Timbaland, 'Shock Value II'

Release date: Dec. 8, 2009
Record label: Mosley/Blackground/Interscope
Official Web site: http://www.timbalandmusic.com/

The buzz: Super-producer Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley’s first “Shock Value” collection, released in 2007, sold over a million copies and launched the bestselling single of the decade, a remix of OneRepublic’s piano-pop ballad, “Apologize.” This sequel features another star-studded and somewhat unlikely list of collaborators, from Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado and Miley Cyrus to hip-hop newcomer Drake, Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger, Daughtry, the Fray and (surprise!) OneRepublic.

The verdict: Tim’s credibility took a major hit earlier this year with the release of “Scream,” his staggeringly clunky collaboration with rock howler Chris Cornell. This scattershot collection does little to restore it. The Justin Timberlake joint, “Carry Out,” with its sex-as-fast-food analogies, is silly enough to pass for a Lonely Island track (“I can tell the way you like it, baby—super-sized”), but at least it’s entertaining and has a good beat, which is more than can be said for most of this set. Disposable dance-pop (“We Belong to the Music,” which manages to make Miley Cyrus sound even more vapid than usual), bland electro-rap (“Say Something,” a waste of Drake’s considerable talents), remixed soft rock (OneRepublic’s “Marchin’ On,” shifted to a bonus disc in a shameless attempt to move more copies of the “deluxe edition”)—there’s nothing especially shocking or valuable on “Shock Value II.”

Did you know? “Meet in tha Middle” features a mediocre female rapper named Bran’Nu—better known as singer/actress Brandy Norwood, of “Moesha” fame.