Customer Reviews

Odelay

5 star:		(131)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Whoa, what a disc. This cd is just great all around. Every track is very, very unique, and several are remarkable. The hits (New Pollution, Devil's Haircut, Where It's At) are all good, but the real treasures are some of the lesser known songs on here. Hotwax is a weird, funk-inflected groove that will really catch your attention. Minus is a quick rocker that is also eye-widening, and Ramshackle is a long, bizarre ballad that is equally interesting. Beck's ingenuity was displayed on a minor scale before Odelay, and after this critically acclaimed award-winner, he's been a household name. Beck's fame is condign, and he is a good example of an artist that hasn't sold out. He sticks to what he does best. And that is writing outlandish songs that coalesce all genres into one fun, blurring album. Odelay could be an album for a party, for reading, for crying, for screaming, for laughing, you name it. It's so flexible and at the same time rigid enough to evoke passion and meaning each time you listen to it. I could go on and on about Beck and his masterful song-writing, but if you kept reading, it would detract from the most valuable time that would be better spent listening to the album. So do yourself a favor and pick this up if you don't have it. It will be a treat and a half.

Odelay is one of those albums that leaves you smiling and thinking all at once. There are all kinds of genres crossed in this album. You'll hear funk, rap, bossa nova(he quotes Antonia Carlos Jobim briefly) and rock. The most interesting part of this album is not only the lesser known songs but that it still sounds fresh today almost ten years after it's release(June 18, 1996). There is something for everyone one this album which makes it a popular hit at parties. I'm new to Beck and Alternative Rock and I think I'll buy his Mellow Gold album next.

Beck has to be one of the geniuses in music today. Who else could take so many different genres, stitch them together seemingly at random, and come up with a product that is so easy to listen to? Nothing that I've listened to (and I've listened to a lot of stuff) can make that claim like Beck can. "Odelay" is, in a word: awesome.

Let's take a look at the tracks on this disc. "Odelay" starts out with "Devils Haircut," a good indicator of what you can expect to hear on the rest of the CD: catchy drumbeats and hooks, noise which Beck's songs would almost seem naked without, and of course Beck's trademark lyrics. Next comes one of my favorite tracks, "Hotwax." This one mixes a laid-back beat with just enough feedback, retro keyboard hooks, and even a little accordion to keep things funky enough for the rhymes ("I get down, I get down, I get down all the way...") to seem right at home with. And ya just GOTTA love the ending! ("Who are you? I'm the enchanting Wizard of Rhythm.") "Lord Only Knows" starts out with a scream that hints at a rocker of a song, then abruptly shifts into a straightforward (for Beck) country-type tune that can very easily be "goin' back to Houston." "The New Pollution" is another one of the highlights here, with a groovy late '60s/early '70s vibe and a cool sax line thrown in for good measure. "Derelict" sounds like some Arabic song, which is vaguely seductive in nature. "Novacane" just plain rocks, with a serious truck-drivin', CB radio talkin' jam. "Jack-Ass" mellows thing out with a folky groove that seems to unravel (in a good way) at the end. Now we come to "Where It's At," one of THE songs of '96/'97 and one of the main reasons I got this CD in the first place. "Two turntables and a microphone" indeed. Funky, old-school rap with that great organ hook. "Minus" reminds me of something that Kurt Cobain (RIP) would come up with the music for. "Sissyneck" is a smooth country/blues-tinged tune with a great bassline. "Readymade" is perhaps best-described as "spacey," with enough "elevator music"/organ to keep it somewhat grounded. "High 5 (Rock The Catskills) is another rocker, sounding almost like something Kid Rock would do (check out the reference to "Novacane" in the middle of this one.) And last but not least, "Ramshackle" smoothes everything out with a very mellow, very folky sound. Keep listening after the end of this song for a little noise surprise.

Well, that's it. What else can I say about "Odelay," other than if you have yet to obtain a copy, do so!

I really have not been a Beck fan for very long. The first Beck album I bought was "Odelay", which was about a year ago. The only reason I bought it at the time was because "Where It's At" and "Devil's Haircut" were on it. But after I listened to the entire CD, I could not keep it out of my stereo. I heard what is now my favorite Beck song to date, "Hotwax". I thought that this was a fluke, I mean how many songwriters can have an album with all awesome songs? To test my theory, I went out and bought "Mutations". Once again, Beck outdid himself, with great numbers, like "Lazy Flies", "Cold Brains", "We Live Again" and "O Maria". All right, he's good, but nobody's perfect. The very next day, I bought "Mellow Gold" which, of course, had "Loser". Every song, completely addictive, especially "Snoozer", "Beercan", "Nitemare Hippy Girl" and "Soul Suckin' Jerk." "Odelay" got me rolling on the Beck Bandwagon. I searched, and finally found "One Foot In The Grave" which ranks all the way up with his other awesome albums. I am in the process of receiving "Stereopathetic Soul Manure" which I ordered from amazon.com. I am also anxiously awaiting the release of his newest album, "Midnite Vultures". Beck is one of the most original, raw and taleted artists of our time. He's so amazing because he doesn't just stick to one genre of music. I mean, he made country music sound HIP for Pete's sake. His lyrics cannot be turned into negative influences, because no one knows what to make of them. In a time of "gangsta" rap, telling kids to do drugs and shoot people, Beck gives music listeners what music listeners really want: good music, with none of the hassle. We're just able to sit back and listen to someone who's writing music for music's sake.

