N.E.R.D.

Take half this album and throw the rest in the crapper. Like a lot of great artists, the guys strike out repeatedly, crucifying themselves on idiot lyrics, tepid filler and adolescent (yet weirdly experimental) hip-hop. Yet in the interstices, you find incoherent but compelling stuff: the stiff march of "Everyone Nose" collapsing briefly as a guy tries to convince a girl to quit doing coke; "Sooner or Later"'s incandescent, Prince-worthy three-minute guitar solo; the soul-jazz/tango of "Yeah You." Plus, the album pays tribute to the neurological disorder synesthesia. Look it up.