Give the last track some time.. it is really brilliant.. there is a lot to digest..but its scary. and beautiful

The final track absolutely blew me away. This jump in My Top 5 of 2006 almost immediately - even after repeated listenings.

Beck outdid himself, again!

UndercovaBrotha said:

I actually changed my rating on the album to 4.5 out of 5.. due to this song, and a some other factors.

1. Albums depth
2. The selection of genre/types of styles
3. Albums pretty consistant all the way through
4. Need a ballad like dreamy track, and Movie Theme fufilled this (imo)
5. The last track "Horrible Fanfare" exceeds the regular standard track formula, and it also consist of some brilliant little moments.

Good editing? Good songwriting? Just a flat out great album?

Yeah, i think its all those..

two import tracks

Inside out

&

This Girl I Know
[Edited 9/29/06 17:13pm]

I am really surprised more people aren't talking about this album. Are leaked album downloads suddenly really uncool?

It's seriously a great album though, in my top 5 of the year. What's up with artists I'd gotten bored with--Yo La Tengo, Basement Jaxx, Beck--putting out albums as good as anything they'd done before. Prince is not in that list...was that even this year, can't remember anymore.
[Edited 9/29/06 19:59pm]

Beck hit a big one this time.. it really does contain some really brilliant moments.. fresh and original.. i dig this

MendesCity said:

I really dig this album!!!! Instant favourite: 'Dark Star'

I really love beck and although I was a bit disappointed at first listen its growing hard core on me and that b good!

Another comment I posted elsewhere and its driving me nuts-o! See below:


Elevator Song (1st song on the CD) chorus sounds an awful lot like an Appolonia 6 song!

Intersting I know...

I think it is Mr. Christian that it resembles...any ideas??

abierman said:

Get the remix of this for .99 cents on iTunes... its good too

How fucked up is this??

Beck's New Album Ineligible For UK Charts

No matter how well Beck’s new album, The Information , does in its first week of sales in UK, it will not be on the charts. There has been a ludicrous ruling by the UK’s official Chart Company. The OCC claims that The Information ’s packaging, which includes stickers that allow buyers to create their own covers, give Beck’s album an "unfair advantage" over other albums released.

This preposterous reasoning ignores the declining amount of music buyers and the next marketing steps that artists might have to take in order to promote the consumption of actual albums, rather than ripping the music illegally or downloading the songs online. It seems that Beck’s innovative approach might be appreciated and lauded rather than disqualifying him from the charts.

The Information was released in the U.S. yesterday and has not been deemed ineligible.


http://www.pastemagazine....le_id=3353

Oh man! Beck really snuck up on me with this one!!!
I consider my self a fan with most of his LPs yet I had no idea
he had an album coming out.

I LOVED Guero! so I can't wait to hear this one
Glad to see its been getting lot of love for you pirates

Thank God for this board because I had no idea that he had anything in brewing. I really really love some of this stuff more than lots on Guero

I am so loving this CD

In the top 3 for 2006

It took him 3 years to finish it and it shows - its got everything that Sea Change, Odelay, and others have all in one fantastic package

...even though the final track is a bit creepy

Favs so far: Soldier Jane, Cellphones Dead, Elevator Music (with the nod to Prince and Appolonia 6), Dark Star

I've been listening to it and I really like it too.

I'm glad I took the time to check this one out since I slept on a few others. Good stuff.

I think Elevator Music is one of his best introductions to an album.. that song is brilliant.

Sdldawn said:

this song didn't grab me at all. I need to go back and listen to it again.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

its one of those that doesn't instantly hit.. took me some time to enjoy it.

Cellphones Dead definitly needs to be the next single

When are Beck and Prince gonna hook up???? (musically that is!)

2020 said:

you should hear the Jamie Lidell remix of Cell Phones Dead


he HOOKED it up. lol

Yeah it's pretty good... I've heard 3/4 of it so far and the rapping is just a little repetetive and I wish he'd open his mouth for a change... having said that I think I'll shut mine for now 'cause I need to listen to it some more in the right state of mind...



.
[Edited 10/6/06 1:45am]

Not really feeling this one. Tracks 3 & 7 are making me moist, the rest...

As usual, it's a grower... and it's a good album with some warm production... but sometimes maybe a bit overproduced with that... eh I really love some of it, who am i kidding... it will appeal to a lot of casual beckers, cause it's more straightforward in some respects....



