Lopez Blogs

For today’s session I have decided to review two recent high-profile album releases; Dignity from Hilary Duff and Timbaland’s Shock Value.

Let us start with The Duffster and her bumper new crop of pop delights, Dignity. Always one to bore the world with guitar-driven tedium, Duff uses her most recent studio outing as an excuse to branch away from the John Shanks sound, and finds a refreshing electronic soundscape instead. “Co-writing” each song on the album, Hilary would like to have us think she has not only grown as a woman, but as a recording artist as well (I honestly don’t believe she wrote more than a word or two here and there; I’ve heard stories of her recording process that would make any true recording artist cringe, but THAT is another story :)

The album itself, regardless of dear Hil’s level of participation, is quite a well put together pop outing; from electro-lite 80’s inspired fare, to Timbaland-esque dance, the album is far more upbeat than any of her previous work, and that is a good thing. Songs like Stranger, Happy, and the first single, With Love, add some sorely needed spice to her repertoire, and ,dare I say, a bit of actual nuanced artistry with the song Dreamer? This song is an upbeat, somewhat throwaway bubblegum ditty that is actually about a man who stalked her for two years. “Oh you’re such a dreamer,” Hilary sings to the nutcase who is now sitting in jail for going so far as to write her death threats. When taking the subject matter into consideration, this song becomes not only anything but throwaway, but a distinct career highlight for the typically stale starlet.

Speaking of stale, Ms. Duff’s vocal limitations simply must be addressed. Now I am not saying that you have to be Whitney Houston to be a successful recording artist, far from it, but I always have found Hilary’s voice to be like a bottle of Sprite that has lost its fizz two days prior, and this album is no exception. I don’t know if it is because of a distinct lack of dynamics or range, but something just seems terribly lackluster about her vocal chops. Hmm.

Ryan from One Republic

Overall, if you’ve been craving some good danceable pop and can’t quite wait for the next Kylie affair, then I strongly recommend you go pick up Dignity. The very Kylie-esque Danger, Happy, and my personal favorite clip from the album, Gypsy Woman are especially listen-worthy (Gypsy Woman actually being written and produced by fellow Tulsan, (where I’m from, Tulsa, Oklahoma) Ryan Tedder). Mr. Tedder (whom some may recognize from the Myspace superstar band, OneRepublic) has moved on from my dear old hometown of Tulsa to become Timbaland’s personal protégé for the past two years and has emerged quite the stellar producer. Gypsy Woman is just so bloody good, go listen to it now!

That brings us to the second album of the day, Timbaland’s recently-released opus, Shock Value. Now I am not a recent addition to the Timbo band-wagon, au contrere my lovelies, I have been quite the fan since way back in the Aaliyah days, but I have always preferred Tim’s more pop-inspired material (surprise, surprise) and this album most certainly does deliver (for the most part). I would be so bold as to dub this record “FutureSex/LoveSounds 2.1” as Tim is clearly very much in the same space creatively as he was when Justin’s most recent album came into fruition, but who could fault a man who has been working more than any producer EVER practically this past year? I sure can’t, that’s for sure. One particularly obnoxious observation I could make note of would be the fact that a mere matter of years ago, uber-producers on high, Max Martin and Kristian Lundin respectively, would have literally been skinned-alive critically for releasing an album that sounded so very similar to his previous work. Double standard for Hip-Hop? I think so.

That isn’t to say that Timbaland’s critical accolades are without merit though, for the fact remains that he truly is one of the most prolific American music producers ever, and has etched out one of the most distinctive sounds a sound-crafter could ever hope to engineer. The majority of this album is a testament to that. The songs that really aren’t would be such blasé tripe as Bounce (feat. Missy Elliot and JT) and Kill Yourself (feat. Sebastian and Attitude). Highlights would most certainly include Oh Timbaland (featuring a brilliantly executed Nina Simone sample), Apologize (a remix of the afore-mentioned OneRepublic’s melancholy masterpiece), Come Around (featuring the always refreshing Indian tart, MIA), and my personal album favorite, Bombay.

In summation, if you are a fan of the Timbaland sound, go get this record immediately, for it does not, by any means, disappoint any true Timbo fan.

Thanks Paul!

LINK: Purchase Dignity

LINK: Purchase Shock Value

LINK: Simon Curtis Myspace Page

LINK: One Republic Myspace Page