Search - N.E.R.D. :: Fly Or Die

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo practically sweat platinum. As the production duo behind the Neptunes, they have crafted monster hits for everyone from Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears to Jay-Z and Ol' Dirty Bastard. In their spare time they make the music they really like under the banner N.E.R.D. Equally inspired by Duran Duran's silk-spun new wave classics and the Beatles' strapping psychedelic epics, Fly or Die, the follow-up to 2002's In Search Of, is a bustling, bumping disc highlighted by rowdy tracks like "She Wants to Move" and "Jump," a collaboration with members of Good Charlotte. The nu-metal crunch of the last album gives way to a more suitable '70s vibe, making the band sound like an unholy cross between Sly & The Family Stone and E.L.O.--as filtered through A Tribe Called Quest. That's a good thing. --Aidin Vaziri