mind you. Right before "The Way She Dances", there is a string of cuts that fare far better, already saving this record from a 1-star grade. They are the Britpop-inspired (!) "Drill Sergeant" (along with its more hectic coda), the Naughty-By-Nature-indebted rap banger "Thrasher", and the moving ballad "Maybe". Lenny Kravitz and The Roots' Questlove helped Williams and Hugo on some happy moments within those particular songs, which might or might not explain why they're tighter on both compositions and performances level. And if you go back to side one, the fast-paced hypnotic and jazzy stomp of "Jump" is also quite good! Unfortunately, everything else is dumb. The faux-Prince meanderings of opener "Don't Worry About It" is dumb. The faux-rock of the title-track is dumb. The faux-blues-rock of the Jimi-Hendrix parody "Backseat Love" is dumb. And whatever the endlessly plodding tracks "Breakout", "Wonderful Place" and "Waiting For You" really are--"faux" or not--they're just dumb as well anyway. Worse, the performances on those cuts sound forced. And just as in most other songs, the lyrics are unfocused and/or hackneyed. Shall I continue up until the very last minutes of this interminable record? Or do you get the picture? By the way, I went to the Wikipedia article related to *Fly Or Die*, and to me, its "reception" section looked like propaganda. How come Pitchfork's scathing 3.something-out-of-10 review for this album is NOT mentioned in the article? How many other negative reviews of the record are thus kept in the dark there? I've never been a *huge* fan of Pitchfork, yet this review is quite hilarious, so I've copied and pasted a link to it under this paragraph. If you don't like this record, and have five extra minutes on your hands, give it a shot. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5749-fly-or-die/ Not giving a grade as terrible as the one Pitchfork gave, though: It's gonna be 1.5/5 for the purposes of this list of "essential albums"--rounded up to 2. It's not as bad as the one given by Pitchfork, because said grade translates differently for more general purposes. You add that 1.5 mark to a 5 point score signifying that, if you made it to this list, you already have a certain modicum of talent and inspiration (not to mention luck)... So my end grade for *Fly Or Die* is 6.5/10. With only 10 reviewers giving a 5/5 mark to this thing on this app, and only 10 or 15 reviews "liked" by the users--whatever the grades in the reviews are--it's obvious that folks are not wild about this record anyway--even to *hate* it. So objectively speaking, there's nothing essential in *Fly Or Die*. Heck, I even wonder how I could write so many words about such a tedious record. Probably because I'm a *real* nerd. A music *nerd*, that is. That's something I could share with fans of this record if they were a little more demanding in their tastes. But I'll leave the door open to them and their own takes. Another reason why I won't give the minimum grade to those other "nerds" here breaking out of their American egg. Number of albums left to review: 269 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 322 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 180 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many other records are more important to me): 234p5 (including this one)

It's fine. Significantly more varied than expected, but nothing particularly great.

I am starting to wonder who picked this list.

Like some of their other tunes but this album generally fell flat.

Perfectly fine, just not for me

Started out looking forward to it, and while it is a unique blend of rock and hip-hop with impeccable production, they just aren't (or aren't yet) suited to the role. Still learning instruments, going off more vibes and energy than melody and musicianship. This was not an easy listen.

Me gustó! Bien! No lo compraría, pero es bueno.

Never heard of them (seems a common theme). It's not terrible but it's not enjoyable. Too much Pharrell falsetto. Lyrics don't speak to me. Nothing catchy.

Apparently these guys must be brilliant producers and musicians. For me as more rock oriented person it is just too slick, too cheesy, too smooth.

2/5 nope

Expected something and a lot more than what I got. Hesitantly rounding up from a very hard 1.5 if not it should probably just be a 1⭐️

I'm giving this two stars, instead of one, for the purpose that while I think this is a cringe-worthy album (lyrics especially), it certainly does have its audience. That audience being teenage boys between the ages of thirteen and fifteen; I am not among that demographic.

It’s ok.

Better then I thought, but still - I could die without listening to this one.

Find it very lightweight

I'm the first person to heap praise on Pharrell and his ability to be all over everything production wise (JT's debut being the obvious example) but wow was I disappointed by this album. So middle of the road and boring.

🤓

I like the vibe, but most of this album doesn't resonate with me. Standouts include Don't Worry About It, Breakout, and Maybe.

A worthy attempt at a unique sound, blending hip hop and rock. Though it sounds a bit dated now, kinda cringy. But creative, sure. Gave some Lenny Kravitz vibes at points. Good Charlotte on track 3 was cool.

