Standing out musically these days can be harder than Chinese Math, but on occasion you might find an artist or a group that have their own distinctive sound. As of late, the formula to success has been the “follow the leader mentality,” unless you’re speaking of N*E*R*D—The Neptunes alto-ego, that transforms them from a duo into a trio by adding Sheldon “Shae” Haley to the mix.

After dominating the Hip-Hop scene for most of the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the members of The Billionaire Boys Club unleashed their space-aged synthesizer and electric sounds into a Rock & Roll format and created an album called In Search Of… back in 2002, followed by Fly Or Die in 2004, and now Seeing Sounds in 2008.

This is the first full length project Pharrell has been a part of since the release of his In My Mind album which earned him nothing but mixed reviews from critics and fans alike; but he sounds a lot more comfortable on this album, and that’s probably because he has additional help to fall back on rather than himself. 

When Outkast won out for best Hip-Hop album at the Grammy Awards back in 2003 for Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, most citied André 3000’s portion of the project for not being “Hip-Hop eno ugh,” but over 11 Million people thought otherwise, and it’s safe to say their accountants are still working overtime five years later. Even though Seeing Sounds isn’t the typical Hip-Hop album per-say, all the elements are still there. One of the most important things that has kept N*E*R*D from needing a day job is the fact that they are able to legitimately stand alone in a crowd of so many. Their distinguishing style can often be considered as a double-edged sword: On one hand when you hear them, the customary reaction is, “You can always tell a track by them, because they all sound the same.” But when you hear someone mimicking them, it goes to, “These guys are trying to sound like N*E*R*D,” and the two-way criticism will certainly continue on their third go-around.

The 12-track album starts off with ‘Time For Some Action.’ After Pharrell briefly talks about his childhood, a bass guitar takes center stage with Pharrell dropping a couple of bars in between the whispering of them chanting “time for some action.”

The quirky sounds of ‘Everyone Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)’ has Go-Go type of feel to it, and the hook alone should be enough to reel people in; while the girls are literally waiting in the line for the bathroom and hoping the DJ extends the song until they come out. ‘Anti Matter’ is another song with a heavy guitar presents, with Pharrell calmly taking control and molding his vocals perfectly with the live instrumentation.

‘Spaz’ is one of the more polished songs on the album, and has moments where it sounds like it could be a distant relative of ‘Rock Star’; outfitted with the distorted radio vocals that the Beastie Boys made so famous. N*E*R*D take a break and slow the tempo down a little bit when it comes to ‘Sooner Or Later.’ Pharrell gets into his patented falsetto voice, as he explains how nothing in the world last forever. The remainder of the album contains more experimental material such as, ‘Windows,’ ‘Yeah You,’ ‘Happy,’ and ‘Laugh About It.’

As aforementioned, this isn’t the typical Hip-Hop album, but an example of how Hip-Hop, funk rock, and experimental rock are becoming highly compatible for those who aren’t scared of trying something new and out of the box. When it comes to Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams, and Shae Haley this territory isn’t something that they haven’t walked through before, but just a testament to how easy it is to break down barriers. They fill the project with a musical landscape by leaving every song on the album uniquely different from the last; just like newborn babies in a hospital maternity ward, and proving that music is music regardless of where it comes from—just as long as it sounds good.