just been listening to some of beck's new album "guero" and i am loving it, a return to form for me after the snoozefest of "sea change"...will give a full review after i have listened to it a few times.

blackboab said:

sea change a snooze fest? just because its slow doesn't make it boring. besides that, for once beck wasn't "borrowing" someone else's sound.

produced by the Dust Bros., is a bit Odelay-like? I only heard the new single and liked it!

Sea Change is one of my favourite albums. And as 4 GUERO, definately one of the best albums out this year. On heavy rotation.

Could've fooled me - I think Seachange sounds like a Gordon Lightfoot cd.
And thats not a good thing.

I disagree with Sea Change being a bad album.

If you have it in SACD AND DVD AUDIO you will hear the subtle details that make it one of the best albums in a long time.....

Beck sounds like an individual on this album, not a hybrid of prince, electro funk, and beat nik folk.

Although I once wrote here that Midnight Vultures was the best Prince albums in years...

So folks didn't take well to that..... but it was funny.....

now they use mixed bizness in a chevy truck commercial..... well not Beck version but a muzak type..... I wonder if he licensed it....

aalloca said:

i'm sayin'!

aalloca said:

yup! i said the same thing; so did every review of the cd that i read.

Is this album out yet?

I've been going to forums all over the place and have been seeing reviews for this album everywhere. Is it already available?

Sea Change was great and whoever said Beck apart from Sea Change only borrow's other artists' styles is plain wrong. Listen to the other albums....way back to before Mellow Gold....and you'll see he's an original.

UndercovaBrotha said:

...
...preview copy is doing the rounds, released later this month.

mrdespues said:

that was i who stated sea change was the first record i've heard where he wasn't borrowing another's sound. i haven't heard the material prior to mellow gold but it doesn't matter...i'm going based on his commercial releases. i love beck and i have most of his cds. whenever i listen to him i hear blatant "inspiration" from the rolling stones or prince or whoever. different albums have different sounds but, in my opinion, sea change is the first one that doesn't remind me of anybody else. i'm not alone when i say things ike midnite vultures is a great prince record (as a matter of fact, someone else said it above). don't get it twisted, i'm not knocking beck; i just think he's a kaleidoscopic collection of other artists.

I'm listening to it now.

all artists borrow from others, its what they do with it that matters...beck is one of the great musicial forces of the last ten years...he mixes all his inspirations up and produces great albums like odelay, midnite vultures and guero, putting his own unique slant on various types of music. he is one of the few really interesting artists around at the moment.

blackboab said:

As I am listening to the new album as I type this, I already agree with you fully.

blackboab said:

Interesting. I despise Beck, but I think "Sea Change" is one of the greatest albums ever made.

JACKAL said:

Somehow, I'm not surprised.

Yes....one must break-up with someone or appreciate the sound of break-up music when listening to Sea Change. It is a great one though.

blackboab said:

I totally agree. I think his talent and artistry are amazing - he is truly one of the more inspiring artists of the day.

I've just started to really get into Beck over the past few months. Its kinda weird how it takes a while for an artist to grow on you. I saw Beck at a music festival in Ireland years ago and I enjoyed his set but didn't think much more about it.

However, I decided to buy Midnite Vultures last year after all the comments about how it sounded like Prince and I loved the album. I then bought Odelay a while ago and it hasn't been out of my CD player since. Its so exciting when you "click" with an artist and you can't wait to discover all of their music!!!!

P.S. Just ordered Stereopathic Soulmanure online Any reviews????

minneapolisgenius said:

I don't know if I should take this as an insult or a compliment.

JACKAL said:

I don't either.

No, I think I just meant that you always tend to hate bands/artists (a LOT of them in fact) and then say, "But _____ is a brilliant album." I remember one MSN conversation we had about music, and I listed a million different artists, and you hated every single one of them!

Let's just say, you have very interesting taste in music. Or that you are very selective. Damn, I thought I was picky until I met you.

LolaM said:

Stereopathetic Soul Manure is the best introduction to his early "anti-folk", "out-there" stuff. A lot of it is VERY humourous and if you end up liking it you will no doubt search out other records like "One Foot In The Grave", "Golden Feelings" and "A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight". The last two are in my opinion nearly priceless insights into a unique genius of folk/novelty music on his way up to broader horizons.

minneapolisgenius said:

I'm extremely selective on the one hand, but I've probably got the largest music collection of anyone I know, with the widest range of styles and genres. Kristofferson: "He's a walking contradiction/Partly truth and partly fiction."

I am pretty picky, actually, in what I listen to. But there are some bands that I get into that nobody would expect me to listen to.

But as far as Beck is concerned, "Sea Change" is just wonderful. Probably one of the best produced cds I've heard. Even if the songs sucked, the production is great. But fortunately, the songs don't suck at all. This is a cd that I wish had been released back when I was still drinking. It complements Bob Dylan's "Time Out of Mind" and David Allan Coe's "Living On the Edge" very well when I'm in that blue mood.

And "Mutations" is pretty good, too. But all of Beck's other cds are crap.

the snoozefest of "sea change"...
-----
The first time I heard Sea Change I did not like it at all. Since then, I have grown to REALLY like it. One of the best CD's I have. It's slow, but the layering of sounds is amazing. Really good with headphones (helps if your mellow at the time....) Give it time / give it a chance.

JACKAL said:

bollocks. maybe you should start drinking again?

.
[Edited 3/7/05 17:49pm]

mrdespues said:

You like "Right the Wrong" and I don't like Beck. So, we're both crazy, then.

And I thought Beck was crap even when I was drinking, so, that's out of the question.

mrdespues said:

Thanks for the info mrdespues!! I decided to order it to sample some of his more obscure stuff. I can't wait to hear it. Its pretty hard to find "Golden Feelings" or Western Harvest..... well at least here in the UK. If anyone has any good sites where I could find it then let me know.

JACKAL said: