Beck

Odelay

Bizarre and magnificent

Review Score:

(10/10)
When most people write about Beck they usually know exactly where to start - his diversity. Generally regarded as Beck's best experimental album before his latest, more serious record Sea Change, as well as a general classic of the 90's. And I don't mean experimental in an inaccessible way. Everything here is accessible to the average listener and gloriously bizarre and interesting. Odelay stands as a melting pot of different genres. From the edgy opening track Devil's Haircut to the soul of Hot Wax to country on Sissyneck and rap on Where It's At, Beck defies all attempts to pigeonhole him as anything but different.

Although the album is highly consistent, there are several stand-out tracks, though these will probably depend on your faovured genres of music. The New Pollution is too eclectic to be put into words, the gentle Jackass is brilliant - ending in a donkey's bray - and of course Devil's Haircut and Hot Wax are true classics. Sampling other songs Beck eschews a variety of pop culture references so that Odelay often seems like he's taking you on a journey of pop culture of the last few decades musically. The real credit though is that all of the songs here merge so well and Beck never comes across as being pretentious or arty. What he's produced here is amazingly original and something that no artist, not even him, has really been able to rival. It showcases Beck's diversity better than the previous Mellow Gold or the later Mutations and occassionally misguided but still fantastic Midnite Vultures. With Beck set to take a more serious note - his lyrics here are often indecipherable or just plain silly - given his last album Sea Change, it's well worth taking a chance to listen to his other masterpiece. Indeed, when seen alongside the intelligent lyrics and mastery shown on Sea Change, Beck's diversity on Odelay seems even more impressive. This is an artist that feels free to flow free with his musical moods, sometimes even within the same songs, and Odelay is Beck at his pinnacle.

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