A mix of genres lobbed into a stew. It sometimes works but mostly seems juvenile to me. And the lyrics are some of the worst adolescent poetry I’ve ever heard.

Not for me

Okay, but NERD improved significantly on Seeing Sounds.

2/12, 17%

not my vibe

Sounds like it’s been made by horny teenagers

Musically great but not into the lyrics. Feels dated

Hasnt aged well...

Thoughts before listening: I remember Pharrell being in this group, but this album cover is not one that I recognize. From what I remember about them, they have kind of a rap/pop/rock mix to their sound and were pretty popular at the time. I'm pretty surprised this is on the 1,001 list though as I don't remember it being highly touted at the time. Review: Yep...this is basically rap/r&b with rock guitars. Definitely not rap metal ala Limp Bizkit...and better for it. This is okay...a lot of this sounds like Happy-era Pharrell meets like Maroon 5 or something...very poppy style rock. According to Spotify listen stats She Wants to Move is the hit here and that makes sense. It's definitely the catchiest song with kind of a Santana-style guitar solo going underneath the music. There are a couple other songs I like fine, but overall this isn't for me.

A couple of good songs.

Listenable but pretty weak. Probably the least deserving of the top 1001 albums on the list this far

Fun and fairly solid funky soulful pop rock, but I don’t care for it

OK, but pretty bland. Very unexceptional musically, awful lyrically, lacking creativity or any other reason to stand out. One reasonably entertaining hit in an album of meh. Don't understand it's inclusion in any best of list.

Obviously well produced, but not really my thing.

OK, some catchy choons

Not for me. An accurate representation of 2004

This album is like a sinking ship I want to bail from it

Huhm

Started off good… then deteriorated. It was fun till it wasn’t. A concept that could have been really good, but missed the mark for me.

Felt like early 2000’s boy band hip hop. Every song sounded the same.

Some fun songs here, but a lot of cringed, undercooked lyrics and sameness in the music adds up to a disappointing affair. Pharrell certainly has a great voice, but that doesn’t save this record. A few attempts at anti-war sentiments are well-meaning but don’t quite land.

I have remembered this album as much more entertaining than it apparently is. Maybe my musical taste changed, or it's just a mark of time, but this record is absolutely miserable and I had a really bad time trying to listen to it all. I didn't like the beat in any song, it wasn't particularly rock, but it wasn't a classic rap beat as well, flow of the songs was just not there, at least Pharell Williams was keeping some composure and a certain level in his singing/rapping. Never again I will mention NERD as a band I used to listen to.

Here's another one that makes me wonder how this list was put together. Didn't suck, but give me an hour and I could come up with 10,001 other albums that didn't suck.

This album seems disjointed. I feel like Pharrell is trying to be personal and introspective but his lyric writing isn't up to par in that area. I don't think these songs are bad but I'm not revisiting them again. Easy 2 for me.

Tired rap-rock. About as memorable as an interstate mile-marker.

Tja, ik heb best wel een zwak voor Pharell. Maar ik vond dit nou niet echt heel indrukwekkend.

Slick, but shallow

Hip-Hop meets .... music?!? The opening track is alright, the rest didn't really gel for me. 2/5

Knew nothing about N.E.R.D going in. By the album cover, I assumed it was going to be rap. Apple Music even has Hip-Hop/Rap as the genre. It didn't sound like it to me. Funk rock maybe? Either way, I wasn't really feeling it. Cringe lyrics didn't help. I thought the drums sounded good on a couple of the tracks. Best track: Maybe (maybe?)

I'm not a huge fan or anything, but this isn't even their best album.

Very few rap-rock bands have anything to offer me, and unfortunately N.E.R.D. is definitely not my thing. It's not bad but I find it kinda cheesy.

I liked this at the time but wow, really hasn't aged well

wow, i really wanted to like this album but it just... wasn't good. none of the songs ever really went anywhere. when i liked the instrumentation, the vocals sounded awful and vice versa. the lyrics weren't interesting for the songs i was reading along to. i listened to the album twice and change just to make sure. the madden bros even made an appearance (it was 2004 so this is understandable) and just didn't add anything to that track. didn't even notice lenny kravitz and he was apparently on two tracks?? also i don't think you can call these hidden tracks if they're just... in the middle of the album??? what. just... baffling and mediocre all around favorites: fly or die

I could not get into this at all. Something about it seems so superficial; it was just kind of lifeless from start to finish. Even the song that was supposedly about being high felt like it was written by someone who's only ever seen drug use in late 90's sitcoms.

