One Foot in the Grave

Beck | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 1994)
• Original Release Date: June 9, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: K. Records
• ASIN: B000003RN0
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,990 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. He's A Mighty Good Leader

2. Sleeping Bag

3. I Get Lonesome

4. Burnt Orange Peel

5. Cyanide Breath Mint

6. See Water

7. Ziplock Bag

8. Hollow Leg

9. Forcefield

10. Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods

11. Asshole

12. I've Seen The Land Beyond

13. Outcome

14. Girl Dreams

15. Painted Eyelids

16. Atmospheric Conditions

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Before "Loser" skyrocketed him into the pop-star stratosphere, Beck recorded this album of lo-fi tunes and ballads in the basement of K Records founder Calvin Johnson. This largely acoustic LP is a snapshot of the troubadour life Beck led when he was more likely to be found Dumpster-diving than predicting the Zeitgeist. The backwoods folk of "He's a Mighty Good Leader" and Delta blues of "Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods" shows past intent study of American traditional music, whereas the cynical critique of California culture voiced in "Cyanide Breath Mint" highlights the lyrical agility of a postpunk poet. In a tribute to the virtues of this album's simplicity, rocker Tom Petty covered "Asshole" with remarkable restraint, leaving the pleasures of the three-chord lament intact. As Beck morphs his way into the cultural landscape, this record lets us know that at least he has roots somewhere. --Lois Maffeo

Product Description

Expanded edition of the Pop/Rock uber-genius' 1994 album including 16 bonus tracks (13 of them previously unreleased). This 15th Anniversary edition comes housed in an expanded and collectible digipak. Bonus tracks include cuts from the rare 'It's All In Your Mind' single. The original edition of the album has been out of print for over four years, making this collectible reissue a must-have for Beck fans, new and old. 2009. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent recording, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One Foot in the Grave (Audio CD)

People, people, people... A word of caution: this is a mostly ACOUSTIC record. It doesn't have the hip dance beats and sample-heavy tracks like "Odelay." It is also VERY lo-fi and sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom. However, this is a masterpiece. It may seem a little weird and unaccessable after the first few listens, but when it clicks, be prepared to be blown away. The songs have genuine emotion and are extremely well-written. I have yet to find a more honest song than "Girl Dreams" in my life that sums up the feelings of rejection without resorting to "f you" and the sorts... If you liked "Mutations," you should enjoy this album. Listen to the sound samples on amazon for chrissakes, then decide if it is something you might enjoy. "One foot in the grave" is one of my favorites, and the only reason it doesn't get 5 stars is because everything on amazon gets 5 stars. I feel that this imho is not on the level of the best records of all time, but a worthy addition to the collection of anyone who loves music.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True Heartland Folk music, May 17, 2004

By 

T.A. "washingmachinemouth" (South Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: One Foot in the Grave (Audio CD)

While all of the preppy kids were jamming to "Loser," Beck released two more CD's almost simultaneously with MELLOW GOLD. One was STEREOPATHETIC SOUL MANURE (see reviews), the other was this compilation of folk tracks, mis-titled, ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE. Excluding "Burnt Orange Peel," this is a CD full of songs right out of a Southern Baptist hymnal. The music, almost entirely acoustic, is tradtitional as can be, and the lyrics are stellar. The warped thing is how Beck weaves his modern day dimentia into these neoclassical hymns ("There's blood on the futon...there's a kid drinking fire."), and how he projects his own dismal outlook on our preppy society ("I got a funny feeling they got plastic in the afterlife"), yet, the songs still will fool your grandmother. Quite a few of the tunes consist of Beck, by himself, with an acoustic guitar, and no digital effects or overdubs. Songs like "Hollow Log" are crafted so beautifully, as though they could be played on ANY instrument and still sound good. By no means were these guys just screwing around in the studio...there are too many gems on this CD, and too much talent (fellow Texan Chris Ballew of "The Pres. of the USA" accompanies on many of the tunes). This CD can turn any hard rocker into an avid folk listener...the songs are too genuine to ignore. TRY THIS--listen to this CD in an old pick-up truck with no AC driving through Oklahoma, Kansas or Nebraska, and tell me the Spirit doesn't move you...

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THERE HASNT BEEN A CHANGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE...., April 20, 2009

By 

wally gator "the only" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: One Foot in the Grave (Aniv) (Audio CD)

Months ago I was talking up this album to a few peeps who missed it in its first run. One Foot in The Grave by Beck is one of those rare gems of an album that always remains under the radar. I picked up this album on the cheap years ago on LP and expected just another odd ball collection of Beck basement tapes. What I got was a timeless classic of an album, easily in a class of its own compared to the rest of Becks unique and varied catalouge and probably one of my top five favorite albums either from the nineties or amomgst the folk blues giants of old. Brilliant lo fi blues and folk, this is his talent in its rawest and purest form, free from the synth, broken game boy, drum machine vibes that swarm all of his other titles (even the other folk albums like Sea Change or Mutations cant match the atmosphere on this bit).

One Foot has been out of print for some time, leaving it only for the memories of us kids who were fortunate enough to find it accidently sometime in our high school haze... now its back. Twice as stuffed and just as good. The original sixteen tracks have been expanded to thirty-two, and the bonus cuts are just as rewarding as the originals, including a few coffee shop cut takes of songs that would be found on later albums. Its ccol to see that Beck still has this style in him. While I've always enjoyed the frenetic space race beats, and manic feel of the production on other Beck materials this album manages to bring all that feel to the table with nothing but soft twangs, sideways harmony, and bizarre yet poignant commentary of the world as he see it. It never finds itself ever disjointed like his other underground discs, song for song its a flawless portrait. I say this one still remains his all time best. Get it now while its still visible.