Timbaland ft. Katy Perry: 'If We Ever Meet Again'

Despite trailer 'Morning After Dark' cracking the top ten, and this follow-up being on course to do the same, Timbo's Shock Value II has climbed no higher than #60 on the UK albums chart. Our theory? That the novelty's almost entirely worn off - collaborations with Him From Nickelback and JoJo just aren't as drool-inducing when you remember that back in '06 he was sharing studio time with The Hives and Elton John.

Then again, it's also tough to refute suggestions that The Big Man's beats, well, aren't quite what they were. Like 'Morning After Dark', 'If We Ever Meet Again' is a perfectly likable pop song with a chorus you can't quibble with, and Katy Perry is cracking value as always, but the innovation that characterised his earlier work is conspicuous in its absence. If you ask us, he needs a genuinely shocking hook-up to coax him from his creative comfort zone... Hmm, anyone got Sir Cliff's number?


> Click here to read our review of Timbaland's Shock Value II album