Album Reviews
Beck plays many of the instruments himself, makes much of the noise (with producer Nigel Godrich) and often writes like a man overwhelmed. "I'm a seasick sailor/On a ship of noise/I got all my maps backwards/And my instincts poisoned," he sings in "Nausea," an impatient boogie with Pac-Man-beep electronics and the Hobbit-folk strum of Marc Bolan's Tyrannosaurus Rex. Things get even worse in the Bomb Squad-style Armageddon of "Horrible Fanfare," the first part of the album's closing suite: "Banality lives where hysteria kills." But the songs never drown in the data. Neither does Beck's certainty in them that cell phones and instant messaging do not equal clarity or connection. "I think I'm in love, but it makes me kind of nervous to say so," he sings in "Think I'm in Love," a marvelous gene splice of Kraftwerk's Autobahn and Love's Forever Changes. It is a sweet, plain-spoken thought -- and the kind that only matters when you have the heart to say it to someone out loud, face to face.
(Posted: Sep 29, 2006)
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- Elevator Music
- Think I'm In Love
- Cellphone's Dead
- Strange Apparition
- Soldier Jane
- Nausea
- New Round
- Dark Star
- We Dance Alone
- No Complaints
- 1000BPM
- Motorcade
- The Information
- Movie Theme
- The Horrible Fanfare / Landslide / Exoskeleton
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Your Turn
Review 1 of 18
Tashtago writes:
Wow, lots of varied reaction on this post. I'd have to go along with those who think it's good but not his greatest. For me Guero is a masterpiece and it would be hard to top especially only a year after it's release. The first seven tracks are all up to standard . The Information seems to have a more metallic/industrial timbre than Guero. Beck's brilliant slide guitar has been replaced with acoustic piano not a bad thing but I prefer slide. Is this Godrich's influence? The album runs out of steam about half way through and at 61 mins it's just too long,given the fact that Beck writes all the material he's good but he ain't Dylan. There's probably enough material here for part of a great album . I think Beck should have waited another year or so got some more great material and then released it. As it is I reccomend it but only to true Beck fans.
Oct 20, 2007 12:52:06
Review 2 of 18
Jim0in0Space writes:
I'd give it 3.5 if i could. It's not his best album, definately, but it's solid and worth buying. I really loved "strange apparition".It makes me think of pianos in geen rooms with electric fans all ove the place.plus it's got this sort of ironic soul to it.(yes i am aware of how little sense that makes) "nausea" was also good."we dance alone" was kinda boring, and so was "1000 bpm". Another standout, however was the finale's mid section "landslide". Kinda had this heavy funk feel to it. As always, the lyrics were wonderfully surreal. Also i digeth the title track and "think i'm in love". BOOM!
Aug 12, 2007 00:03:53
Review 3 of 18
Dude54 writes:
phillyfreak4390 doesnt know what what music is. This is a great album and whether or not youre a Beck fan you should buy it. You may not love it on the first listen but keep listening and you'll love it.
Mar 18, 2007 20:02:58
Review 4 of 18
phillyfreak4390 writes:
i am sorry he is not that good because his vocals i think are terrible. That entirely makes me hate me. His creativity and different types of beats make it ok, but it is definitely not worth a rating of four. This album like all his other should be no higher than two.
Jan 22, 2007 15:41:08
Review 5 of 18
Jake224 writes:
Awsome album with funky jams and instrumental breaks..... make for a great listen
Jan 14, 2007 19:52:54
Review 6 of 18
breakonthrough writes:
Beck's best album since odelay!!!
Oct 13, 2006 20:34:56
Review 7 of 18
scs8 writes:
Intricate, honest, insightful and at times just plain musical genius. Nigel Godrich seems to bring out the best in artists...
Oct 7, 2006 08:22:36
Review 8 of 18
chanciusmaximus writes:
It's very, very funky. I don't know what to really think of it. Don't get me wrong its good. Real good. I just don't know if I'd be wrong saying it's his best album yet. It may not be, but it's definitely the strongest as an album on a whole. It's hard to pick out a bad song or a song I don't want to dance to on this album compared to some other albums where there are a hand full of songs that I normally skip over to get to better ones. I haven't read any reviews yet, but I'm feeling this is somewhat of a concept album, but that's hard to say when your talking about someone like Beck because everything is "conceptual" with him.
I think what may hurt this album in the long run is that the production on this one seems so tight and so slick that we kind of know what to expect from these songs. Going through track by track and listening to the first few seconds of each song one can find themselves saying "Yep this is a Beck song, yep this is a Beck song..." and so on. I've only given it a couple of listens and nothing straight through and not a lot of my attention, but what I've always felt in the past was a weakness of Beck's albums (one song amazing the next low and weird) may actually be his saving grace because it showcased his range as a musician and the creativity of his producers creating a rollercoaster of musical collages.
With each new song on this album we still get the fantastic collages, but I feel we're on more of a merry go round with only the occasional bump instead of many great heights. Only a few more listens and time will shed light on what I really feel about this album! :)
Oct 6, 2006 22:02:33
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