Didn't really care for this one. It was fine, but I'd never turn this on. 2.25/5

Oh wow, this one’s got the Joel and Benji Madden feature on it. That tells you everything you need to know. This album is peak early 2000’s rap and emo dominance. You had to choose which genre was going to form the base layer of your shitty teen identity: rap/hip hop or emo. There were only two choices, and all of us were obnoxious and rude to our parents regardless of what we chose.

Solid album

So much different than I thought it would be. Still, bad lyrics

All the songs are mid or skips... pass.

2/5 Really was not my preference of music which I found unfortunate because I liked the idea of nerd rappers. It was just aggravating which made it unpalatable sadly.

A vaguely interesting mix of styles, which others have done both better and worse. It's not bad, but didn't make me want to listen to it all.

Listened Before? N This one wasn't as bad or as good as the other reviews made it out to be. It's solidly mediocre, and fairly dated. I read it's been removed from the actual list now, and that's probably for the best. Not sure how the #18 album of 2004 made it to a list of records I MUST HEAR, but it's whatever. It is what it is. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Don't Worry About It

this album was okay. not as attention grabbing as it could be, truth be told. i found some similarities with n.e.r.d.'s fly or die with the beastie boys. whereas the beastie boys leaned more into hip hop with rock tendencies, n.e.r.d. focused more on rock with sprinkles of hip hop. a good combination, but it couldn't do enough for me. really cool to see pharrell williams' origins! he's like a baby here, and he learned to play drums for this album?!

This album was okay, but it had its interesting moments. There is clearly some rap-rock influence here from groups of the 90s, but they find a way to make it their own. There is definitely a unique, cool funk sound and vibe to this album, too, especially noticeable on "She Wants to Move". These aspects definitely sounds like signature Pharrell Williams, demonstrating that his style goes back further than just his solo career. Speaking of, I had no idea that Pharrell Williams was involved in a band (let alone two bands!) prior to his solo career. That was fun to learn!

2/5

The fact that the band all learned how to play their instruments for this album is truly impressive. It does show in the sense that some of it is fairly basic but I can't fault them for that. It's a pleasant listen as well, although somewhat unremarkable in my eyes.

Poor, he qlways seems overarated to me, nothing new here.

"Fly or Die is the second studio album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D,…" Tis neither rap nor rock. 2/5.

The music is pretty good, but I find the singing is more of a distraction than a benefit. The singing seems out of tune and almost unrelated to the music... a feeling that just because you're trying to sing smoothly, that it's going to be enjoyable. Maybe seems to be the best and everything else is a step or two below it. Was happy to have this over.

I wanted to like this because the idea they were going for is cool. The rap/rock combo is fun but none of the songs really did it well. Good idea, not well executed.

not gonna revisit Neptunes

2.7 - A fun, upbeat energy is the only thing saving these dumb-as-rocks songs. I do like the first part of "Drill Sargent" where he's complaining about an asshole boss but that soon descends into a violent fantasy.

Not natural poets are they? The horny teenage boys of hip hop

2-3

the 2000s were so sleazy.

Average at best 2.5

Not as good as the following albums, sry

The target audience for this appears to be middle school, which is great, because somebody's going to get that sweet, sweet preteen money and it might as well be you. I just couldn't turn my brain off enough to enjoy it. Best track: Find My Way

not for me

Good

Only listened to part of the album. nor did I give it full attention. What I did hear was OK but not great.

Nope. Bored. I can see that this album has been expunged (rightly) from the latest edition of 1001 Albums. Pitchfork writes: "Debating the validity of Pharrell Williams' bandname seems like a contentious trifle, but the dude continuously positions himself as a wide-reaching musicologist. In the press, he seems convinced that merely mentioning the fact his record collection contains Steely Dan, Chick Corea, Stereolab, and EPMD coupled to his role as producer of tracks for the likes of Britney Spears and Philly's Most Wanted makes him a pop prodigy crossover messiah. The name "N.E.R.D." arrogantly admits to a higher IQ, while excusing Williams' potentially embarrassing prog-R&B; hybrid as a goofy cult experiment. Sadly, like a tackle-shocked J.O.C.K., Fly or Die is stupid and boring." Agreed; stupid and boring.

I see little of virtue in this album. Nothing, actually. Seems like the curators here are clutching at straws.

While I can appreciate the ingenuity and creativity of this album, it’s just not my jam. At first I thought it was a decent album to listen to in the background with my kid around, since the beats and different effects are pretty good, but after listening to some questionable lyrics, decided that the only plus factor for me in that regard, didn’t matter much if I didn’t want my kid listening to it. They are artists of their generation, so I’ll give them that! Listen again: no Purchase for my collection: no Favourite Song: Worst Song:

I'm not sure what this is, and I don't need to find out. Next.

ok, it finally happened. after 50 albums i finally got one i just could not do. nope. made it two songs.

