CD Odyssey Disc 962: Beck

A long and complicated week has come to a premature end with the advent of a long weekend (for me). I’m about to have dinner with my girl but first…a music review!

Disc 962 is….Mellow Gold

Artist: Beck

Year of Release: 1994

What’s up with the Cover? A troubling combination of the Terminator and a Museum of Natural History exhibit. This particular monstrosity is armed with both a hand cannon and an extendable carbon phallus. Someone call Metallica because this is a Thing That Should Not Be.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Greg introduced me to Beck when we were roommates back in the early nineties, so I’ve known this album since it came out.

How It Stacks Up:  I have nine Beck albums. Of those nine, I had originally reserved the number three spot for “Mellow Gold,” likely because of all the pleasant memories it evoked for me from my early twenties. However the truth is that Beck has been busy making really good albums in the intervening 24 years, most of which are even better. As a result “Mellow Gold” can only manage to land in 6^th. Since this is my last Beck review (until he puts out something new) here’s the recap:

1. Guero: 5 stars (reviewed at Disc 538)
2. Sea Change: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 520)
3. Midnite Vultures: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 348)
4. Morning Phase: 4 stars (reviewed at disc 634)
5. Modern Guilt: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 288)
6. Mellow Gold: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
7. Odelay: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 789)
8. The Information: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 150)
9. Mutations: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 187)

Ratings: 3 stars

When “Mellow Gold” came out it was like nothing I’d heard before; a mix of R&B groove, sampling, breaks, spoken word and rock. No one knew quite what to call it but since it was 1994 they just shrugged and said “alternative” whatever that means.

“Alternative” remains a designation Windows Media Player seems to think means something, although all it really means is “the kind of rock and roll that you hear less often on the radio.” Not so for “Mellow Gold,” which was propelled to popularity by the hit single “Loser.”

“Loser” is a pretty immense track, with an instantly recognizable guitar riff and drum beat that immediately makes your spine feel loose and relaxed. Over twenty years later it still sounds as fresh and groovy as ever. It also taught a whole generation of kids with hair in our eyes how to say “I’m a loser” in Spanish, so it was even educational.

But “Mellow Gold” is about a lot more than just “Loser.” It has a unique sound that manages to be both full of energy and yet laid back. It is like some kind of rock and roll judo, drawing on your primal rhythms and drawing you in, creating energy from negative space. It is funk without the funk.

The album is so ‘chill’ that it is like a warm bath. Like heroin, except without the horribly debilitating addiction issues and you can’t overdose from too much of it – although my room-mate Greg put that theory to the test back in the day.

I’m glad he did, though, because when I first heard this record I didn’t immediately warm to it beyond the hit single. Repeat listens made it better. For example, Beck’s lyrics at first seem nonsensical, but the more you listen the more you hear it as modern poetry, evoking an image here and there for an overall feeling, rather than a cohesive narrative. I particularly like “Pay No Mind (Snoozer)” which starts:

“Tonight the city is full of morgues

And all the toilets are overflowing”

And if night sounds unpleasant, things get worse when the sun comes out:

“The sales climb high through the garbage-pail sky

Like a giant dildo crushing the sun”

Ahem…anyway, the album features that early nineties obsession with songs in minor keys, which gives the whole record a disquieting feeling. This is nicely juxtaposed with some groovy breaks and beats that make everything feel alright.

The record is experimental throughout and while I admire that, there are times where things go too far. “Soul Sucking Jerk” would be one of the great anti-work songs of all time but it ends with increasingly bizarre production treatments, as Beck goes through the squawk-box wormhole to the point where things become cartoonish, emerging on the other side with burbling vocals that sound like they are being voiced while gargling a glass of water.  

The first half of the record is a fair bit better than the second, making the record fade a little despite clocking in at a restrained 37 minutes. The major exception here is “Beercan” which appears late and is one of rock’s great songs. A groovy drum beat and a bunch of weird sounds and vocal affectations that somehow all come together and make you want to dance. Midway through Beck hits you with a chorus of:

“Winos throwing Frisbees at the sun

Put my soul between a bun

Now I'm hungry now I'm drunk

Now I'm running like a flaming pig”

Exactly! What exactly? It doesn’t matter, because Beck has the groove. While he can’t resist the urge to mess with it, you forgive him his excesses because for the most part, it works.

Best tracks: Loser, Pay No Mind (Snoozer), Fuckin’ With My Head, Truck Drivin’ Neighbours Downstairs, Beercan