1. Afraid 
2. Maneater 
3. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado, 
4. Glow 
5. Showtime 
6. No Hay Igual 
7. Te Busque - Nelly Furtado, Juanes 
8. Say It Right 
9. Do It 
10. In God's Hands 
11. Wait for You 
12. All Good Things (Come to an End)

If Nelly Furtado's nearly impenetrable 2003 sophomore effort, Folklore, proved anything, it was that this modern-day singer/songwriter is smart and ambitious yet doesn't quite have a handle on those very qualities. Dabbling in worldbeat and chronicling the perils of immediate success, she indulged herself without a care for the audience -- and the audience responded in kind, as the album barely cracked the Billboard Top 40, spawned no hits, and sold about a quarter of what her Grammy-winning debut did. Clearly a rethink of some sort was in order for her next album, and 2006's Loose, delivered about three years later, certainly does present a different Nelly Furtado: one who is glammed up, sexed up, and ready for the dancefloor. Borrowing liberally from Gwen Stefani's ghetto fabulous makeover and a little bit from Justin Timberlake's sleek retro-'80s moves on Justified, Furtado now has a sound that's straight 2006; with hooks that feel as comfortable as bumper music on MTV as they do as background on cell phone commercials or as ringtones, she can blend into the hyper-saturated media culture of 2006, a move that may alienate fans who were won over by how her debut, Whoa, Nelly!, sounded like nothing else in 2000. No matter how club-friendly Loose is -- even its quieter moments, like the closing "All Good Things (Come to an End)" (co-written in part by Coldplay's Chris Martin), feel like ideal soundtracks to chill-out moments -- ultimately Furtado did not get a swan-styled makeover, where her original personality has been chiseled and chipped away so only a vestige of her remains. Remember, Furtado is nothing if not smart, and she smartly picked Timbaland, one of the very best producers in modern music, as her main collaborator for Loose.

Timbaland helmed all but two of the 12 main tracks here -- the album weighs in at 13 songs, but one is a Spanish version of the Juanes duet "Te Busque" -- and he gives much of this music a bracing feel, dense with old-school synths, subtle sample collages, bone-crunching bass, cascading vocal hooks, and beats that sound so heavy it takes careful listening to realize how nimble they are. Nowhere is this more evident than on the killer opening triptych of "Afraid," "Maneater," and "Promiscuous," three songs that trumpet Furtado's makeover and make it seem pretty convincing, too -- particularly on "Maneater" with its circular, minor-key bass and "Promiscuous" with its chorus that sounds like vintage Prince. This is Timbaland at his best, and the only weak link is Furtado; no matter how she growls on "Maneater" or murmurs on "Promiscuous" -- no matter how much she sings about sex, period -- she just doesn't sound sexy. She sounds as if she's striving to be sexy, which doesn't generate much carnal heat, but it ultimately doesn't matter much since on all the heavy dance songs, of which there are a bunch, she's mixed into the background on Timbaland's production, functioning as another instrument, which helps the music work as just a stylish wall of sound. Furtado doesn't fight against Timbaland's mix, which proves her smarts more than anything on the showy Folklore; there's a reason why she chose Timbaland as a collaborator, and she lets him shine for the first half of the record, as they get the party rolling. Then on the second half of the record, the old Nelly starts to show through. She gets to play the world traveler with "No Hay Igual," where she deftly blends reggaeton and M.I.A., along with the smooth Latin pop ballad "Te Busque." Her words gradually come to the forefront, as on "Say It Right" -- a dark meditative piece that would have fit on her previous records if it didn't have a Timbaland production -- or on the sweetly ruminative "In God's Hands," and then on "Wait for You," which has Indian-influenced hooks and a melody reminiscent of "I'm Like a Bird," both strands are pulled together in a haunting fashion.

It's on this final stretch of the album that the Furtado and Timbaland pairing seems like a genuine collaboration, staying true to the Nelly of her first two albums, but given an adventurous production that helps open her songs up. Unlike the music on Folklore, the idiosyncrasies intrigue instead of frustrate, and deliver on the promise of her debut, when it seemed like Furtado could do anything. That said, the music on the second half isn't nearly as immediate or addictive as "Maneater" and "Promiscuous," two singles that were already deserved hits (in the U.K. and U.S., respectively) when Loose was released. The genius on these two songs is down to Timbaland, who not only crafts the sound but vocally overshadows Nelly's mumbled raps on the latter. But Furtado is smart enough to let him dominate here, since she knows that Timbaland has revitalized Nelly Furtado both creatively and commercially with Loose, so it's only appropriate that he hogs the spotlight on its two best moments. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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01- I'm Like A Bird
02- Maneater (Radio Edit)
03- Powerless (Say What You Want)
04- ....On The Radio (Remember The Days)
05- Promiscuous Feat. Timbaland (Radio Edit)
06- Te Busque Feat. Juanes (English Version)
07- Força (Radio Edit)
08- In God's Hands (UK Radio Mix)
09- Turn Off The Light
10- Do It Feat. Missy Elliott (Radio Edit)
11- Explode
12- Say It Right (Radio Edit)
13- Try
14- No Hay Igual Feat. Calle 13
15- All Good Things (Come To An End) (UK Radio Mix)
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16- Runaway
17- What I Wanted
18- Undercover
19- Turn Off The Lights Remix Feat. Ms. Jade & Timbaland
20- Powerless (Say What You Want) (Remix By JoSH)

