• Record Label: Geffen
  • Release Date: Jun 20, 2006
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 27
  2. Negative: 1 out of 27
  1. She’s found the perfect collaborator to match her voracious appetite for all things pop.
  2. Loose is slick, smart and surprising - the first great pop album of the year.
  3. Aside from a few duff tracks 'Loose' is an absolute beauty that couldn't have arrived at a better moment.
  4. This is glorious, 21st-century Technicolor po.
  5. Spin
    80
    In the way the tunes crash and throb, much of the album could be the "Milkshake" follow-up Kelis never got around to recording. [Jun 2006, p.84]
  6. "Loose" is an addictive, deceptively lightweight album of electronic pop; at different points it evokes Janet Jackson, M.I.A., Gwen Stefani and Gnarls Barkley. [19 Jun 2006]
  7. The most relevant reference points for "Loose" are Gwen Stefani's "Love Angel Music Baby" and Justin Timberlake's "Justified" - producer-defined albums that reinvented their performers as stand-alone solo artists with a wide, hip remit.
  8. Blender
    80
    It has at least seven killer tracks. [Jul 2006, p.101]
  9. Timbaland has revitalized Nelly Furtado both creatively and commercially.
  10. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    As thrilling as Gwen, as badass as MIA. [17 Jun 2006, p.37]
  11. Los Angeles Times
    75
    Furtado is game for anything Timbaland tosses out, and his production on most tracks unifies the disparate styles and moods. [18 Jun 2006]
  12. A notably tight album of summer bangers marked by more melody than either Furtado or Timbaland has played with before.
  13. It probably won't appeal to all, and some of Furtado's fans may be hugely turned off by the more danceable tracks. Yet Timbaland has revitalized Furtado - this is the sound of an artist having the time of her life.
  14. Furtado's style-hopping nature makes her a never less-than-interesting artist, but it doesn't work to her advantage when it occurs within the same record, and that's what ultimately keeps Loose from cohering as a singularly great pop album the way her prior efforts did.
  15. Uncut
    70
    It's her most enjoyable record yet. [Jul 2006, p.92]
  16. A welcome exercise in versatility.
  17. Unfortunately, the result is like a blind date where the chemistry doesn't quite click.
  18. She mysteriously trims away her individuality and morphs into a J.Lo imitator.
  19. Although a respectable, yet fickle bid at club fodder, schmaltzy ballads, and trend riding one offs, something about it just doesn’t fit.
  20. The strangest thing about Loose isn't its irregularity, but the simple fact that this doesn't sound like Nelly Furtado at all.
  21. Rolling Stone
    60
    [Furtado] scat[s] her quirky high-school-musical vocals over [Timbaland's] mostly Eighties beats. [15 Jun 2006, p.94]
  22. Vibe
    60
    While she loses herself in Gwen Stefani-like posturing... Furtado masterfully combines Spanish and pop influences in her own unique way. [Jun 2006, p.164]
  23. Mojo
    60
    Loose feels less like an album than a clutch of singles plus accompanying extras. [Jul 2006, p.100]
  24. There is nothing awful here, but Loose never meets the dizzyingly high expectations it was saddled with.
  25. Q Magazine
    60
    Much of it is an inventive, hio-hop-inflected delight. [Jul 2006, p.112]
  26. Furtado is game... but Timbo brings beats, not chemistry. Loose isn't a love child, but a bump-and-grind that never finds a groove.
  27. Unfortunately, Furtado doesn't have the rhyming skills, vocal chops or attitude to pull off any one of her new personae.
User Score
8.8

Universal acclaim- based on 231 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 13 out of 231
  1. Aug 8, 2017
    10
    Just an epic album. "Maneater", "Promiscuous", "Say It Right" & "All Good Things", these four songs are crazy, you don't have to listen otherJust an epic album. "Maneater", "Promiscuous", "Say It Right" & "All Good Things", these four songs are crazy, you don't have to listen other songs. 2000s banger. Full Review »
  2. Jan 26, 2023
    7
    Nice album from the 2000 with banger singles. All of her classics are on this album
  3. Oct 12, 2022
    10
    this album really deserves a 10! The production by timbaland is on a whole other level