Think again.

On his solo debut, JC Chasez, 27, doesn't connect with the genius producers-of-the-moment, as Timberlake sublimely did with the Neptunes, and he doesn't stop the music to reveal diary entries or literary ambitions. Instead, on Schizophrenic, Chasez got together with a range of pop and dance producers (Basement Jaxx, Robb Boldt, Riprock 'n Alex G) and created seventeen high-impact tracks that spread out all over the place. This is music that is bent on connecting with the dance floor and won't deny itself anything: "One Night Stand" interpolates bits of the Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder disco masterpiece "I Feel Love" in a doo-wop voice and quotes Smokey Robinson's immortal 1979 "Cruisin'." Schizophrenic is all stylistic pastiche and adventure, territory that boomed during the Eighties (think Prince) but later became more the province of hip-hop and dance. This is the music that first got Chasez -- as well as the Neptunes -- shaking.

Clearly, Chasez didn't get and keep his place in 'NSync because he couldn't sing, as ballads such as "Build My World" and the extraordinarily well-sung "Dear Goodbye" prove. "Everything You Want" is ace late-era Police. But most important, Chasez does what works for his tracks. This means aching through feverish pop reggae ("Mercy"), chanting strong New Wave ("All Day Long I Think About Sex"), lifting off Stevie Wonder-style celebrations ("She Got Me") and reporting the latest nightlife news ("Some Girls [Dance With Women]"). No doubt about it, Schizophrenic is a lot. It's also cool.

JAMES HUNTER
(RS 943, March 4, 2004)

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(Posted: Feb 12, 2004)