After the success of
Odelay(no exclamation point in title), Beck decided to do what was considered the least cool thing to do and put out an all acoustic, all the time folk-fest titled
Mutations. While it brought some good suprises to the table, songs got boring after a point and Beck himself seemed a little unenthusiastic. Following
Mutations, Beck went back to the zany, quirky and playful music he was known for on
Midnite Vultures But it seems like Beck's acoustic career was brief, uninhibited and sadly unfinished. Beck rebounded with this album,
Sea Change, a folk album in the highest order that doesn't get dull or even repetetive.
Beck - Sea Change
#440 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums List
Beck, instead of a sole acoustic guitar and his moaning singing, started to write full songs for this album with grand, creaky orchestrations occupying much or all of the songs. This was a good move, especially since Beck, while an incredible performer, couldn't really pull off most of the songs he's written by himself. In a sense, the orchestrations are what really land the songs safely. Most notably in the daring
Lonesome Tears, which incorporates melon collie, trudging acoustic guitars and Beck's mumbles of almost disturbing inaccuracy. A good song, no doubt, but without the grand, Laurence of Arabia-esque orchestrations taking the drivers seat in the chorus and breakdown this song would be deemed boring after only two minutes, sadly. This is the opposite for the all acoustic follow up
Lost Cause. A soft, subtle and old-timey song with finger picking, banjo and Beck talking about moving on. If orchestrations were incorporated into this song it would no doubt be overdramatic and annoyingly theatrical. Beck separates these songs with stunning accuracy, submitting his slow, dreamy and achingly beautiful country ballads with simplistic, but incredible, efforts into songs that reminisce of the good ol' days, when folk had a place in music. Beck also seems to have a good idea of what orchestral songs need, as he plunges into waves of strings on appropriate songs, while not making them too overwhelming.
Beck sorts through few topics, unfortunately, on this album. All the subjects he sings about may suit the music, but when you have simpler music you're bound to have simpler lyrics. As Beck strums away, it doesn't seem like he has much choice of what he can sing about. Missing the good ol' days, breakups, travelin', it's all there. What makes them tolerable is that each subjuct, being somewhat vague in terms of story and complexity, is up to the listener's interpretation on where the story goes, therefore ending up in the listeners hand. Frankly, this is extraordinary, and a perfect compliment to the music. Beck's simplistic strums, complex finger picking and moaning can only really create one aura for the listener.
Sea Change can be determined as a quality product of a mastermind for the sheer fact that this album knows it's limits. It could've been way too depressing for the casual (especially Beck) listener. What Beck has seemed to have done is write a breakup album. Breakup albums are, for a fact, depressing. They remind us of our own problems, maybe even cause some problems from listeners having to re-examine their relationships/life. Beck, however, has taken the beauty and grace of a breakup album and translated it into more of a triumphant release than one could imagine. It doesn't seem to matter that on
The Golden Age he sounds at his most morbidly depressing and the music moves about as fast as George Bush reacting to Hurricane Katrina, but what could've been a surely morbid listen is turned around by Beck's suprisingly reluctant and almost shy lyrics.
Well, Beck has done it again.
Sea Change may be a small throw-off from Beck's previous work (except
Mutations), but this album is definitely where Beck needed to head off to next. Acoustic ballads with dripping, not-to-sappy lyrics about non-touchy subjects and grand orchestrations sounding as if they've come from Egypt. The slow pace of this album is un-remarkable, of course, and some songs don't distinguish dreary from annoying but this is a remarkable album for the most part, mostly for it's sheer and untouchable simplicity in both the music and lyrics (if you can hear them). For the listener it is easy to get settled into and almost impossibly hard to escape it's grasp, something that is welcome to most all listeners, but this album is not recomended for all listeners. For fan's of Beck's more fast pace and humorous stuff this record may be a stretch for them, but for the most part this album people who make folk-ish, long, epic and uplifting music their great subjects should not miss out on this album. Not a chance.