Rubbish

Not Even Rubbish. Donut

Feels like 101 other things I've listened to over the years and I'm left asking what's the point of this album? Dull proggy-like rock which does not hold my attention.

Awful mix of rap and rock. Couldn't find anything to enjoy.

These lyrics are shite

Not awful but didn’t connect with it

Interesting to see the Lab that created and then set leash Pharrell and inflicted him upon the rest of the world. I do not believe they have been held accountable for that crime against music and guess I have a new cause to fight for. I am astonished that an album that is so sonically upbeat can be so goddamn boring. I was going to give this a two before I realized how annoyed it was going to make me to give this a two. Pharrell owes me that hour of my life back.

A far-worse "Arrested Development." The lyrics, in general, are asinine.

“T.U.R.D.”

I started to write a review about these dorks in the moronic fascism easter egg. It included my usual jabs at millennials (album voted most likely to be pined for with reference to listening while using cannabis. Cannabis referred to as "tasty bud" by hypothetical reviewer). That was about it. I didn't get that far. I don't know if it's the change in the weather, as summer starts earlier and earlier each year, or if it's just the unyielding day-in day-out purgatorial anguish known as being forced to work for others to remain housed but this record made me want to chew glass. I don't know if that is in a "self-mutilation way" or a "quell internal vitriolic rage" way. Dealer's choice. Fuck this record and everyone who had anything to do with it. May the United States and the memory of dim-witted mid-oughts rap evaporate into a fine red mist to be inhaled by the atmosphere and disappeared from our collective psyche. I choose DIE. 0 GENRE: Made up band in Harold & Kumar movie.

This is what you get when a producer thinks he’s an artist: bland, boring, Disney channel garbage.

Me gusta la voz de Pharrel pero está bien aburrido este peo, muy boneless la música

Pish

I think I got whiplash from listening to this off the back of a run of brilliant albums. Maybe I was just hot and tired when I listened to this. I really dislikes this, which surprises me somewhat because the blend of punk, hip-hop, and pop sounds so interesting to me. But unfortunately I just didn't get anything from it and found it actively annoying at times. Sorry :( Favourites: Thrasher?

Not sure why this album is on the list. most songs are pretty sophomoric. Voices suck, often unintentionally offkey. Some guitar but no real memorable riffs. The songs wander around several different genres but doesn't really commit to any particular theme, leaving the listener pretty lost and disappointed. Maybe this is only memorable as an early Pharrell sighting.

2.5/10

That was tough

20 years later and nobody listens to this shit. It was weak at the time, and it certainly hasn't aged well. I wonder, were ANY of the curators of this list hip-hop fans??!?!?

Did the editors of the list actually listen this album? I assume not because had they, it wouldn't have been included.

This album blows. It’s bad hip hop combined with bad pop combined with bad rock combined with terrible lyrics. Wonderful place was the only pseudo-redemption. As an American, this record made me truly believe no good American music was released in the early 2000s if this is what’s on the list. Truly hated it. Couldn’t even finish multiple songs. Hard to find many positives for me. 1/5

Had to resort to a relative ratings for this. Would I rather listen to Alanis (2 stars) or this? Alanis is answer. Would I rather listen to Mr Manson (1 star) or this? Mr Manson is the answer. Since I am not a man, but a robot who values consistency over all else, a one (1) star this has to be.

Half way through this project and this may be the worst album so far. If it was parody I would get it a little, it would still be bad but at least it would make sense who it's bad.

Listening notes: Lame and annoying. Boring. Not inspiring. I guess there is a reason I’ve never heard of this band, ever. And I like Pharrell, so good for him that he escaped this mess.

I like the ideas but the end product was not for me. Mostly unenjoyable melodically and lyrically.

Ha, glih včer je bil v pogovoru omenjen Pharrell Williams. Hm. Definitivno se vsaj en komad spomnim, oz bolj video od komada "She Wants To Move". Ostalo je a mystery. Do zdaj, očitno. Ful drums heavy, but not in a good way. Do zdej mi je po pravic povedan tak vajb, k da bi trije najstniki, en od njih zna bobne, posnel album, kjer morjo vsi na vseh komadih met vokale. (Lol, berem wiki zj in literally piše, da so se za ta album naučil igrat glasbila. In pa "Several of tracks concern issues of particular concern to adolescents" - dj nehi no, kok se počutim validated) Evo, komad, ki ga poznam. Lol, pozabila sm na random lajanje na začetku. O fak, in besedilo "her ass is a space ship I want to ride". Ok. Ne vem, a je kle nostalgija močna, a kva, ampak bass line mi je še zmer kul. Fak, ker whiplash je začetek naslednjega komada ("Breakout"). Najbl indie rock sounding, z whiny vokali. A se men blede, a Pharrell velikrat zafuša k poje? O boh, k nek shitty srednješolski band ("Drill Sergeant"). Še 4 komadi... Prilezla do zadnjega. Je pa 8 minut. Ugh, ne ni, hidden komad je, zj mam tišino že kako minuto. When will it start? When will it end?!

