Universal Records Beck - Sea Change

2002

Beck Hansen, James Gadson, Jason Falkner, Joey Waronker, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Nigel Godrich, Roger Manning, Smokey Hormel

Lacquer Cut By – John Golden
Mastered By – Bob Ludwig

Pitchfork: "It's easy to romanticize Beck as the scruffy wannabe who lived on friends' couches for a year, recording a new song every day on a beat-up four-track; absorbing Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music and old school hip-hop with equal enthusiasm. The aptly titled "Loser", his biggest and most career-defining hit, was recorded in a friend's living room for kicks. His first live performances were on hijacked mics at other peoples' gigs: he'd just step up with a guitar or harmonica between acts and entertain while the often bemused next band set up their drums. On the homemade tapes and scrapped-together compilations that comprised his earliest recorded output, Beck cobbled together all of his influences-- noise, hardcore, country, rap, folk, grunge, R&B;, found sound and classic rock-- and melded it into his own junkyard punk."

Slantmagazine: "The album’s carefully considered orchestrations blatantly turn away from Beck’s previous incarnation as the mainstream “Two Turntables and a Microphone” funkmeister and return him solidly to his indie folk/country rock roots. Somber strings, moody self-reflection and arrestingly sweeping textures display a quiet, earnest musicianship plied not for fame or fortune (or for Top 40 radio airplay), but for its own sake. “Side of the Road” dabbles in alt-psychedelia with a hint of country, while “Already Dead,” with its clean acoustics and stripped down lyrics, depicts the acknowledgement of—and resignation to—a love turned to dust and irretrievably blown away. The beautifully realized “Round the Bend” is a luscious symphonic song, presented in the same enthralling vein of a Duncan Sheik or Jeff Buckley composition. Beck has made a recording that bucks the trends of the moment and defies all expectations. In doing so he has crafted a meditative masterpiece of powerful resonance for the ages."

BBC: "Lazy journalism dictates that all reviews of a new Beck album must make reference to the fact that he is a 'post-modern Prince' and that his lyrics tend to be 'surreal wordplay with a hip hop edge'. Well, scratch all that because, compared to his last release - the sexy funk pot-pourri, Midnite Vultures -this is about as straightforward as he's ever been. If Midnite Vultures was his seduction album, Sea Change is his bitter break-up opus. Yes, someone has broken Beck's heart and, for better or worse, we're invited along for the ride."