''Seeing Sounds'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band N.E.R.D. released June 10, 2008 on Star Trak Entertainment and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

in the United States. After ending their contract with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in 2005, the band felt their previous album ''

Fly or Die ''Fly or Die'' is the second studio album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D. It was released on March 23, 2004. Production The band recorded its second album ''Fly or Die'' during 2003. The band actually learned the instruments needed to play ...

'' (2004) was too consistent. Using their own money, the band recorded the album in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

and

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The album was produced solely by record production duo

The Neptunes The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while H ...

, consisting of

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

and Chad Hugo, with additional assistance by rock band Spymob and was mainly written by Williams. The album's title, as well as its content, revolves around the neurological phenomenon of

synesthesia Synesthesia (American English) or synaesthesia (British English) is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. People with sy ...

, the mixing of sensory modalities. The album debuted at number seven on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 80,000 in its first week. It peaked in the top 20 in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, while also charting in the several other countries. Upon its release, ''Seeing Sounds'' received generally mixed to positive reviews from most music critics. Some writers called the record N.E.R.D's best album thus far and praised its production, while others negatively criticized Williams' singing and the album's lyrical content. In 2024, the song "Sooner or Later" appeared on Williams' soundtrack album '' Piece by Piece (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)''.

Concept

While touring in promotion of their previous album, ''

'', N.E.R.D ended their contract with

in 2005. After touring,

felt that the album was too consistent; he felt the band abandoned a sense of unpredictability. The band became "hooked" on the energy from their fans and began recording their third album. Williams and fellow band member Chad Hugo later established Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of

. For the album, the band wanted to create the atmosphere of hyperactivity they knew their fans wanted. They wrote a few songs, but felt the songs "weren't strong enough" and sent them to other musicians. Member Shay Haley explained that in their new work, the band wanted to add energy to the emotional appeal of their past albums, though the band did not conceive a clear plan for the direction of the new album. N.E.R.D described the desired outcomes of the album as "a pre-cognitive effort to make music that would make sense for us on while we're on a stage and to recapture that feeling we love so much" and additionally, "to make something that was thought provoking and for people to listen to it and enjoy it on their own time". Originally titled ''N.3.R.D'', the title was changed to ''Seeing Sounds''. Williams explained that the title was based on

, a neurological phenomenon the band learned of while watching the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. They were inspired to create music that could be conceived as a live show. He was surprised to learn not everyone experienced while listening to music. He described synesthesia as the outcome when "one

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the surroundings through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. Although, in some cultures, five human senses were traditio ...

gets more information than what's intended", stimulated by

sensory deprivation Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can ...

. Haley further elaborated, saying that it is a mixture of senses that causes a person to experience colorful hearing and auditory smell. When the band created the album, it was the music they envisioned and decided the appropriate title for the album, ''Seeing Sounds''. Williams pointed out that the lyrics were also inspired by synesthesia. He said that his fans want to "rock out" and be taken on an "emotional roller coaster", and the only way to do that is to give the fans some records they could blast out on their speakers. The European-influenced music is layered and textured with many music modalities, differing from their past club-oriented albums. Hugo called the album a "big album of LSD, sonic drug". The band described the album of being an exercise in creative cohesion, band unity and a renewed purpose for themselves. Williams went on to add:

If you really analyze that, the most inspiration is probably deep inside a synesthesiac. So for us, 'seeing sounds' is what we relate to the most. We figured we'd make an album out of it. Energy and emotion was the criteria hile recording but we made the music anticipating the iveshow. That was the most important thing… he song'Spaz' is nold school, hip hop feeling with some drum and bass. It becomes a big, tall monster. It's almost like this big gorilla looking down at you. If he smacks you, he kills you. His fingers are the size of your body. That's kinda what we're doing. We're facing this big monster of, of what we know is out there, of what we see, that big monster of energy.

Recording and production

Spending their own money, N.E.R.D recorded the album at the South Beach Studios in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and the Record Plant Studios in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Williams used a Triton Extreme, Triton Pro and Pro Tools in the production of the album, while Hugo worked in Access Virus TI, Roland JV-1080, JV-2080, XV-5080, TR-808 and TR-909 as

beatboxing Beatboxing (also, and sometimes, called beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (usually a Roland TR-808, TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.Spymob further assisted production with

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

. Production revolved around heavy rock,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and soul music, which was first introduced in their debut album, '' In Search Of...''. Hugo described the album as going back to the band's roots, combining a

classic rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

sound with a 1970s

swing. The typical process of recording was described as "Williams arrives at the studio, ideas in full flower, and lays down both a beat (either programmed or played on an assortment of buckets) and vocals." Hugo then would add extra

instrumentation Instrumentation is a collective term for measuring instruments, used for indicating, measuring, and recording physical quantities. It is also a field of study about the art and science about making measurement instruments, involving the related ...

. In an interview with MTV, Williams said that the band "didn't care about genres; we're not doing this for the money. We're doing this for people who pledge allegiance to our movement." Hugo went on to say that they "just want to make people move". On the album he said, "We had anger, quiet angst. We had something to get off our chest. And we wanted to show we could do it as a band." Don Was, a musician and record producer, thought that the band was on a creatively fulfilling path, calling their musical style "really innovative". Williams felt music lacked energy, citing

Limp Bizkit Limp Bizkit is an American nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida. Its lineup consists of lead vocalist Fred Durst, drummer John Otto (drummer), John Otto, guitarist Wes Borland, turntablist DJ Lethal and bassist Sam Rivers (bassist), Sam ...