Shite

What starts as an inoffensive hip hop album, that sounds like it was engineered in a lab to appeal to the early 2000s Kerrang! crown, quickly gets boring. Then, as you tune into the truly terrible lyrics, crashes and burns. If the album title was a question I’d choose “die”.

Pharrell Williams was AI slop before AI so congrats for that. Back to wondering why I’m listening to albums from this generator. 1/3 have been garbage.

Klarte ikke å høre ferdig engang, elendig album

I didn’t like this album. Nothing about it grabbed me.

very questionable lyrics

Yuck.

I find this unlistenable.

Mediocre 2000s production blandness. God its dull.

not for me

1.5 stars I don’t really feel like there was anything that redeemed this one. There wasn’t a single stand out track. The instrumentation is simplistic. This doesn’t belong anywhere near this list.

Seriously have no idea how this made the list. Nothing going for this one. Name fits.

The music on this record is mildly interesting though mostly derivative pop/rock in the same ballpark as Lenny Kravitz (who shows up on a couple of tracks, unfortunately). However, the villain here is the dreadful, off-key singing which, combined with the no-effort lyrics, totally torpedoes this ship.

"Fly or Die" is the second studio album by American rap and rock band N.E.R.D. Art rock and progressive pop are the Wiki-listed genres. N.E.R.D. was a side project of the production duo, the Neptunes, consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. On this album, Williams is lead vocalist and plays piano, keyboards, drums and percussion. Chad Hugo plays guitars, piano, keyboards, saxophone and bass and sings backing vocals. The third member, Shay Haley, plays drums, percussion and sings lead and backing vocals. Additional musicians included Lenny Kravitz and Questlove. The album had mixed reviews and, commercially, it reached #6 on the US Billboard 200 and #4 on the UK Album Chart. A down-tuned guitar riff and rock drums open the album in "Don't Worry About It." Pharrell Williams in a falsetto declaring she's bad ass which is repeated in the chorus. An attempt at Prince. The first single "She Wants to Move" starts with a dog barking. Loud drums and bass. An acoustic Spanish guitar and handclaps. Williams stating "She's sexy" and coming up with the awesome lyric "Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride." The second single "Maybe" features Lenny Kravitz with guitar riffs and a short guitar solo. A prancing piano and marching drums. Jazzy in spots but really an attempt at late 60's Beatles' pop pyschedelia. I have a headache. This is exhibit A of why editor/writer Robert Dimery of "1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" has had a very inconsistent and constant rotating selection of albums from the 2000's. Why would you include this album? Trying to be too "cutesy" and ahead of the critical curve? Lots of production, overproduction. There's lead, backing, noise and echoing vocals. Layered instrumentation of every kind. Moments of heavy guitar, loud drums, poppy psychedelia, strings, prog, hip hop and much more to my dismay. There are moments of catchy pop and decent early 70's soul which are nearly taken away by the overproduction. This album got more irritating the longer I listened to it. Do yourself a favor and grab nearly any Prince album from the 1980's and put it on instead of this.

nah

Like someone frantically slapping mismatched paint onto a wall while the music blares in the background, this experimental pop-rock album lurches between funk, rock, and electronic elements without finding coherence, its inventive rhythms and crunchy guitars lost in the rush. The vocals posture with attitude rather than precision, and the lyrics gesture toward rebellion and individuality but rarely dig deeper than surface-level swagger. The resulting mess is energetic but unfocused, leaving more splatter than substance.

Insupportable

Bland and boring. I didn’t enjoy a single track.

It took maybe the better part of one minute for me to figure out I hated this. The guitar here feels like it’s lifeless most of the time and I pretty much despise all of Pharrell Williams’ vocal inflections that he uses throughout the album. It’s not like the lyrics are anything special. I know comparisons are generally not too fair, but this album came out the same year as The College Dropout, and I couldn’t help but think about how much I’d rather listen to that album than this one. “Backseat Love” (probably the worst song on the record that I had to pause midway through because it was so bad) made me think of how much I’d rather listen to the indie rock group The Backseat Lovers. I think that “Jump”, “Breakout” are tolerable, while “Drill Sergeant” (without the hidden track) and “Maybe” are actually good. Well, when my experience with an album is so poor that I can only think about other albums I’d rather listen to, it’s no shocker that it’s going to get a 1/5. Currently, it will end up as #2 lowest rated album, still decently ahead of 1989.