.
[Edited 10/6/06 4:53am]

there's a great review on it at allmusic.com:

Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Beck began work on 2006's The Information after Sea Change but before he reunited with the Dust Brothers for 2005's Guero, eventually finishing the album after Guero was generally acclaimed as a return to Odelay form. So, it shouldn't come as a great surprise that The Information falls somewhere between those two records, at least on sonic terms. Musically, it's certainly a kindred spirit to Guero, meaning that it hearkens back to the collage of loose-limbed, quirky white-boy funk-rock and rap that brought Beck fame at the peak of the alt-rock revolution, with hints of the psychedelia of Mutations and the folk-rock that was the basis for Sea Change. Since this is a Nigel Godrich production, it's meticulous and precise even when it wants to give the illusion of spontaneity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it also pulls the album into focus, something that the generally fine Guero could have used. Guero had many strengths, but its biggest weakness was the general sense that it was unfinished, a suspicion fostered by its endless issues in deluxe editions and remixes. Beck embraced these changes, most extravagantly on the cover of Wired, where he was hailing the future of the album, which would now no longer be seen as finished: it would be a project that covered a certain amount of time, the artist would package it one way, then listeners would offer their own spin. That is precisely what Guero turned out to be, so it would have made sense that The Information would run further down that field, particularly because it has a design-your-own-art for its cover and is supplemented by a DVD filled with quick-n-dirty videos for each of its songs. But Beck isn't so easily pigeonholed: as it turns out, The Information is far more of a proper album than Guero, coming fully equipped with recurring themes and motifs, feeling every bit the concept album Sea Change was. Credit might go partially to his collaboration with Godrich — who is nothing if not a taskmaster, helping to sharpen and focus erratic talents like Paul McCartney and Stephen Malkmus (for good in the former, not as good in the latter) — but this also feels like the work of a refocused Beck, who shook off the cobwebs by reuniting with the Dust Brothers, thereby getting his "return to Odelay form" notices out of the way, and then getting down to the real work here on The Information, as he tackles the hyper-saturated info-world of the new millennium here.

If it initially seems like surprises are in short supply on The Information — even when the tracks take a left turn, it doesn't feel like Beck and Godrich are wandering off the map — the craft is strong and assured, and closer listens reveal the depth of the detail within the album, whether it's in the construction of the production or how those productions illuminate Beck's themes. Ever the obscurist, Beck's meanings aren't always crystal clear, which is no doubt deliberate, but his overall intent is easier to ascertain, especially when "Cellphone's Dead" juts up against "Nausea." There's a greater sense of craft here, and while craft isn't necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Beck, it's what happens when an eccentric sticks around for over a decade: he turns pro. He's done his exploring and now he's learning how to apply what he's discovered. While this may have the inevitable side effect of making his music a little less bracing and exciting, at least on first listen — and that's especially true when he's in his pop chameleon mode as he is here, since it often seemed like his collages were quickly thrown together instead of immaculately assembled as they are here — it nevertheless makes for a well-constructed, intriguing, and satisfying album, which The Information assuredly is. Upon first listen, it might seem to slide by a little bit on texture and sound instead of song, but that doesn't necessarily mean it feels even as groove-oriented and hip-hop-driven as Guero (let alone Midnite Vultures), despite the fact that many of the best tracks are built on muscular, intricate rhythms, like the dense, paranoid "Nausea" or the opening fanfare of "Elevator Music." But those further listens — something that a neo-concept album like this demands anyway — reveal the complexity within the productions, and how Beck is bridging the two sides of his personality, finding a common ground between his folk roots and art rock sides. All those little details give each cut a dramatic flow, and as the cuts pile up, they all add up to something. Like a picture where you have to stare intently to find the hidden item buried in a seas of colored dots, it can be far too easy on The Information to look at the individual dots and not see the big picture — but at least here the dots are interesting in and of themselves. And if you give it time, The Information eventually reveals itself as Beck's tightest, most purposeful album yet.

http://www.allmusic.com/c...q8b5x4csqj
[Edited 10/6/06 7:01am]

Cloudbuster said:

...is improving somewhat with each listen, bitch.

Cloudbuster said:

Actually, I'm feeling this one more than Guerro This is a solid album

I wrote a review of this in my college newspaper. Now, everybody's thanking me for telling them how good it is. I heard somebody jammin' to "Cell Phone's Dead" in their dorm earlier today. Love the album. Love it!

I just gotn this today and took a first listen. I have to say, I am as pleased as I was with "Guero" - and after only one listen, I think that this CD might just have even more ambitious tracks on it. Of course I'll need to five a few more spins (do we even "spin" CDs? ) but so far I do like it a lot!

P.S. I also like the cool stickers you get to decorate and somewhat personalize the CD cover

Like this one very much, propably better than Guero. I just don't understand why everyoen likes Cellphone's Dead so much, doesn't do anything for me. Dark Star though....

BTW, in case someone didn't know yet:

Beck TUE OCT 31, 2006 9:00A www.kcrw.com/music/progra...061031beck
L.A.'s finest, Beck, brings a band to perform songs from The Information on Morning Becomes Eclectic at 11:15am.



They have lots more of old Beck appearances to watch and listen to, including one with The Flaming Lips doing (mostly) Beck songs. Amazing stuff.