Schizophrenic

Album Review

With his solo debut, JC Chasez is determined to outdo his former *NSYNC bandmate Justin Timberlake at his own game, to be sexier and sleeker, to reach further and be hipper, to try something different on each track. Hence, the title Schizophrenic, which Chasez probably chose with blissful ignorance of its similarity to the name of Geri Halliwell's disastrous post-Spice Girls debut, Schizophonic. That doesn't mean JC is wrong, of course. He does change sounds and styles frequently over the album, going much further into both hard dance-club music and sappy urban-soul ballads than Timberlake, trading JT's Michael Jackson fixation for an obsession with Prince, hip producers the Neptunes for the even hipper Basement Jaxx, while delving into retro-new wave for good measure. This may not follow the Justified blueprint to a tee, but it's certainly in the same spirit — it's a far more ambitious and diverse set of music than anything *NSYNC released, and it's often pleasing on the surface. His self-conscious, mannered phrasing can get in the way at times, but Schizophrenic has a lot of good music. Whether it's the heavy dance-club throb of "Some Girls (Dance With Women)" or "Shake It," the skipping lite funk of "She Got Me," the Prince homage "100 Ways," the robotic electro pulse of "All Day Long I Dream About Sex" and "Come to Me" with its "Sunglasses at Night" sample, or the mock reggae of "Everything You Want," Schizophrenic is filled with terrific pop music, filled with undeniable hooks and a vibrant, imaginative production. Chasez may not be able to eclipse Timberlake's star, but in his favor, he does have an album that on a strictly musical level tries harder and achieves more than Justified.