I was walking, down the street Saw this girl, she smell so sweet ....Hey baby... She start running, so I could chase How they get them saffires, in yo face ....Hey baby... So we start walking, and holding hands But she don't know, that daddy got plans I'm gon' get her, in my car In the backseat, show her a rock star She said, "I been hugged, and I been kissed But ain't no other boy, make me feel like this." ....I know baby... So then she starts screaming, and reaching for the door "Daddy I ain't never felt this before!" Stay in the car, put the windows up No seatbelt, no need to buckle up Emergency brakes, no need for the clutch But wait... ah, don't get a ticket girl!

Fly or Die by NERD shouldn’t have been on this list. This attempt at a second album is a major bomb. The two singles on this album are barely memorable. The faux-jazz vibes they’re trying to manufacture aren’t doing it. Pharrell is a genius producer for like 40 years, and during the last 25, I have come to really dislike his whole “wannabe Curtis Mayfield” vocal stylings (save for “Frontin’”, that song fucks.) Lyrically this album is like choppy middle school poetry.

Can’t stand this.

Progressive R&B, funk rock, neo-soul, art rock and rap rock with Lenny Kravitz and the geezers from Good Charlotte featuring on tracks? I don't think an impressionable 11 year old me would've found that even remotely appealing, let alone now. It's decidedly average at all of those styles at best, and insufferable at its worst. They clearly had no one in their ear telling them "no", and somehow even managed to swindle a contract with Virgin Records. It beggars belief.

A move away from the usual hip hop style to a rock/soul approach. Ambitious but inconsistent. I found the blended genres very taxing to listen too.

Ferrell's first project....which I think I remembered at some point 20 years ago. Not my flavor of riprock. 1 star.

How does an act this bad get one album, let alone a second. 0 stars if I could.

An example of an album that immediately gets under your skin and doesn't come out. 2

I'm a real nerd and this music isn't for me. While not great, the opener "Don't Worry About It" hinted at things settling on a two-star review. But the deeper we go with Fly or Die, the more insufferable it becomes. Truly abysmal. Including an album like this makes me question the validity of the whole "albums you must hear before you die" concept. Honestly, some sounds are best left buried.

can't possibly be one of the top 1001 records

Don’t like this.

Three of the worst genres of the early 2000s: pop-rock, pop-rap and Rock-rap. this album is all three, and was doomed to fade away as irrelevant as soon as the popraprock fad ended. Here is my list of grievances with this album. 1) the cover is egregious. I'm someone who enjoys a album art, but this is on another level 2) the songs are incredibly repetitive 3) there is no attempt to sequence the album, it's like a mix of bad standalone singles 4) while Pharrell's voice is pretty good, all of the other features are not well used 5) four hidden tracks do NOT make for an interesting album, it's just tedious 6) again, popraprock is an awful genre. 1/5

Didn’t really get a hold on me

‘Thrasher’ just about sums up this album. And I don't mean the track name (I refuse to call it a song). 1

This album feels messy, like a high school project band where each person made music separately, put it together without changes, and that's what they turned in.

Doesn't play on my apple music.

Well, I can say that I listened to this and it was an album. With music. It played and people sang and played instruments. But it was definitely not “good”, whatever that means. Now excuse me while I find copies of this to throw in the garbage so it can’t hurt anyone any more with it’s mediocrity.

Not much of a hip hop person

Serious Tower Records bargain bin vibes with this one. Really terrible, I wasn't impressed with anything that I heard on this one. Hard pass, won't be back.

There was definitely some potential, but not realized.

Sorta sounds like the cover. I have a feeling this wasn't intended for 51-year-old retired dudes. Not terribly offensive but mildly annoying.

