The track is where the blast had by Tim and company, detectable throughout the majority of the album (a saving grace), is at its most contagious.
Even though it's very possible that the involved recorded their parts in different studios, you can imagine them in fits of laughter while trying to top one another's outrageousness. Missy outdoes the guys, entering with 'Hold up, hell naw/Like Britney Spears, I wear no draws.' The rest of the verse is Missy at her lewd best, nothing new yet still 100 percent capable of keeping the testosterone level in check. Dre, along with an equally ridiculous appearance from Justin Timberlake ('Like your ass had the hiccups/Like we was riding in my pickup'). 'Bounce,' one of Tim's toughest and most sinister beats, is offset by comically over-the-top wordplay from Missy Elliott and Dr. She took pity on a pathetic fellow (played by a temporarily humble-ish Timbaland), was repaid with a stifling relationship that went too far, and comes up with a disarming way of saying 'You're killing me.' A completely unnecessary ear-sore of a closing verse from Tim's brother Sebastian does little to harm its effect. 'Miscommunication' is the greatest of the three, where she delivers one of the most advanced hooks of the last several years. Blige's 'Take Me as I Am' and Omarion's 'Ice Box,' is central to three of the album's most memorable songs. Hilson, a songwriter, arranger, and singer who has also had a hand in Mary J. Like Press Play, many of the album's key performances come from the females. So, in a number of ways, Shock Value can be viewed a sister release to the Diddy album. Otherwise, Shock Value is similar in setup to Diddy's certifiably flawed and maliciously (and/or unjustly) panned Press Play, a sprawling but often pleasurable album involving so many MCs, singers, and studio hands that a head count would rival that of the sessions for 'We Are the World.' Tim, along with super-talented associates Danja and Keri Hilson, are some of the common links between the two albums, which share a similar balance between rap tracks heavy on mostly empty grandstanding, pop-R&B songs with male-female exchanges, and a couple club-oriented surprises that go outside the norms of modern rap and R&B. The four songs involving the rockers are the only ones that have the potential to shock, and they're bundled together during the last quarter of the album, so it's not as if they're even being emphasized. It's most jarring to hear him as a temporary member of the typically sullen She Wants Revenge, where his downcast verses give way to Justin Warfield's heavily affected drone. With She Wants Revenge (a bad-time faux-British synth duo) and Fall Out Boy (you probably know about them), Tim is an interloper who takes part in songs that wouldn't be worse off without his presence. A remix of 'Apologize,' a ballad by OneRepublic (a band that might soundtrack the next season of Grey's Anatomy, or the imaginary annex between Abercrombie & Fitch and The Gap), incorporates an unobtrusive Timbaland beat and some distant vocal accents. 'Throw It on Me,' with the Hives (a good-time garage rock band from Sweden), is a frisky, careening number that must have taken all of ten minutes to put together. Although he has continued to contribute beats for MCs - Young Jeezy's '3 a.m.,' Snoop Dogg's 'Get a Light,' and Redman's 'Put It Down' are a few recent examples - Tim has frequently said that he is bored with rap and into rock, and here he takes the opportunity to reach beyond R&B, rap, and straight-up pop. If you haven't read any interviews with Tim from the past few years, or if you missed some of the more telling hints, such as his work on Brandy's Coldplay-sampling 'Should I Go,' there could be some shock involved while listening to the album for the first time. A new level of visibility, combined with a lot of eclectic star power and a couple silly beefs, has turned Shock Value into a major release. His three albums with sidekick Magoo, in addition to the solo-proper Tim's Bio, each had measurable amounts of hype around their release dates. Consequentially, there has never been more anticipation for one of his own albums. Due to his work on Nelly Furtado's 'Promiscuous' and Justin Timberlake's 'SexyBack,' two of the least-avoidable pop singles released in 2006, his profile has never been higher. The reigning producer of R&B and rap since 1996, the year of Ginuwine's 'Pony' and Aaliyah's 'If Your Girl Only Knew,' Timbaland has amassed piles of ingenious and commercially successful releases.
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