BECK
Sea Change (DCG Geffen Records)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

---

Beck's fifth major release isn't going to be a hit with the hip-hop crowd; this is spacey, languid music, rather like the Mutations album from a couple years ago. Which is fine by me. Call it neo-hippie, or maybe Nashville on acid. Check that, if he was doing acid, the songs would be more upbeat.

"The Golden Age" starts off Sea Change with an acoustic guitar intro that would have been at home on an Eagles or a Poco record twenty five years ago. The track uses a lot of drawn out pedal steel notes, subtle keyboard drones and echo that remind me of Jerry Garcia's first solo album. It's great stuff and maybe the album's best overall track, though I also like "Guess I'm Doing Fine" which is very similar. Other cuts like "Paper Tiger" and "Lonesome Tears" have some string arrangements reminiscent of George Martin's Beatles work, but mostly the album is pretty downbeat with slight glimmers of electronic colors backing up the acoustic lead.

I suspect that Beck actually prefers this doggedly spacey-slow approach to music rather than hip-hop. It's much more personal than the albums where he cranks up the arrangements and the studio effects to such a high degree you're left dazed. This time though he sounds unusually depressed. In fact, the song titles sound like he's just come off a really bad breakup - "It's All In Your Mind," "Lonesome Tears," "Guess I'm Doing Fine" and "Lost Cause." The last one is a fine almost New-Riders-Of-The-Purple-Sage-ish cut that could easily stand on its own. It really isn't that upbeat though, it just sounds that way in the context of this album. You're really thankful when the exception to the sedate arrangements, "Already Dead," builds up to a wonderful crashing finish.

Maybe you have to smoke a joint to really appreciate Beck's spaciness. Sea Change is extremely well produced stuff, but certainly there's no single track that rises to the caliber of "Loser" or "Devil's Haircut." I like each track on its own merits, but the only problem with all these songs together is Beck's sleepy-time singing. He's got a good falsetto, but doesn't show any range here and all the introspection gets tiresome. You'd think someone as creative as this guy could come up with more of a thematic link between the songs. Fans of Odelay or Midnight Vultures will be put off; fans of Mellow Gold and Mutations will probably enjoy it, especially if they're nursing a wounded ego.

© 2002 - Rusty Pipes