First song was good. Not a fan of the rest. 3/10

This was nearly unlistenable to me. I hear the lyrics, I hear the point, I hear the instrumentals, the melodies etc etc - I hate it, all of it. I did not like this one bit. Every aspect of it was like taking an angle grinder to my brain and felt clunky and hollow. It felt like the musical equivalent of a melodramatic teen movie with superficial quandaries and problems communicated through bad and rigid acting. It wanted to make a point but instead of a spear we got a baseball bat. Fly Or Die and Drill Sergeant are the best examples of this. I happen to really dislike repetition in songs too, the same lyrics or word repeated an unreasonable amount, which this album apparently loves. Nearly every song felt the need to repeat its name incessantly, did they think we would forget? I recognised She Wants To Move, registered somewhere in my brain, and it was probably the only song that gave me any semblance of pleasure. I found nothing novel, original or even interesting in this album. Absolutely incomprehensible how to current top review for this says it's "eclectic and original" and "pushes the envelope", this sounds like one of the most cookie-cutter early-2000s hip hop/"rock" albums I've ever heard. Most / Least Favourite Track(s): She Wants To Move, with Thrasher the only other song I didn't beg to finish / Jump Rating: 1.5/5 but I always round down here. Just truly exhausting.

Sometimes a bit cringe but otherwise great

I actually had a small N.E.R.D phase in college, but never spent any time with this album -- only In Search Of... and Seeing Sounds. 3 tracks in and I hate this. Jump is a special kind of terrible. I mean the instrumentals are OK, but the vocals are just obnoxious. Well for the first time in a while I was glad for this one to be done. Very little redeeming here for me. I'm going 1-2 range...

Yeah I have no idea how this middle-of-the-road nonsense rap-pop ended up on this list. Skip this one please.

Didn't connect with this album at all. Felt like I was waiting for the songs to hit a different gear to keep my interest, but everything felt flat and uninteresting. Especially disappointing after seeing Pharrell Williams was in this group

Genuinely don't know how this is on the list

Terrible background canned rock. Each song just a repeat of what came before. I find the vocals are high pitched and managed to become irritating as more modern iterations achieve a more energetic catchy effect which is almost entirely missing here. No chance I would listen to this or similar again. Its got the polish of a hospital. I dont think I can find any redeeming feature of this as the lyrics are crap too.

Didn't connect with this album at all. I don't mind the eclecticism in principle but in practice I didn't think the hodgepodge of different styles really worked. Similarly with satire or cultural observation, good if it resonates with you but I didn't find any of this did. Being kind, I could see how this could hold some cultural relevance to a certain demographic in the US but it didn't feel that way for me.

Terrible, unimaginative slop. Pharrell had to start somewhere…

;/ Not interesting for me, nothing on it feels original.

It would be difficult for me to be less interested in this album. It just bores me. 1 star or F+.

Der var nogen bangers til at starte med, men synes langt det meste var skippable

I hate N/E.R.D. and I really can't stand Pharrell, sorry

custom_rating:2

I respect Pharrell a lot as a producer, but have absolutely zero interest in listening to any of his music! Multiple times on this record where I audibly went "wow, this sucks"

The music seems interesting for a few minutes, but then gets boring and repetitive pretty soon. Lyrics are just awful.

eh

Pretty annoying kind of music. I forgot about this era where everyone thought rap-rock was cool and innovative. I like Pharrell a whole lot more as a producer than a vocalist (side note: if I could remove one song from history, it'd be Happy. Fuck Despicable Me). The background vocals on this (like JUMP! JUMP! JUMP!) make me really mad. Who is this music for??? Was tempted to give 2 stars bc the production is interesting sometimes and they could arguably get some points for experimenting. But ultimately, I wanted to skip every song after 30 seconds – and I pretty much did

I hated just about every second of this.

Meh

Die

Hendrix : Kravitz :: OutKast : NERD Incredibly repetitive songs that get boring 1 minute in. Smug eclecticism that dabbles in a lot of genres without going beyond the surface of their sound, so you get lots of boring fuzzy guitar riffs, generic jazziness, bland RnB horns, corny rap bravura, perky charmless britpop jangle, and annoying emo melodies. A good argument for keeping the producers behind the boards.

Really thought I was gonna like this, but it was hot trash.

am i crazy or did this suck. the track Maybe didn’t seem so bad, but that might’ve just been the stockholm syndrome at that point

2/5 kinda bad

This had aggressively mediocre side project energy.

The hell is this? Hip hop? Pop? New Jack Swing? Cross-over? Whatever it tried to be, it failed. This is, without hyberbole, one of the WORST albums I've been served on this 1001 list. Ive at least finished listening to all the 1 star albums - here I just found myself skipping every song. SH*T

Sorry what even was this!? I recognised THE one song but the rest of it was just highly irritating. Couldn't bear it. Particularly the weird song about a baby judging it's mother. Another weird paternalistic song singing about a trouble mother.. how many similar songs for men are there? Does my nut in

Absolutely not. So many weird, misogynistic lyrics here and generally just crap. Backseat Love is just a rape song right? Look at these lyrics: I was walking, down the street Saw this girl, she smell so sweet Hey, baby She start running, so I gave chase How they get them sapphires in yo face? Hey, baby So we start walking, and holding hands But she don't know, that daddy got plans I'm gon' get her in my car In the backseat and show her a rock star WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!

