The Neptunes - classic or dud?

i liked the neps when they stay away from the live instruments and stick with the synths and drum machines, that second edition of "in search of" with the band playing on it was awful..

superthug is still classic material

i think the neptunes track on "king" (the one w/common) might be the worst thing i've ever heard from them.

in search of is awesome

what was even the last good standalone neps track? snoop 'vato' probly?

southern hospitality is the best shit ever

'Girlfriend' just popped up on iTunes - BIGTIME CLASSIC.

in search of is awesome

-- deej, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:02 PM

fr$

i agree with all of these:

in search of is awesome

-- deej, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

southern hospitality is the best shit ever

-- and what, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:16 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

what was even the last good standalone neps track? snoop 'vato' probly?

-- r|t|c, Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

(didnt realize vato was neptunes)

the beat for the new common song is great. the chorus from pharrell is shit though.

i don't like it, drums sound cheap.

neptunes' music hasn't really aged well at all. I think they're kind of dud for the most part.

or maybe i just need to do some revisiting of the good neptunes tracks, because everything they've done for the last 2 years or so has lowered my opinion of them (Solange's "I Decidied" is pretty hot tho)

classic when they stick to their "cheap", ice-cold, synthy, programmed bangers. (superthug, drop it like it's hot, milkshake, etc...)

dud when they get the live band on the go and try and fuck around with rock music. that recording of "in search of..." with the live instruments was awful.

*re-recording of?

well yeah, most neptunes drums sound 'cheap', that's kind of their trademark - rinky dink drums and las vegas synths - but this common song's drums don't knock at all

nd yeah I would agee with you about them doing the whole live band thing

the live instruments worked on the first timberlake record.

true

"drums sound cheap."

LOL

their drums USED to sound cheap. not anymore. i prefer stuff like trill, this common song and drop it like its hot where they sound a bit plusher. their live stuff is great, just not when its rock.

i'm excited for N.E.R.D. record even tho "everybody nose" is fucking awful

beat on new com song is good tho

the live instruments worked on the first timberlake record.

-- Jordan, Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:53 PM

yeah, that's probably the exception. what i'm on about is when they rock out and sound all nu-metal.

i don't know, i think they went through that corny-sounds phase later...neptunes stuff from a few years ago like "allure" sounds way cheaper than "shake ya ass" or "i just wanna love u".

in search of is great, and a couple of the songs sounded way better w/ live instruments (except maybe 'run to the sun')

what i'm on about is when they rock out and sound all nu-metal.

yeah, that's pretty lame, but it was kind of a one-off, right?

"touch" by omarion is their ultimate moment of cheap sounding-ness

the song in the new zune commercial is a new one from the record and it kinda sounds like ass

their 'classic' phase is their cheap period.

then again i think they just like that cheapo sound. the saxes on everybody nose sound really cheap and plastic.

"Spaz"? The beat is kind of weird

the saxophone sounds like a saxophone!

the thing is i like the part that goes ALL THE GIRLS WAITING IN THE LINE FOR THE BATHROOM with that stomping kick drum but the rest is just a mess in every sense of the word

remix is kewl tho

lol, neptunes going drum & bass in '08: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9hqFTVi7QU

it sounds like a SNL blues brothers sax.

and the D&B thing is fucking played.

it's just two notes?

but yeah, everybody nose is annoying and i had totally forgotten about it, except i like the chopped-up acoustic bass.

They've sounded cheap at most points in their career, the only difference being that they used to sound cheap and inspired and now they, for the most part, sound cheap and tired. Not all their new stuff is bad, though. I love "Til the Morning" from the new MJB album.

"Spazz" is pretty dope. people were feeling the new NERD stuff at the Glow In The Dark and Pharrell had the whole place chanting ALL THE GIRLS etc which was funny

I think I will blindly follow Pharrell basically forever though...I might not LOVE everything he does or think it's all genius but he is that Dude

he is definintely that ingratiating self-fellating dude.

so you're saying that his ability to fellate himself is endearing to you in some way??? not following here mr x gotta tell ya

well, to link this with the blackout thread, "why should I be sad" is great. I also like the tracks on "american gangster". and as crazy as it sounds, I also like some of the tracks they did on the latest madonna album ! so, to me, they're not over...

I kinda like that Kenna single.

which track ?

"Say Goodbye to Love"

here i was thinkin these guys have fallen off but then i realized, nah, me and the whole club were singin along with "all the girls standing in the line for the bathroom" just last week. and even if they don't have like 10 songs in the top 40 at the same time any more, well, they've been around for a decade already. it's ok for them to be not AS popular as they used to be, hell even just having one good bangin club track out after so long is respectable.

i mention this cause i'm listening to that new twista w/pharrell song (give it up) right now, which is dope even if it sounds very very neptunes... i think i kinda like the direction they seem to have taken in their careers lately - they don't really realease loads of songs any more, and what they do release seems to always be pretty edgy and cool. and yes they stick with their formula, but it's such GOOD formula

also, "I decided" is a gorgeous song !

i've been shouting that they fell off i guess since Blueprint 2? but nah really over the years i've gotten to the point where even if their hit/miss ratio is really bad, they still do occasionally make a track I really dig. here's a vague list of my favorites from 2004 to present:

Cee-Lo - "The Art of Noise"
NERD - "Maybe"
Jay-Z - "Allure"
Talib Kweli - "Broken Glass"
Snoop Dogg f/ Justin Timberlake and Charlie Wilson - "Signs"
The Clipse f/ Pharrell - "Stuntin' Y'all"
Twista f/ Pharrell - "Lavish"
Omarion - "Touch"
T.I. f/ Pharrell and Common - "Goodlife"
John Legend f/ Kanye West - "It's Over"
NERD - "You Know What"
Common - "Announcement"
Jadakiss - "Stress Ya"

Twista's "Give It Up" is from 2 years ago, btw.

I was listening to "She Likes To Move" the other day thanks to The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift and I think that song encapsulates pretty much everything I love about the NERD aesthetic, almost to the point where I don't think I ever need to hear another NERD track.

spoken like a true RHCP fan