Born December 2, 1978 in Victoria, British Columbia to Portuguese parents, Nelly Furtado’s heritage is important to her as a Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter, record producer, actress and instrumentalist. Furtado, who holds both Canadian and Portuguese citizenships, began singing when she was four, in Portuguese.

Furtado became interested in the music industry after being introduced to several Toronto-area underground rappers and DJs. After graduating high school, Furtado formed the group Nelstar, a trip hop duo, but left the group because she wanted to sing. She recorded a demo and got signed by DreamWorks records in 1999.

In 2000, with the release of her debut album Whoa, Nelly!, which featured her Grammy Award-winning single "I'm like a Bird,” Furtado hit the big time. The album was an international success, and spawned two other hit singles, "Turn off the Light", and "...On the Radio (Remember the Days)". Furtado received four Grammy Award nominations for the record, and “I’m Like A Bird” won for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Furtado has since transformed herself several times over. Furtado’s second album, Folklore (2003), veered away from the more pop sound of her debut, and 2006’s Loose veered even further, toward a more R&B, hip-hop influenced sound. Loose produced massive hits like “Promiscuous,” “Maneater,” and exhibited Furtado’s passion for incorporating spontaneous creative choices and a variety of cultural and musical influences into her work. This album was produced by Timbaland, and critics praised what they saw as his revitalizing role in her music. Furtado has claimed that the birth of her daughter added new youth to her sound.

On September 20, 2003, Furtado gave birth to a daughter, Nevis, in Toronto. The father is DJ Jasper Gahunia. Gahunia and Furtado were together for four years and broke up in 2005. Furtado and Gahunia, who have remained good friends and raise their daughter together. Furtado is currently working on her fourth studio album. ---buddytv.com

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01. Spirit Indestructible (3:58)
02. Big Hoops (Bigger the Better) (3:46)
03. High Life (featuring Ace Primo) (4:19)
04. Parking Lot (5:25)
05. Something (featuring Nas)(3:35)
06. Bucket List (4:22)
07. The Most Beautiful Thing (featuring Sara Tavares) (3:59)
08. Waiting for the Night (4:28)
09. Miracles (3:26)
10. Circles (3:51)
11. Enemy (4:18)
12. Believers (Arab Spring) (4:06)
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13. End Game
14. Play
15. Big Hoops (Bigger the Better) [Demolition Crew)

Nelly Furtado followed her 10m-selling 2006 album, Loose, with a Spanish-language record, Mi Plan, creating a vacancy in the pop charts that was quickly filled by Rihanna and Katy Perry. Back, finally, with Loose's "proper" followup, Furtado no longer fits into the landscape – this album's first two singles flopped – and is taking a critical pasting for a record that's actually imbued with the same spanking pop savvy as Loose. "Want another banger?" she asks at the end of High Life, a question she answers by delivering an album containing half a dozen effervescent club tracks. What's not to like about Big Hoops – one of those singles – and its staccato, hip-hoppy celebration of huge earrings (naturally, she likes them "the bigger the better")? But it's the more contemplative, headphones-on tracks that make the greatest impression: Something is a cool, easy Salaam Remi production that's warmed by a Nas rap, and The Most Beautiful Thing is an ambient, heavenly chorale piece. There's a fair bit of "positivity" gloop, such as Believers (Arab Spring), but not enough to ruin a decent album. --- Caroline Sullivan, guardian.co.uk

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01. Morning After Dark (Feat. Timbaland & Soshy) 
02. Breathe (Feat. Swollen Members) 
03. Runaway 
04. Do It (Feat. Missy Elliott) 
05. Jump (Feat. Flo Rida) 
06. The Harder They Come 
07. Broken Strings (Feat. James Morrison) 
08. I Am 
09. Can You Get To Heaven 
10. Say It Right (Feat. Jayco) 
11. What's Going On ( AIDS ) 
12. I Gotta Know 
13. Who Wants To Be Alone 
14. Undercover 
15. Fotografia (Feat. Juanes) 
16. En Las Manos De Dios

