Beck – Sea Change
(DGC)

Although I’m not the biggest Beck fan around, I have enjoyed some of his past albums; mainly Midnite Vultures. When I heard about the new Beck album, I was hoping for something fun and danceable. Instead I got to hear Beck being depressed because he broke up with his girlfriend. I guess you could compare this album to Mutations and One Foot in the Grave (which I haven’t heard), but this one leaves a bad taste in my ears (which oddly enough are capable of tasting). It’s not so much that the music is bad, because it isn’t, but just the fact that it’s a step down from Midnight Vultures.

The album itself is full of slow, soothing ballads, backed by a single set up of drums, some slide guitar, and acoustic guitars. Every now and again you’ll get an orchestra or some electronic sounds, but the album is pretty much the same throughout. At times Beck can get a little too “singy”, something that I felt ruined a lot of his songs live as well. He’s trying too hard and doing too many vocal solos, making him sound more and more like a modern R&B singer. What happened to the vocoders? Or the Prince-esque vocalistic stylings? I guess they left with his long-time girlfriend.

I happened to catch Beck’s tour for this album, where he was playing with the Flaming Lips both as an opening act and his back-up band. The Flaming Lips were fun and exciting and had a great energy level, then Beck came out and pissed on the party. When I was wanting more Flaming Lips, Beck was whining about his tour bus and how tired he was. Maybe I’m being a little biased based on that single performance.

Basically this album is still alright, but it’s just not the same Beck I’m used to. And maybe the Beck I’m used to isn’t the Beck that the “true fans” want, but I could care less. I want to hear more about Deborah working at the JC Penny, not about how lonely he is. — Jay