N.E.R.D. - In Search of.... - Virgin Records

Review by: Josef Turner

In the Sixties, Motown Records was known by its title "The Sound of Young America." If, here in the first decade of the twenty-first century, anyone has a credible claim as inheritors of that title, it would have to be The Neptunes.

C'monindie-rockers, don't give me that blank stare. You know who I'm talking about. Whether it's Big Baby Jesus' "Baby I Got The Money", Mystikal's "Shake That Ass," Tha Liks (formerly Tha Alkaholiks)"Best You Can," or a million other hits from the types such as Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and more, I know you've shook your own behinds to their jams. The Neptunes own the private parts of the charts not owned by former band mate and Virginia native,Timbaland. The Sound of Young America indeed. And, like friend Timbaland, after their takeover at the charts, producing for other artists, they come out swinging with their own album and, my friends, unlike Timbaland's hit or miss attempts both with Magoo and on his own, these boys come out with a knock-out.

Recorded under the name N.E.R.D. (No one Ever Really Dies), the album known as "InSearch Of..." comes to us in two versions. Version number one, known as The Euro Version was released in Europe to massive critical acclaim. Featuring their futuristic syncopated beats, this album was a summation and a starting point for all the music they've done and perhaps a sign of whatis to come.

The Neptunes were not happy with this album. It was pulled from release schedules in the U.S. of A. and they announced they were going to record the album over again with live instruments instead of samples and programmed beats.

Rumors gave birth, evolved, and spread. My favorite was that The Neptunes had to record the album over because in the time since ithad been released in the U.K., they'd sold all the beats on it to other artists. That would've been a great rock-n-roll story of all time had it been true. Alas, it wasn't.

Now, months after hearing the original version which I've declared to the world around me as the best hip-hop and r-n-b album of 2001, the new U.S. version has dropped into my lap.

My first listen invoked hatred in me. Okay, maybe not hatred but at least major disappointment. Opener, "Lap Dance," had it's subtle rising menace in the chorus turned into a pastiche of rap-metal and other songs seemed washedout into blandness...all the usual sci-fi sounds that The Neptunes were known for was buried under, what I felt at the time, were hastily added but not verythought through live parts.

Okay, listen closely 'cause I don't say this often: "I was wrong." I still prefer "Lap Dance" and "Truth or Dare" from the original Euro Version but every other song sounds better on the U.S. one. The live instrumentation on the other cuts give the songs the ability to cross, no run, no skip, over many genres effortlessly. You've got Hip-Hop, R'nB', 80's New Wave, Rock and more represented here. When everything was programmed, it made the album more fracturedand less coherent. The live instruments (organ, guitar, bass, drums, and more) make it more immediate, make it whole. Anyway, the highlights on this album are "Am I High" and "Bobby James" which I hadn't noticed on the original due to the fact that I never got past "LapDance" and "Truth or Dare."

So, all in all, this is a damn near perfect album and I'll be happy to add the U.S. version to my top albums of 2002 just as the Euro Version was on my 2001 list. After hearing this and the new cut they did with Mystikal, I'm really exciting about the boundaries in Hip-hopand music in general that are going to be pushed by these guys in the future.