Albums to watch

No_One Ever Really Dies

N.E.R.D.

No_One Ever Really Dies

Fifth studio album of chart-friendly pop and first in seven years from Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley. With guest appearances from Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna and more

ADM rating[?]

6.5

Label
RCA
UK Release date
15/12/2017
US Release date
15/12/2017
  1. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    The wake-up call for those who have been hitting snooze for way too long
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  2. 8.0 |   Q

    Alive and well, N.E.R.D. have come back swinging. Print edition only

  3. 8.0 |   The Observer

    NERD are not only back, for the first time since 2010’s Nothing album, but relevant – political, even, in marked contrast to their slinkier incarnations
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  4. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Urgent, harsh, but also consistent – come album five, NERD have made the starry collaborations stick, galvanised by US politics. Even Ed Sheeran sounds cool
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  5. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    A strong comeback for the daring trio
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  6. 8.0 |   All Music

    The best N.E.R.D album since the original version of In Search Of....
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  7. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    If the album title means anything, it’s that all of these major talents are still here. In fact, they’re stronger than ever
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  8. 7.5 |   The 405

    Plays like an album length party, with no groove that won't make you want to get off the couch and dance
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  9. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Feels urgent in a way their music never has, fitting our political moment while remaining as stylistically looped-out as ever
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  10. 6.2 |   Pitchfork

    Full of guests: Rihanna, Kendrick, Gucci, 3000, M.I.A., Wale, Ed Sheeran. They all help elevate an album that is occasionally ineffectual in its attempts at protest music
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  11. 6.0 |   The Arts Desk

    N.E.R.D have moved on from even hints of organic funkiness, such as “Hot-n-Fun” from their last album, replacing it with crunchy, poppy, clubland experimentalism
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  12. 6.0 |   Mojo

    Only intermittently finding the target. Print edition only

  13. 5.8 |   A.V. Club

    It’s a weird fucking album, in other words, neither as crowd-pleasing as it should be nor as experimental as it wants to be
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  14. 5.0 |   Spectrum Culture

    Even Pharrell’s leftovers can still be counted on for some semblance of a good time
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  15. 4.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    The record’s highlights, when they do arrive, are invariably owed to the featured artists weird enough to put a twist on its recycled bass and beats
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  16. 4.0 |   DIY

    Not nearly as profound as it thinks it is
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  17. 4.0 |   The FT

    The sound of the wheels coming off the project
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