The Neptunes - The Neptunes Present... Clones

Another Inconsistant Album (Rating: 6 out of 10)

Just like others, when I saw the "Hot Damn" video by the Clipse and the "Frontin'" video with Pharrell and Jay-Z, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. I remember buying it the sunday before it was supposed to come out. To tell you the truth, I wasn't very happy with this album.

Production is okay at best. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo do a decent job keeping the production together, like as I mentioned earlier, the song "Frontin'". Also the Busta Rhymes song "Light Your [...] On Fire" carries a nice beat. But songs like "Popular Thug" with Nas and Kelis, and "Blaze Of Glory" is not what I expected from this duo.

The biggest problem on this album is the lyrics. Some of these artists sound like they wrote their rhymes on a bad day. The song "Blaze Of Glory" is possibly one of the worst songs I've heard from The Clipse. "It Wasn't Us" with Ludacris was origonally on his Incognegro LP, but this one features I-20, and it's still has wack rhymes and a wack hook. "Put 'Em Up" with Noreaga and "Pop Sh.." with ODB should have never seen the light of day if you ask me. Even the punk rock songs ("Half Steering" and "F N Spend") both suck, and I listen to punk rock from time to time.

There are some good points on this album though. Aside from "Frontin", the next song "Good Girl" sound nice by Vanessa Marquez, showing potential for an up and comming singer. "If" by Snoop Dogg is dope as it carries a nice beat as well as Pharrell's singing, both working together. "Hot Damn" is a good track by the Clipse, Ab-Liva, and Roscoe P. Gold Chain.

So this album wasn't good. If anything, I believe there could have been a better selection of artists, or the ones on here should have brought their A game on this album. Also the production could have been much better on this album. I was already dissapointed with Pharrell's solo album "In My Mind". All I need to do now is listen to any N.E.R.D. albums, and if they're bad, I'll be finished with any Neptunes' related albums.

The DVD here has the music videos of "Rock 'N' Roll", "Hot Damn" and "Frontin'". Those videos are good, making the DVD a keeper.

Lyrics: C
Production: B-
Guest Appearances: C-
Musical Vibes: C+
Overall: C+

Favorite Tracks: Frontin', Good Girl, It Blows My Mind, Hot Damn

Honorable Mention Tracks: Light Your [...] On Fire, Rock 'N' Roll

Peace!
November 22, 2006

Production 5 stars, Lyrics 3 stars.

If you're lookin for a good CD to play in you ride this is for you. Other than that, don't look to deep into this. Its great commercial-wise. The production was dope but the lyrical content is average at best. Its worth the purchase if ya want to hear some of the more popular artists on some cool tracks, but don't take it too seriously. Peace October 14, 2006

I bought it for one song.

When I bought Clones, it was for that lovely song Frontin'. Who else other than Pharrell could make the crude line "and I was gon' tear your a-s-s up" sound romantic? This album is hit and miss at best. I would say I only listen to 6 or 7 songs. But if maybe 5 songs from the album had been cut, it would be at least a 4 star affair. Frontin, Hot, Hot Damn, Good Girl, Popular Thug, and Loser are the only GREAT songs. The rest range from average to bad. I understand the rock songs F***N Spend and Half-Steering are on here to show an eclecticism, but they break the flow of the album: plus, they're not good. July 26, 2006

Bare with it....................

Anyone who says this album is wack is not wrong or right. This album is intended for all types of music listeners because there are rock, punk, and rap songs on the album.
This album also contains a bonus DVD with interviews and a clip of the Clipse in a gun alley. A good aspect of this album is its variety. A variety of all different types of music which makes it a pretty decent album. The second good thing about this album is there are a lot of appearances on this album such as Ludacris, Clipse, Snoop Dogg, Jadakiss, Jay-Z, Nas, Nelly, NORE, Kelis, Busta Rhymes, Ol' Dirty Bastard.
The Neptune's have gained enough credibility in the music industry to be on of those producers who drop an album and people just rush out to the stores to buy it just for the beats. That's part of the reason why I purchase this album. Few of my favorites are "Frontin'" feat, Jay-Z, "Light yo Ass on Fire", "Hot Damn,","It wasn't us," and ESPECIALLY "It blows my mind" and "Put em' up".
Overall this CD is not bad. The Neptune's could have done better no lie. If only they put more time and the same amount effort into this CD done on their previous work, then it would been phenomenal. Instead they give us maybe less than a dozen great tracks, a few good ones, and some so-so songs that shouldn't belong on an album in the first place.
This CD is something to add to your collection and to say that you own it but like I said If you are a fan of any type of music then this album is for you.
November 18, 2005

Clones: An Ironic Truth? (**1/2)

I don't think there's much of a point discussing the careers of Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo as pretty much everything has been said that needs to be said (And mostly by 17 year old girls at that) however there is no denying their production has been strong on the scene of both the Hop and Pop charts for quite a while and their N.E.R.D albums have given them the right to claim both commercial success and a cult following in both Hip Hop and Rock scenes.

Clones as an album tries to capitalise on all of this by being used to both give a platform for their own labels talent such as Clipse and show off their phonebook with guest such as Busta, Nelly, NaS, and of course Jay-Z. I think most people weren't that surprised that they had managed to get the two Mc's with one of at the time (although slowly dieing) biggest above ground beefs on the same album, as I don't think anyone believed that that hasn't been anything but a marketing ploy for both parties for a long time. (Note: These two parties recently performed on Jay-Z's I declare War comeback show absolving any lasting remnants of rumours that there was still beef).

As it stands the album seems like a bit of mess particularly because about midway they start to trek off the hard line high production value sounds into rockier territory for a fleeting moment and it doesn't really work. The weakest thing with a Neptunes song is usually the artist they work with and much of the time it's the same here on Clones, which ironically is sometimes what it feels like when listening to Nelly sing about the token `would you love me if I didn't have bag loads of cash' song. Woe is me Nelly. Or Blaze of Glory with Clipse and co telling us how much they clap (Yawn). Indeed it does seem at times that The Neptunes are handing out "Styles like Ice Cream Cones" to quote Pharrell on Hot Damn, and that isn't a good thing. The album does however bring some jams that are undeniably catchy such as Popular Thug or the infamous Frontin' even the smoked out it Blows My Mind brings something to the table even though once again the content is completely conceited.

When it comes to the crunch tho it seems The Neptunes really are presenting nothing but clones.
**1/2

One.
Pj. November 10, 2005

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