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1. "One-Trick Pony" 
2. "Powerless (Say What You Want)" 
3. "Explode" 
4. "Try" 
5. "Fresh off the Boat" 
6. "Força" 
7. "The Grass Is Green" 
8. "Picture Perfect" 
9. "Saturdays" 
10. "Build You Up" 
11. "Island of Wonder" 
12. "Childhood Dreams"

Unlike some of her modern-day neo-singer/songwriter peers, Nelly Furtado never hid her ambition or her desire to be an "important" artist, which was part of the charm of her debut, Whoa, Nelly! Despite (or perhaps because of) her youth, she was willing to try anything, blending a number of sounds and styles, all of which were tied together by her sincerity and audacious desire to say something grand, or at least say everything grandly. Her musical restlessness was underpinned by a sensibility that was fundamentally serious but leavened by sly humor, all of which made Whoa, Nelly! a bracing listen. Her second album, Folklore, is a bit of a different situation. Released three years after her debut, it picks up where the first record leaves off, but it's a much more serious affair, a situation telegraphed by the album covers. Whoa, Nelly! and Folklore mirror each other -- both bear the same Nelly Furtado logo and both feature a reclining Furtado, but where the debut was bright, girlish, and rather innocent, finding her lying to the right in a field, she's now bathed in warm, dark colors, looking rather sultry as she lies to the left among a bunch of leaves. The artwork implies she's more mature, and it's a sentiment that's mirrored in the album titles, since the plainspoken Folklore lacks the humor of Whoa, Nelly! and suggests she'd rather play it straight than play around. And that's the problem with Folklore: though it surely has impressive moments, the album is a self-conscious, somber affair that takes itself far too seriously. At this point, Furtado's Achilles' heel is that she doesn't see a world outside herself. While there's a certain truth to the old axiom "write what you know," she, like many of her peers, takes this credo to extremes, believing that every emotional fluctuation she had in the aftermath of her mild stardom can make for a captivating album. While some have made great art from a similar viewpoint, the key is depersonalizing the situation and turning it toward the universal; for instance, on Nirvana's In Utero, Kurt Cobain turned his agony into poetry by alluding to it, not chronicling it, thereby making it resonate to anyone who felt disillusioned and despairing.

In contrast, Furtado's songs play like entries in a diary, so consumed with the particulars of her world that they can be suffocating in their solipsism. To a certain extent, this was true on Whoa, Nelly!, but since she had yet to reach stardom, she was writing about more universal subjects. Plus, her thrill in making her first album was palpable, giving the album a naïve, exciting charm. While there are some interesting musical moments on Folklore -- enough to make it worth a listen -- the dogged seriousness and didactic worldview become a bit overbearing not long before the album is a quarter of the way finished, particularly since the fusion of worldbeat and adult alternative pop often seems heavy-handed. Furtado does have skills and ambition, which makes her music interesting, but that's not the same thing as compelling or memorable. Much of Folklore resides in the "interesting" category, never reaching the effortlessly catchy heights of "I'm Like a Bird" or "Turn Out the Lights," and given the po-faced soberness of the record, that lack of catchiness can't help but be seen as her bid to be taken as a serious, important artist. And Furtado could very well be the serious, important artist she desires to be, but she'll need to regain some of the guileless, loose spirit of Whoa, Nelly! and temper the quirks that make Folklore an awkward transitional album. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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01. Manos Al Aire 
02. Mas 
03. Mi Plan 
04. Sue?os 
05. Bajo Otra Luz 
06. Vacacion 
07. Suficiente Tiempo 
08. Fuerte 
09. Silencio 
10. Como Lluvia 
11. Feliz Cumpleaños / Fantasta

Cooling her heels while crafting a follow-up to her hot dance makeover Loose, Nelly Furtado released Mi Plan, her first full-length Spanish album, in the fall of 2009. As it turns out, Mi Plan comes much closer to Furtado's previous music than Loose, but she's retained many lessons from her time with Timbaland, giving this a much stronger rhythmic foundation than her first two albums which this otherwise resembles in sound and structure. Nelly still sounds vaguely like a modern hippie, fusing together cultures with a hazily spiritual undertow, something that works well on an album like this, which is pitched at a Latin audience but never feels like a niche throwaway by a superstar. Instead, this is assured and cohesive, holding together better than her muddled sophomore effort Folklore but having a similar range, bouncing elegantly from barbed, alt rock guitars to electro synths to grand, gorgeous ballads. In fact, it says quite a bit about Nelly Furtado's ambitions and skill when her Spanish detour winds up being arguably her strongest album yet. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

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