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“Timbaland Presents Shock Value II” (often referred to as just Shock Value II) is the third solo studio album from record producer Timbaland. Initially slated for a 2008 release the project was pushed into 2009 and tentatively confirmed for November 23, 2009 through Blackground Records, however, it has been pushed back once more to December 8 in the US.

First Impressions
One of the anticipated albums of the year, it certainly matches it’s hype and is worth the wait. As compared to “Shock Value I“, this album is easier to listen to while retaining Timbo’s signature sound. After listening once through, you’ll discover that Timbo’s sound has definitely evolved and while “The Way I Are” is a classic (The OneRepublic Remix is EPIC), it seems so yesterday.

*Speaking of which, let me digress abit. I’m really sick of hearing “Whine Up” at the clubs. =X I think “Dance Bailalo” is so much better.*

Standout Tracks

• Carry Out
  Features Justin Timberlake. Album opener (not counting the intro). As usual, like what I always say, it sets the tone for the whole album. Sounding rather fresh even though you know it’s distinctively a Timbo and Justin collab.
• Lose Control
  Features JoJo. With no available date on her next album release, it’s nice to “hear” that there’s some official new material from JoJo (besides her leaked tracks). A catchy song and JoJo’s in her own element.
• Meet In the Middle
  Features Bran’ Nu. I bet you guys (and gals) are wondering who the hell is Bran’ Nu. No, it’s not a new brand name of a cereal. Die-hard Brandy fans should know that Bran’ Nu is her alter ego who raps. On to the song, it’s a lite-banger track. Definitely has an addictive beat.
• Say Something
  Features Drake. This song stands out for the wrong reasons. Being the 2nd single, it’s the worst song from the album. I think Timbo’s executives who choose this song must’ve been drunk during the selection. There are definitely better singles choices from the album. I predict a flop for this one. Oh, and Drake sounds too hard to be Lil’ Wayne, which he wont be anyway.
• We Belong To Music
  Features the EVER annoying Miley Cyrus. For this song, Timbo takes the back seat while Miley rules most of the song on the vocals. Actually, this song ain’t half bad. I find myself humming alone immediately. This is the song that Timbo goes “Pop”. Taking a bite off Miley’s fans I guess. This song serves as a promo single for the album. WAIT, WAIT A MIN. This song sounds familar, doesn’t it?? =) The structure is like Ashlee Simpson’s “Outta My Head” (which is better), which is also produced by Timbo himself. Just a fact. =)
• Morning after Dark
  Features SoShy and Nelly Furtado. First single from the album. Initially features only SoShy, an additional verse by Nelly is added on the actual release of the single. It’s probably because the single wasn’t doing quite well when it was release, enlisting the star power of Nelly is a good move. =) It’s quite a good song for a first single anyways.
• If We Ever Meet Again
  Features Katy Perry. I’m rather surprised by this collab. Quite hyped for this song, it sorta disappoints and falls flat after listening to a couple of times. Sure, the verses is typical Katy. It’s just that the layers of production drowns her. It’s too much syth and auto-tune. If anyone did watch her performace on MTV Unplugged, she has the vocal chops. Her collab with 3OH!3 is so much better, going with the electro route too. One of the promo single of the album.
• Can You Feel It
  Features Esthero & Sebastian. We all know from “The Way I Are“, Sebastian is Timbo’s younger brother. As for Esthero, she’s Canadian but she resides in LA now. She also provides backing vocals on Kanye’s song “Street Lights” from his recent album, “808s & Heartbreak“. This song MUST be a single and should be the 2nd single instead!!! It’s “The Way I Are” of the album. A BANGER!!! Don’t say you haven’t been warned by us. A definitive PARTAY track.
• Ease Off the Liquor
  There isn’t any guests vocalist for this track but SoShy provides a little backing vocals and ad libs for this track. Sounds like a continuation of “Can You Feel It“. Another banger.
• Undertow
  Features The Fray and Esthero. And it all slows down from here. Timbo starts the song and leave the rest to his guests. It’s a rather nice track. Has the potential to be a single. And this song already charted at number 100 on the Billboard 100 due to strong digital downloads.
• Timothy Where You Been
  Features Jet. Anybody remembers the energetic “Are You Gonna Be My Girl“?? Yeap, it’s them. This song immediately reminds me of KT Tunstall’s “Other Side of the World” when it starts. Uber acoustic on the intro, it’s flows towards a Timbo beat after that. JoJo provides backing vocals on this track but is uncredited. A highlight song of the album too.
• Marching On (Timbaland Version)
  Features Timbo’s protegé group, OneRepublic. This version is AWESOME!!! The alternative version can be found on OneRepublic’s sophomore album, which is acoustic and stripped down.
• The One I Love
  Features Keri Hilson and D.O.E. Originally titled as “Maniac“, this song is suppose to feature Chris Brown too, but it was scrapped. All of us should know why, deep inside. I don’t bother anyway, don’t really like Chris’ stuff anyway. It’s a typical Keri jam-sounding track. Kinda liked it. =)

Final Verdict
This album is rather diverse and clear-cut as the mainstream stuff are on the first half of the album and the experimental ones are on the second half. It has been a long way for Timbo to gain recognition in the music industry. Producing for the late Aaliyah and Missy Elliot in the early years, Timbo actually worked with Nelly Furtado on her debut album indirectly (On the Timbo remix of “Get Yr Freak On” and “Turn Off The Lights“). He also had production credits on Justin Timberlake’s debut album too, but goes unnoticed.

Timbo also produces the most of Brandy’s Afrodisiac album and experimented with Utada in 2004. 2006 is the breakout year for Timbo, because of Nelly Furtado’s “Loose” and Justin T’s “Futuresex/Lovesounds“. And since then, he’s a well sought after producer. Almost anything he produces would be a hit.

Whilst this album is really enjoyable, I wouldn’t really put it on heavy rotation as I might get sick of it. Listen to this album on an inconsistent basis would you find that this album is a gem. =)

This album scores a 4 out of 5.