Back again with another unique feature for GWHH - a review of N*E*R*D’s newest album, Seeing Sounds, just released in stores this week! Simply click the ‘Reviews’ tag above and check out our previous reviews! (Here I Stand,Tha Carter III, & The Glow In The Dark Tour in Chicago)

Seeing Sounds is a perfect title for the album; right away, the listener can see the hip-hop production mixed with rock, a unique element that defines N*E*R*D* with a sound unlike anything listeners have ever heard. The reason for the title goes deeper than that as N*E*R*D member, Shay states,

“It’s a mixture of senses that may cause a person to experience colorful hearing, auditory smell. For example, you might see something, and it might trigger a song. You might hear something, and it might trigger a taste in your mouth. When we created this album, it was the music we envisioned while creating it. We decided it would be the appropriate title for the album.”

Their vision was executed very well in the music and I think fans of hip hop and rock alike will enjoy parts of this album, at the very least. The personification of this vision for the album has to lie within one of my favorites - “Spaz”. As Pharrell describes,

“[The song] ‘Spaz’ is [a] nostalgic, hip-hop feeling with some drum and bass. It becomes a big, tall monster. It’s almost like this big gorilla looking down at you. If he smacks you, he kills you. His fingers are the size of your body. That’s kinda what we’re doing. We’re facing this big monster of, of what we know is out there, of what we see, that big monster of energy.”

While the production of the album is its most consistent attribute, I would say the lyrics throughout Seeing Sounds are the most inconsistent. The track, “Love Bomb” contains elements of both brilliance and non-sense, in fact, and illustrates similar patterns seen throughout the entire album.

“Can’t you see?
This is the Truman show baby
Cuz when they fight who dies is you
Ohhhh what if you unscrew me?
We’ve got the same gear and the same tools
But how you gonna catch up with your head hanging down
Whatcha see staring at the ground?
But I believe, even without a clue
You’ve got sunlight
And it can be your guide
No more political dreams
Not another excuse
Don’t need another love song when you the love bomb..

To just blow us away
To freakin’ blow the lights out
Turning night to day
And root from other way
Just to make it right now
Fuck what the government say
We gotta save some lights now
Is it ok?”

- N.E.R.D. “Love Bomb”

The important idea to note about the lyrics, however, is that the “non-sense” I’m speaking of can actually be interpreted positively as seen above in “Love Bomb”. They spread their message with a very unique approach that I’m not sure I like, or even fully comprehend sometimes, but I definitely respect. The lyrics are quite unique, that in some cases, it provides for some deep reflecting to try and understand what they mean behind the “non-sense”. The one area I believe the lyrics can improve in is in the choruses. One of the first things I concluded after a couple listens of the album was the repetitiveness of almost every chorus. Sometimes a simple phrase is repeated every so often (See: “Everyone Nose”, “Anti Matter”, “Spaz”, & more..) that it takes away from the depth of the verses and limits the album’s lasting appeal. I still do enjoy most of the songs, but will I still feel as strongly a couple weeks, even months down the road when the repetitiveness of the choruses sway the meter higher on the annoying scale? Time will determine that, but it is one concern of the album that holds it back a little bit. Luckily, in almost all the tracks, the beats are never the same throughout and actually switch very drastically for certain bridges, which provides for fresh tracks and doubles as an effective strategy for a listener trying to perceive the group’s vision of Seeing Sounds.

Overall, this album is a MUST-BUY for any fan of hip hop OR rock as Seeing Sounds has some strong crossover appeal to fans of both genres. It is certainly one album I will be blaring through the speakers throughout the summer. As an added bonus, DL one more track from the album called “You Know What”. It was the one track that jumped out at me (and Lupe :D) as an instant classic when I popped in the album for the first time the other day. Be sure to pick up the album ASAP if you don’t have it already. If you hurry to your nearest Best Buy, Circuit City, or Target sometime today, you can still pick it up at its first-week discounted price of $9.99!

*Tibs Favs

01. Time For Some Action

05. Spaz

07. Sooner Or Later

10. Love Bomb

11. You Know What

Production: 8.5/10

Lyrics: 7.5/10

OVERALL: 7.5/10

N*E*R*D “You Know What”

Producer: The Neptunes - FULL, CDQ, Track off album, Seeing Sounds, in stores NOW! *Tibs Fav.

~ Sgt. Tibs