Nelly Furtado - Woah, Nelly!
Dreamworks 2000
From [url]www.nellyfurtado.com:[/url] "It was the summertime and I was in The Azores, hanging around the small village my parents are from. I was looking out on this very rural setting, on a road going up a hill. There was an old man coming down the hill with a pitchfork on his shoulder. He was wearing gum boots, work pants and a Coca Cola t-shirt. I saw that and thought, that's my album!" - Nelly Furtado.
That quote describes Nelly's music perfectly. She blends folk and urban music with an amazing sense for popular culture and music. This can probably be explained by her upbringing. Nelly is Canadian, but British-Columbian of birth, and Portugese by heritage. She was 20 years old when she released this, her debut album in 2000.
Track by Track:
01 Hey, Man!
This song is brilliant, and a perfect opener, and it makes me feel happy. It begins with really classical sounding string arrangement with some samples, and a drumbeat quickly comes in followed by more beats. The verses are catchy as hell, and the chorus is just awesome. It has awesome sampling, and the strings carry the song beautifully. Nice use of swear words too. 5/5
02 Sh
it on the Radio
Starts out with some cliched hip pop style acoustic fingerpicking. This continues through the verse, which is carried well by the lyrics, and the chorus again is wonderful. The best part of the song is the chanting of "Myself, myself" at the end. 4/5
03 Baby Girl
This song is weird. The beginning is strange as hell, and suddenly in the background you hear a rather heavy guitar riff. The verses are just so dang cool I can't explain. The chorus is a wonderful hip pop hook, and although being slightly cliched lyrically, the song is again balanced by the verses being weird, and the AWESOME post chorus mumbo jumbo no lyric vocals. Cool tumpet solo. 4/5
04 Legend
A similar beginning to track 2, it quickly changes to a very latin feel. It is a really calm song, which does well to bring the album down, and is rather good. It is mixed up very well with some sampling, and turns out to be a pretty good track. 3.5/5
05 I'm Like a Bird
Yeah, the big hit. I really dig this song. It is not the best on the album, but is a rather good representation of it, and is a good intro to the album. Everyone undoubtedly knows it, but: The verses are cool, with organ and vocals with minimal drumming, and the chorus is a soaring pop hook. Fantastic. 5/5
06 Turn Off The Light
The second single. Nelly really showed a bit of diversity releasing this track. It is a great song, and is very heavily urban influenced. Not low on sampling, and another great hook. The build to the chorus is just cool. The bridge is a highlight. 5/5
07 Trynna Finda Way
Cliched lyrics almost alone in the mix start the song. It picks up and drops off again. It begins to improve. The lyrics in the down parts of the track are close to being spoken word, but it is balanced by the picked up parts. The chorus is just not strong enough early on to balance the song out though. There is a pretty cool bridge though. 3/5
08 Party
Similar vocal mumbo jumbo to Baby Girl and it's straight in. Acoustic guitar with electronic drums hold the verses together with some cool tribal sort of drumming. Nelly is singing about a part having just begun, but in a style which is very heartfelt. It's rather good indeed. This track is rather spooky in a happy cool way.
09 Well, Well
Usage of trumpet and cool effects in this track are really cool. But it comes to the chorus and you love it. The quick build up and the chorus are just happy and brilliant. Nelly shows us how cool her voice really is here again, and the lines in the chorus "I say what I mean but I don't mean what I say" are very cool. 5/5
10 My Love Grows Deeper
This track sounds almost like extra quirky Lamb for a while. Very well produced, and a very memorable chorus, which is somehow reminding me of Kylie Minogue. This song is a heckish rad pop song. Some really awesome basslines are the feature of the track, and a cool synth effect. 4.5/5
11 I Will Make U Cry
Piano, yay. Nelly switches up again, and comes in with most probably lyrics in another language as an intro. The verses are just plain awesome, with one of my favourite samples ever (when she says "I demand attention when I walk into the room"). The lyrics of this song are really great, and the attitude in her voice while singing makes me say wow. Chorus is again a really cool hook. She 'raps' rather fast in the end of the second verse too. 5/5
12 Scared of You
A beautiful beginning to a beautiful track. The opening lyrics are "I'm sorry that I forsake you", which make feel emotional somehow. The feel of the song builds, but stays very simple and personal. Some great backing vocals come in, and we have the chorus. Beautiful song. Nelly sings in a different language for a second verse, which is cool. She also carries this into the chorus the second time. 4.5/5
13 Onde Estas
Spanish style guitar and sampling of an ocean. This song is again sung in the other language for half of the track, this time the first half. It is even better this time, and the chorus is just really moving and gentle. Some cool guitar work serves as a transition into the seconf half of the track, in which Nelly fades into singing English eventually. With all the elements of this song, I wouldn't think it would appeal to me, but alas. 5/5<
This album blows me away. It is my favourite modern pop album, and Nelly is a genius. She really knows how to connect everything together so well.
4.9/5
I just noticed that in the linear notes, Nelly has left a space for you to write your own name into the 'Thank You' section. :)