Signed, Beck's biggest fan

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.

this album is somewhat overrated. Admittedly, this was the first Beck album I bought, and initially, I was amazed with the production and sudden shifts in sound within one song. it is a great dancable, catchy and accessible party album with just enough dynamics and quirk to keep it interesting for listens at home by yourself. However, I then went out and bought Mutations and then backtracked to Mellow Gold and One Foot In The Grave and eventually began comparing the three. Compared to the other two albums, lyrically it lacks depth. On the last major album Mellow Gold, the lyrics did have some sort of genreral coherent story to them, they just would usually have odd ways of saying them and unique forms of imagery. Most of the lyrics on this album are more of word collages, seeming randomly put together ( a good example: "heads are hanging from the garbage man trees/ mouthwash jukebox gasoline"). Although these collages are interesting and amusing, they make no sense at all, and are by no means intended to have any sort of depth to them whatsoever. I read somewhere that beck and the dust brothers would put together interesting sonic collages, and then beck would listen to them, sit there for about 15 minutes writing stuff in a notebook and then be ready to lay down his vocals. Beck has shown he is cabable of more surreal yet engaging imagery (see "soul suckin' jerk", "pay no mind", or "truck driving neighbors downstairs" to name a few), and is certainly capable of more brilliantly introspective and emotional content ("nobody's fault but my own", "girl dreams", etc.). For these reasons, although the record is fun, enjoyable, and sonically interesting, it seems kind of disposable compared to earlier stuff. Although Beck's technical singing ability sounds better on this album, his performance on earlier work had more emotion to it. Another thing is that I think that Beck's music was much more original and creative before he had all these cool modern electronic gadgets to play with. Beck has done much more with much less. I mean Mellow Gold was recorded for less than $500, and even featured parts that were transferred directly from demo tape to cd, and in my opinion it was much more groundbreakingly creative musically. Nevertheless, this is a good, fun, enjoyable album with some really great fun songs, and it still warrants an occasional replay when I'm in the mood, it's just not my favorite.

"Odelay" is the album that established Beck as a superstar, and for good reason. It's an adventurous, yet insanely catchy melange of genres loaded with pop hooks and samples galore.

From the trigger-fuzz blues/rock/pop of "Devil's Haircut" to the resigning, affecting folk of "Ramshackle", and everything in between..you never know what will pop out next.

"Novacane" goes from Texas to New York in its course, seemlessly blending bluesey passages with hyper white noise and computer blips. "The New Pollution" has this turbelent, 1950's black & white pop feel, with commercial-esque interludes and stylish, jazzy saxophone samples.

In terms of sampling, "High 5" puts everything else to shame; the dancefloor/raucous hip-hop number even samples a previous track from the album. How wacky is that? "Where It's At" is also a massive collage, and surely one of the most unlikely pop hits in recent years.

Other highlights include the heartbreaking folk of "Jackass", the sugar rush indie-rock of "Minus", and the infectious twang-covered pop of "Sissyneck".

In theory, the album is a total mess. But Beck's knack for crafting clever, catchy pop songs makes this cut and paste job stick together and work a good 95% of the time.

Well, what can you say about this album? It is possibly the quintessential Beck album. Typically strange lyrics, with imaginative instrumentation and samples. Mellow Gold had his biggest hit, "Loser", but this album is more cohesive than that one. If you want to experience Beck, this would be a good album to start with.

We tend to forget the musical influence of certain albums, and I think it partly has to do with taking for granted the genre it paved the way for. Now we hear it all the time, eg, Beta Band, Mull Historical Society, Badly Drawn Boy, but it was Beck's 'Odelay' that brought this type of quirky type of cut-and-paste experimentalism to the mainstream. It definitely embodied new musical possibilities, and all the accolades, praise and boy-wonder genius tags Beck received were certainly deserved. 'Odelay' is basically turntablist blues, folk, jazz, and country, meaning that Beck fused the latter four genres into an ecclectic mish-mash, all under a hip-hop/turntablist-type approach. Krautrock experimentalism is nothing new in music, but Beck was the first one to create a hybrid under the guise of patchwork-like hip-hop. This CD is basically a musical palate of smokey grooves, neo-psychadelica, world-music rhythms, pieced together with the meticulous yet daring touch of a DJ. Beck the risk-taker. 'Odelay's' genius is in combining musical styles that shouldn't go together, but in doing so creates something completely unique and innovative. A the time of it's release, this CD was a musical zeigeist, and this reviewer continues to recognize it's importance.

...and tell us, Beck does, in this sublime mix of hip hop, alternative, country, jazz, rock and pop, with even a Beatle-ish Sgt. Pepper homage tacked to the very end.

Critics of Odelay accuse Beck of being overly indulgent and WAY-overly derivative, but isn't that the whole point of the CD? Beck has stolen the key to the Fun Factory and is determined to play with every toy in the building before security throws him out.

Over 13 tracks, Beck (with a big assist from the Dust Brothers) treats us to a music mixer's wet dream, from the chronically hook-y ("Devils Haircut," "The New Pollution," "Where It's At") to the startlingly touching ("Jack-Ass," "Ramshackle") to the just plain silly ("Sissyneck").

Odelay holds its place as one of the essential CD's of the 90's. Years later it still continues to entertain and excite. This is a joyous celebration of music, period . . . and Beck's best album by far.