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Album Details

• Artist: Beck
• Album: Sea Change
• Label: Geffen
• Year of Release: 2002
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2003-08-18

I'm not sure what you could call me. I'm not an avid Beck fan but when I finally get time to appreciate an album I am flabbergasted at the creativeness involved. Here it is, almost a year after Sea Change has come out that I have found time to really get into the album. Oh, I've owned the album for almost that long but never given it the time of day. Now, it's 11:00PM and I'm sitting in my favorite armchair, too hot to go to bed, listening to Sea Change and doing some work. Why even bother with a Beck review a year after the release? As a critic, I get my voice too, even if it is indeed a little late. I don't know how you could even put Midnight Vultures and Sea Change in the same category, let alone the same artist's catalog. They are as different as hip-hop and metal. "The Golden Age" introduces us to what we are to expect on this album, a much mellower affair that looks at Beck more as a singer/songwriter rather than a Prince imitator. Then on "Paper Tiger" he brings in the strings and you stand back and ask Mr. Hanson where he gets his ideas from. "Guess I'm Doing Fine" is the best country song written by a pop star. My guess is that this may have been due to his work on Gram Parson's tribute album a couple of years ago. Beck joined forces with Nigel Godrich again, the same producer that he used on Mutations. This was a fine choice for these low key songs. Listen to "Lost Cause" closely and you can actually hear his voice echo as if singing in a long dark hallway. I will give Beck credit though, I think it's good that he stores all his ideas and places them in similar bucket sets. Could you even imagine "Guess I'm Doing Fine" sitting on an album next to "Nicotine & Gravy"? Nope, neither could I. Sea Change is a perfect late night album that will accompany you through the wee hours of the morning.

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