Nelly

Leave it to St. Louis' finest, Cornell Haynes, to trump the double albums of OutKast and R. Kelly and release two separate full-lengths simultaneously. The idea is that Sweat is Nelly's party album, while Suit showcases more sophisticated numbers to spin late at night when the guests have all gone home. The division makes sense, up to a point. But the truth is that while both Sweat and Suit are decent albums, they would've been a lot better trimmed down to one.

Sweat is the less consistent and less soulful of the two sets, though it does offer one killer dance-pop track (and, it must be said, more than its fair share of duds, including the surprisingly limp, Neptunes-produced "Flap Your Wings"). That killer track, "Tilt Ya Head Back," sounds like another "Hot in Herre" in the making, although its lusty allure owes less to Nelly than it does to Christina Aguilera's full-throttle guest vocals and a sample of Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly." Elsewhere on Sweat, the supposed star of this show also tends to take too much of a back seat, often getting overshadowed by The St. Lunatics and big-name guests like Mobb Deep, Lil' Flip, and Terror Squad's Fat Joe. He even enlists Bob Marley's son Stephen to upstage him on the reggae-tinged "River Don't Runnn."

So where on Sweat does Nelly get his chance to shine? Well, "Another One" flashes a slow electro-funk groove perfect for his trademark half-singing, half-rapping style, and "Spida Man" is an interesting, menacing change-up. And I'm sure hoops fans throughout the land will eat up "Heart of a Champion," which samples "Roundball," a John Tesh (yes, that John Tesh) tune best-known as the theme jingle for the NBA on NBC. Other than that, if you choose to skip this disc and proceed straight to its companion, Suit... well, don't sweat it. - Andy Hermann

Nelly's decision to release his Sweatsuit project as two respective albums, Sweat and Suit -- the former clubby and insincere, the latter refined and mannered -- is somewhat of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's nice to pick whichever side of Nelly's persona you prefer, whether in general or at any particular moment; on the other hand, the separate-album concept makes for two very one-dimensional albums that begin to sound formulaic by their respective conclusions. The thing is, Nelly has plenty of great songs here on these two albums. Quality certainly isn't an issue -- he works with a who's who of pop-rap circa 2004, from the Neptunes to Christina Aguilera to Snoop Dogg to Missy Elliott, and ends up with a wealth of certified and could-be hits. Yet by sorting them into two different categories and then lumping them together onto two separate CDs, the diversity at hand is nullified. Granted, this two-styles, two-discs approach worked well for OutKast on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (and less well, but well nonetheless, for R. Kelly on Happy People/U Saved Me), but it doesn't work so well for Nelly. His Sweatsuit recordings are diverse, for sure, but OutKast he isn't, nor is he the Pied Piper. Rather, Nelly is essentially a pop star who happens to rap, and as such, he specializes in calculated pop formulas -- namely clubby, cocky party songs (previously "Hot in Herre," presently "Flap Your Wings") and sweet, sultry love songs (previously "Dilemma," presently "My Place"). And by sorting those two formulas into respective albums, the calculation becomes overt and comes across as formulaic to discerning listeners. The key, then, is to not be a discerning listener: it's best to just let these songs play and take them for what they are -- well-done popcraft.

The Sweat disc in particular features, at least, a half-dozen songs that could be smash hits, whether on radio, on MTV, or in clubs: "Na-Nana-Na," "Flap Your Wings," "Tilt Ya Head Back," "Grand Hang Out," "Playa," and "Boy" are all first-rate party rap, on a par with anything else out there on the market in 2004. The others are above average also, resulting in a damn impressive lineup of songs. But they're all distinctly clubby and therefore get a little tiring after a while. It'd be nice to have some of the steamy slow jams from Suit interspersed throughout, if only for the sake of variety, not to mention an occasional (heavy) breather. Still, good music is good music, and Nelly comes up a winner here on Sweat. In no shape or manner is this disc a disappointment -- it lives up to its billing and then some. Had Nelly blended these songs with those of Suit into a double-disc buffet or, better yet, cherry-picked them for a single-disc bouquet, he'd have a truly amazing album. (Doing just that on your PC or Mac is highly recommended, by the way, and quite fun.) ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide