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[It] would be more accurately titled Timbaland Presents Slight Confusion or Timbaland Presents an Uneven Mess.
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Shock Value is a far-reaching and ambitious disc; a masterpiece, even, in its own way.
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Solid if unspectacular.
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A long collection of awful ideas and recycled ideas in the absence of an Idea.
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This lumpen, bloated, boring album is as much of a let-down as any of Timbaland's other "solo" works.
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He is annoying, simple as; his repeated ego-stroking irritates like a mosquito bite on an already sunburned forearm – it only adds to the pain.
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Timbaland's good stuff — ''Oh Timbaland,'' ''Bounce'' (with Timberlake, Dre and Elliott), and half a dozen others — is really good: music that moves the hips and stirs the head.
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The real shock of the disc is the hit-or-miss results.
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This isn’t the place for Timbaland to try any new tricks and what starts off as something quite thrilling rapidly loses its impact over the course of the album’s 19 long tracks.
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Timbaland's laser-focused sense of what pop should sound like has changed not only hip-hop but vast areas of pop, and it's solidified here in daring beats and masterful arrangements. Yet the narrative pull that justifies the album format falls short.
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The beats here are as staggering as ever, but of an indulgent 19 tracks, none sound like they were good enough to give to anybody else.
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Most of Shock Value confirms that Timbaland is most valuable when he's in the background.
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It's an undeniably impressive range of talent and, for the most part, Shock Value pulls off every trick it tries.
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Timbaland has revealed himself to be a crass, stupid, venal prick who is pretty much talentless outside of production for other people.
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A few tracks on Shock Value are exactly what you’d expect and hope for from someone with Timbaland’s recent track record, a few are straight-up awful, and most get your head nodding well enough as long as you’re prepared to turn off your brain.
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What may be the most shocking about "Shock Value" is how Timbaland continually manages to stay one step ahead of the competition.
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Shock Value recycles many of the same beats, melodies, and other sonic ideas that were used (better and most recently, with help from co-producer Danja) on Timberlake's album.
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Shock Value has a disturbing amount of chemistry-set mishaps.
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For all the trademark sonic trickery - honking rave synthesizers, fidgety beats, odd samples, vocal effects - there's a lack of decent songs.
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It's nice that Timbaland is intent on challenging himself and his fans, but his daring misfire is the rare major-label hip-hop album that's arguably too adventurous for its own good.
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Rolling StoneShock Value doesn't feel as random and indistinct as many albums by producers using all-star lineups do. [19 Apr 2007, p.62]
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Shock Value isn't a perfect album, but it does possess various charms.
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VibeOn Shock, Timbaland has pushed himself--he's clearly striving for some of the charisma his best collaborators ooze. [May 2007, p.113]
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UncutIt's strangely joyless. [Jun 2007, p.115]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 41 out of 59
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Mixed: 7 out of 59
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Negative: 11 out of 59
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JosephAApr 12, 2007
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Oct 17, 2020This album is great. To this day, every song is still fresh. To me, at least.
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DanH.Apr 1, 2008I liked it quite a lot.