The “Best Of” album is a curious thing nowadays. Sorry to get all nostalgic, but the “Best Of” album used to represent a well thought out selection of classics by a band that had been around long enough to qualify for such a thing. These days, however, it seems that anyone with a handful of singles to their name can arguably release their own “Best Of”. That certainly seems to be the case with this latest compilation from Pharrell Williams’s N*E*R*D. Especially as, depending on your own definition of the “Best Of N*E*R*D”, it doesn’t even encompass the full extent of the trio’s chronology. What this is, in fact, is a “Best Of” the two albums that N*E*R*D released on Virgin Records, therefore excluding 2008’s Top 20 album ‘Seeing Sounds’ and last year’s ‘Nothing’. Hardly a genuine “Best Of”, some may argue, but if you were only really a fan of N*E*R*D’s biggest hits then this could be for you.
If hits is indeed what you were hoping for then you’re in luck, because hits is what you will find. Right from the word go. Without wasting any time, the album gets off to a somewhat overambitious start with the group’s three biggest-selling singles to date – ‘Rock Star’, ‘Lapdance’ and the Top 10 track ‘She Wants to Move’. So this isn’t so much in chronological order as it is in order of success. Listening to the music, it’s fairly obvious to see why anyone would be so keen to order the songs in such an apparently pessimistic manner. They’re catchy as heck. Although none of these songs were ever groundbreaking, what they are is immensely enjoyable and irresistible party anthems. And I’m sure the three members of N*E*R*D – a clever acronym of No-One Ever Really Dies - wouldn’t disagree. When Mr Williams and co. first setup the group in 2001 as a side project to the production duo the Neptunes, it seems unlikely that they were intent on blowing people’s minds.
However, what they did achieve, as seen from this compilation with its mouth-watering blend of hip-hop, rock, RnB dance, soul, funk and pop, is to create songs that would appeal to most pop music lovers, regardless of specific individual tastes. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either, when you hear the music on offer. Songs like the aforementioned ‘Rock Star’ and ‘Lapdance’ are dynamic enough to liven up even the most sedate of house parties and the single ‘Maybe’, with its Beatles-like melodiousness, could please almost anyone, irrespective of their opinion on rap music.
Unfortunately, the main problem here is the running order of the tracks, which suffers from the same fault as many other so-called “Best of” compilations. It starts with the big hits and becomes more and more mediocre as it goes on, before finally ending with a couple of unremarkable remixes. The other issue, as previously stated, is that with only two albums to choose from, this compilation was always going to be somewhat limited. Most fans of the group doubtlessly own both CDs already and, therefore, this album was surely aimed at the part-time NERD. If this is the case, it’s also probable that you’ve already downloaded your favourites and this “Best of” is unlikely to tempt you.
Stereoboard Rating: 5/10
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However, what they did achieve, as seen from this compilation with its mouth-watering blend of hip-hop, rock, RnB dance, soul, funk and pop, is to create songs that would appeal to most pop music lovers, regardless of specific individual tastes. And this isn’t necessarily a bad thing either, when you hear the music on offer. Songs like the aforementioned ‘Rock Star’ and ‘Lapdance’ are dynamic enough to liven up even the most sedate of house parties and the single ‘Maybe’, with its Beatles-like melodiousness, could please almost anyone, irrespective of their opinion on rap music. 
