Rating:

Just seconds into the first song on Mutations, it becomes clear that this album is nothing like Beck’s previous hit, Odelay. Odelay was a genius mix of electronic and rock music, of hip-hop and white boy, and of as many disparate elements as Beck could find. Mutations is both much more subdued, and much more intimate. On Mutations, there are more live instruments than samples and more songs than sonic experiments. Despite the occasional studio polish, the album is very earthy, filled with acoustic guitars and undistorted vocals. Also, in contrast to his previous work, Beck sounds distinctly depressed on many of the songs, perhaps most of all of the beautiful, ever-so-slightly spacey “Nobody’s Fault But My Own.” Each song stands out in its own right, from the tropical sounds of (go figure) “Tropicalia,” to the old-time feel of “Bottle of Blues.” Mutations may not have been the biggest album of Beck’s career, but it is certainly a worthy part of his catalogue. Truth be told, there are hundreds of musicians that will never make an album as good as this one, and there are thousands of albums released each year which can’t measure up to it. It is most excellent.

1. Cold Brains

2. Nobody’s Fault But My Own

3. Lazy Flies

4. Canceled Check

5. We Live Again

6. Tropicalia

7. Dead Melodies

8. Bottle of Blues

9. O Maria

10. Sing It Again

11. Static/Diamond Bollocks (hidden track)

Buy album

– Kevin

This 45-beetsreview was posted on March 10th, 2005. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.