I'm not sure if it was my mood, but I thoroughly detested this album. It feels like low-grade pop rock, and yet another album that makes me question why it's on the list.

This didn't seem to age well. Even the singles seemed tired at this point.

1. uuorry - 0 2. fly - 0 3. jump - 0 4. love - 0 5. move - 0 6. breakout - 0 7. place - 0 8. drill - 0 9. trazher - 0 10. maybe - 0 11. dancez - 0 12. fire - 0 I GIVE THEM A ZERO RATING BUT NOT AN OPTION. FUCKKNG SUCK BALLS !!!!!!!!!!!

Oof, this one was a tough listen for me. I really didn't know what Pharrell's background was, to me he showed up in like 2013 singing on "Blurred Lines" (very bad), "Get Lucky" (ok), and his own "Happy" (also bad). Apparently he was part of a production duo called The Neptunes, and then him and the other Neptunes guy formed this rap-rock band called N.E.R.D (No-one Ever Really Dies). That's the history. I'll be honest, I was already little negatively polarized on Pharrell (though him making Maggie Rogers famous was cool I guess), and this didn't really help. The rap-rock thing can occasionally work for me, but here it just felt like barely rap combined with completely uninspired pop-rock beats. The lyrics were rough too, it feels like something an 18-year old might write, but he was 31 when this came out. There is the occasional catchy beat here and there, and his vocals are fine, but the good parts are few and far between on a fairly long album. One of the things that people give them credit for was learning the instruments so they could play this live (which I guess they didn't for their first album). I guess that's a little impressive, but maybe just stick to your thing next time. Favorite song: She Wants To Move Other: Breakout, Maybe 10/24/24

Rubbish

God awful singing. Unremarkable

I was looking forward to this as I had heard good things about N.E.R.D and there first album In Search Of ... This one was ok it jumps about a bit encompassing hip hop, pop, jazz & rock at various different places and honestly none of it is that great, so yeah that's about it nothing really more to say on it.

Wasn’t on apple or Spotify so 1 star from me

I like Pharrell, but this one wasn't good

Nahhhhhhh - no thanks

Absolutely no way this should be anywhere near this list. Laughably bad. Three hidden tracks? I'd have happily gone with twelve hidden tracks; hidden in a vault, encased in concrete and dropped into the Mariana Trench.

just kinda passed me by without anything of note jumping out - good or bad!

It was funky fun, made me wiggle my hips a bit but overall I felt no connection in my heart or mind, alas.

Tässä geneeristä alavirettä on oudoitettu koristelulla, kuten jännillä soinnuilla, sähköskeballa ja progehtavilla rytmeillä. Vaikea kuunneltava.

Volgens mij moeten we rap en rock lekker gescheiden houden. 4/10 Highlights - Dieptepunt Wonderful Place

Awful from the jump. This had no business being an ep, let alone 55 minutes. If you want to jam aimlessly with your buds be my guest but don’t subject me to it. God I hated this.

Mist!

Not my cup of tea. Didn't care for the language or topics. Seemed to be well done.

This shit sucks

No.

I made it to song 4 or 5, and I had to bring out the gong. Nope. Not for me. Sorry N.E.R.D fans.

Album Nr. 19 Nicht meins. :-(

Mixed bag

So nondescript I've forgotten it already.

eh 1

Truño habitual

No thanks

I particularly enjoyed the period of silence before the hidden track began.

Couldn’t listen on Apple Music - found it on Spotify but could only listen on shuffle. Didn’t bother with most of it. I think Pharrell really showed his true colours with Blurred Lines. Not cool P, not cool.

No thanks

There's a special kind of torture to watching things you love done exceptionally poorly. It's like accidentally grabbing the salt for your tea instead of the sugar. It's a bad experience all around.

As they say in the Netherlands "geen ruk an"

Extremely bland and boring.

Nerd just doesn’t do it for me. No matter how critically acclaimed it is. 1.5/5

Jesus Christ this looks like it's gonna be an abomination. Update: it is. It fucking SUX. And ugh, Pharrell Williams to boot. The shit stars really did align this morning lol. Recognised 1 song, wished I hadn't. Just the worst example of the early 2000s I can think of right now. 1/5.

One of the worst albums I’ve ever heard

Pretensão adolescente de qualquer um pode fazer rock. Isso sem ter nada de punk evolvido. Tentativas pasteurizadas de soar como RHCP ou Faith no More.