's " Nookie" as the last energetic record. Williams suggested his

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, Andrew Coleman, to "put the drums and bass on the right, keys in the middle, and the mothafucking guitar and backgrounds on the left". Coleman denied his request, saying, "those systems were different back then. If we do that, you'll be in a club and all you will hear on one side of the club is drums and on the other side, just chords." The Hives' members - Chris Dangerous (drums/percussion), Nicholaus Arson (guitar), Vigilante Carlstroem (guitar), Dr. Matt Destruction (bass) - contributed instrumentals on "Time For Some Action" and "Windows", with The Hives' frontman Howlin' Pelle Almqvist providing guest vocals on "Time For Some Action". On ''Seeing Sounds'' they are credited with their real names instead of the

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

they use within the band.

Promotion

In promotion of the album, N.E.R.D performed in

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's Glow in the Dark Tour as well as the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport, Isle of Wight, Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a Counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. Th ...

. The band also performed at the ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'' festival, where they encouraged fans to dance on stage and urged them to vote in the

2008 United States elections Elections in the United States, Elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008, during the war on terror and the onset of the Great Recession. It was considered a Wave elections in the United States, Democratic wave election, with ...

. The song "Spaz" was used for commercials for the Zune Pass. The band performed at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...

's Rites of Spring Music Festival in April.

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number seven on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, selling 80,000 copies in its first week. As of 2010, sales in the United States have exceeded 222,000 copies, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

. It peaked in the top 20 in

, the

and the

, while also charting in the several other regions, including

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Critical response

Upon its release, the album received generally mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.Critic Reviews for Seeing Sounds
.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. Retrieved on 2009-11-01. At

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 64, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Some writers noted and praised the heavy use of electronic, bass and

beats, while others suggest

were unable to blend R&B and rock. Anthony Henriques of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

lauded the production, saying that "their signature drums and spaced-out samples sound as good as ever here", going on to say " e overall balance between live and electronic instrumentation is also the best they have managed on any of the N.E.R.D. albums". He compared the album to M.I.A.'s '' Kala'' as "one of the best genre-blurring club records". However, Andy Kellman of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

felt the songs "still have a way of seeming as easy and carefree as the moments when N.E.R.D. are simply bashing away…blowing off steam, and talking ridiculous nonsense". Alexis Petridis of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' pointed out that the songs were "largely about sex", calling it "wearisome". Ian Cohen of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

called the album a "baffling, obnoxious mess". Adrian Ruhi of Okayplayer gave the album a score of 88 out of 100 and called some of the songs "a dynamic mess", but noted it was "a good thing". Some critics argued that the album was their most consistent and strongest album to date. Christian Hoard of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' felt that the album was "experimental and expansive". Sal Cinquemani of

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

felt that the album lacked "freshness or spontaneity" that was found in the band's debut album, calling only two songs on the album "very visionary". Jim Farber of the '' Daily News'' criticized Williams, saying "Even aided by studio correction, the guy can't sing", calling it "bad singing at its engaging best". Cohen of Pitchfork Media bashed the lyrics, saying that the writing was "far down the list of what N.E.R.D. is actually good at". Hoard of ''Rolling Stone'' felt he learned nothing from the lyrics except that Williams was sexually aroused. Henriques of PopMatters noted that Williams is not a "technically gifted rapper", he "does not have a beautiful voice" and his lyrics are "typically inconsequential in a 'saying shit just to sound cool' sort of way", but found strengths in his choruses, which he pointed out "typically use a catchy phrase or recognizable melody as an anchor for his nonsensical verses". Dan Charnas of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' commended N.E.R.D for their songwriting, writing that ''Seeing Sounds'' "combines the adolescent and clever". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' writer Priya Elan gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and wrote that band is "pushing the boundaries of the popular song". In his Consumer Guide,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

gave the album a three-star honorable mention () and stated, "Beats of course, songs usually, singing barely--especially sincere-type singing"; he also picked out two songs from the album: "Anti-Matter" and "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)".

Track listing

Personnel

* Davis A. Barnett –

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

* Andrew Coleman – engineer * Eric Fawcett –

, background vocals * Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangements * Bernie Grundman – mastering * Hart Gunther – assistant * Mike Larson – assistant, background vocals * Femio Hernández – assistant * Jun Hirota – package design, booklet design * Mike Hogue – assistant * Chad Hugo – horn, keyboards * Chris Kasych – assistant * Emma Kummrow –

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

* Jennie Lorenzo –

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

* Peter Nocella – viola * Charles Parker – violin * Brent Paschke –

* Neal H. Pogue –

, mixing * John Stahl – assistant * Igor Szwec – violin * Gregory Teperman – violin * Javier Valverde – assistant

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

External links

*
Seeing Sounds
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

* {{Authority control 2008 albums Albums produced by the Neptunes Interscope Records albums N.E.R.D. albums Star Trak Entertainment albums