For this review I decided to stay within the same era (the same year in fact) and review Beck’s fifth album, Odelay. I knew this album was highly acclaimed so I wanted to give it a listen and judge for myself.
Beck starts out strong with a throwback sound reminiscent of the sixties. He spits out his vocals in the rap style he’s known for, combining disparate, disjointed phrases that seem to make no sense at all. Whether or not they actually do is largely inconsequential, as Beck’s delivery convinces the listener that his lyrics have purpose. The next track, Hotwax, utilizes a bluesy slide guitar sounding not too far removed from his earlier hit ‘Loser’. He continues his vocal style giving the impression of a stream of conscious delivery. It’s nice to know that in a year that saw the Spice Girls and the Backstreet Boys become mainstream acts, substantial music was actually being written. Lord Only Knows, the third track, also makes use of the slide guitar. Again, I find the lyrics to be intriguing regardless of weather of not they’re meant to make any sense. Case and point: “Titanic, fare thee well, My eyes are turning pink, Don’t call us when the new age, Gets old enough to drink.” Next is a song titled The New Pollution. After an in interesting twenty-second introduction, another sixties throwback takes place. This can especially be heard in the bass line as well as the enjoyable saxophone and organ parts. I have to say, compared to other groups’ attempts to portray the sound of an earlier era *cough* Flaming Lips *cough*, this is retro done right. The fifth track is called Derelict. It seems to be more experimental resulting from the disjointed nature of the melodic riff over which Beck delivers his lines. Towards the middle section of the song, an Indian influence can be heard complete with tablas. I find it fascinating just how many different sounds and styles Beck managed to pack into one album (less than half of one for that matter). The end of the song is brought about with a fadeout over a drone. Next is Novacane. This track takes a turn in yet a different direction utilizing loud, crunching guitars as Beck goes back to his rap style delivery. Towards the end of the track, various blips and beeps can be heard emanating from assorted early synthesizers. Jack-ass is the seventh song on the album. Again Beck takes a different course, opting this time for an accessible, classic-sounding number. He possesses a great ability to combine old and new and effectively juxtapose both. This track is fairly straight forward (at least as Beck goes) containing just a simple Lou Reed-sounding vocal over simpler guitar and percussion.
The eighth track is Where It’s At. Not only was this the album’s most successful single, it is the only track with which I was previously familiar. After a nice keyboard intro, beck goes into his trademark vocal style. I enjoyed not only the spoken excerpts that can be heard, but the organ and saxophone as well. Nine is Minus, a more upbeat rocker. The clear-cut nature of the track provides an excellent contrast to the one that preceded it. It is also the shortest track on the album, coming right after the longest. Track ten, Sissyneck, showcases a southern rock sound complete with blues style steel guitar. This is accompanied of course by blips, beeps, and Moog. Readymade is the eleventh song. What I enjoyed the most about this track is a horn part, which seems to almost not fit with the bass line. The twelfth track is called High 5 (Rock the Catskills) and further showcases Beck’s diversity. This track is defiantly more experimental containing a multitude of different influences including even a movement from a Schubert symphony. Needless to say, it’s not exactly single material. The primary problem with Beck’s style of music, is that some times it’s various elements are so disparate and diverse, it becomes difficult to combine them together to form a cohesive package. Such is the case with this song and as a result, I’m not quite sure if I truly like it. The final track on the album is titled Ramshackle. This piece is quite different from the rest of the album. It is quite subdued in its sound, containing candid vocals over a simple accompaniment of mellow guitar and basic rhythm section. I liked this track a lot, and thought it was an interesting choice to have a rather restrained ending to such a cataclysmic, collage of a work. After two minutes of silence there is a guitar loop, which plays for some two dozen times before being abruptly cut off.
What makes this album so great is it’s remarkable sense of balance. Though I enjoyed some more than others, all of the tracks are well written. There aren’t any that act as filler in between singles. In addition, there is an eclectic variety of genres as well as a contrast between pieces in terms of texture. Furthermore, there is a good balance between songs that are more accessible and ones that are less so. What makes this album a illustrious achievement, however, is Beck’s ability to pull all of these diverse, competing elements together to create a cohesive work that is varied but, at the same time, has it’s own iconic sound that permeates from beginning to end. This is true of any great album from Ok Computer to Dark Side of the Moon. Beck truly understands this. For further proof, this concept can be seen beautifully paralleled in the album art itself.
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