Sea Change is the greatest album of the 00's

[LemonMelon]

I'm going to get a whole lot of heat for that title, but it's just true. Yeah, Kid A and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are incredibly unique and Funeral > sliced bread, but none of those records make me feel what Sea Change makes me feel. Its only tempo is "slow", and its primary emotion is "melancholy", but that's part of what makes it special; can anyone name a record as depressing as Sea Change off the top of their head? I sure can't, and I honestly don't want to know what it is, if there is one. Even Blood On The Tracks had some moments where Bob seemingly didn't want to kill himself, but Sea Change is hardcore, dawg...12 of the most crushing, depressing breakup songs you'll ever come across.

Sounds pretty miserable? Maybe at first, but eventually it unwinds itself and reveals its beauty. The Golden Age is the greatest album opener Beck ever recorded; it's 100% representative of the record as a whole, and it's the purest folk song here. Is it the best song here though? Probably not. Lost Cause is simultaneously the most beautiful and depressing thing to ever be a hit, and the minimalistic gorgeousness of End Of The Day should never be denied.

But do you really want to know what the greatest part of this record is? The production. Besides OK Computer, this album contains Nigel Godrich's best work as a producer. It's clean, organic, and complex all at once...and the album is also available in SACD format, BTW.

I like this album, if you can't tell.

 

[Lancemc]

 

[LemonMelon]

Oh, come on now, you can do better than that. I know you're a big fan of this one...

 

[Lancemc]

You do indeed.

My #4 of all time.

I approve of this thread.

 

[If you shout...]

I am the biggest Beck fan on this board, and I love a number of songs on this album, but I feel and have always felt that this album was the beginning of the end for a "relevant" Beck. I'm not saying that my being a massive fan makes my opinion any more valid than anybody else's, or anythingl; I'm just trying to let you know that I'm not trolling. I am (or was, more accurately) all kinds of pro-Beck.

Sea Change is fine, I guess, but it's an oftentimes lazy record which is too purposefully retrograde, for my taste. It was his first Scientology record, and knowing that, now, throws much of what I find underwhelming about the album into sharper focus. It's fine, but it's rarely any more--it remind me a lot of the last two U2 records.

"Golden Age," Guess I'm Doing Fine," "Sunday Sun," "Little One," and "Side of the Road" (even though it's a blatant reappraisal of "Buckets of Rain") are all good, but I don't think it's much of an album. 2002 was the beginning of the end, and I'll unfortunately always hear this album with that thought lingering at the back of my mind.

I'd take "Steve Threw Up," "Feel Like a Piece of Shit," "Let's Go Moon Some Cars," "Heartland Feeling," "Fume," "Mexico," and a wide assortment of other underappreciated gems over these tunes, any day of the week.

 

[xaviMF22]

Kid A disagrees

 

[Canadiens1131]

Radioh Head is ze best yo, bugger off

 

[LMP]

I was just giving this a listen the other day, and it's defimitely in the Top 5 of this decade, no doubt. I can't compare it to Kid A or Funeral though

 

[No spoken words]

I like this album a lot. No idea if it's the best album of the decade because no such thing exists, but I know that I think it's light years ahead of something like Kid A.

 

[LemonMelon]

Radioh Head is ze best yo, bugger off

Absolution > j00

 

[LMP]

Dat shit is the truth, yo.

 

[xaviMF22]

Radioh Head is ze best yo, bugger off

STFU

 

[LemonMelon]

I am the biggest Beck fan on this board, and I love a number of songs on this album, but I feel and have always felt that this album was the beginning of the end for a "relevant" Beck. I'm not saying that my being a massive fan makes my opinion any more valid than anybody else's, or anythingl; I'm just trying to let you know that I'm not trolling. I am (or was, more accurately) all kinds of pro-Beck.

Sea Change is fine, I guess, but it's an oftentimes lazy record which is too purposefully retrograde, for my taste. It was his first Scientology record, and knowing that, now, throws much of what I find underwhelming about the album into sharper focus. It's fine, but it's rarely any more--it remind me a lot of the last two U2 records.

"Golden Age," Guess I'm Doing Fine," "Sunday Sun," "Little One," and "Side of the Road" (even though it's a blatant reappraisal of "Buckets of Rain") are all good, but I don't think it's much of an album. 2002 was the beginning of the end, and I'll unfortunately always hear this album with that thought lingering at the back of my mind.

I'd take "Steve Threw Up," "Feel Like a Piece of Shit," "Let's Go Moon Some Cars," "Heartland Feeling," "Fume," "Mexico," and a wide assortment of other underappreciated gems over these tunes, any day of the week.

I get what you're saying...

Beck is such an eclectic artist, I'm surprised he even has a fanbase as large as he does. I've talked to many fans who think Beck jumped the shark with Mutations or Midnite Vultures, others Sea Change, and some hate everything after Mellow Gold. The diversity of the material must be the culprit. This actually causes me to love Beck more, but I can see how it would turn some off. It's just amazing to me how one man could write Loser, Sexx Laws, and Lost Cause and all of them rock.

The only thing I don't understand about your post is your assumption that Sea Change was his first Scientology album. Beck has been involved with them since the early 90's.

 

[cobl04]

Wakin' up the Neighbors > Beck.

Never heard Beck.

 

[If you shout...]

The only thing I don't understand about your post is your assumption that Sea Change was his first Scientology album. Beck has been involved with them since the early 90's.

No, it's a fact. You're correct that he was previously involved, due to his mother's own involvement, but he left the church unconditionally, in his teenage years. It was after the breakup with the ex- (I forgot her name years ago, and I still can't remember...sorry for the vagueness) that he got back in touch with them for assistance in the healing process, and it was at that time that he also recorded Sea Change. There has been extensive writing about this stuff, because of the many investigations into the bigger picture of Scientology as a religion/cult/crime/humanitarian organization/???.

Anyway, that's that. Now he's married to that Ribisi (sp?) chick, working with lazy-ass Nigel Godrich, and conceiving disasters like The Information. It, too, has a few good songs, but many, many more unlistenable ones. Looking back with objectivity, I can honestly say that I'm starting to long for the days of Sea Change...although those concerts were crazy-style hit or (more often than not) miss.

 

[Lancemc]

While I don't agree with If You Shout... about Sea Change in particular, I do agree that Beck has been going nowhere but downhill since that album. I still really enjoy Guero, but it's not up to snuff with anything he's done before. And The Information really is a mess, and I still can't find much to love in it.

I've still got my fingers crossed for a classic reinvention/comeback/return to form/anything to make Beck relevant again.

It's sort of funny that while Beck has been sort of slowly declining in creativity throughout his entire career, Bjork (the pitchfork-proclaimed "Other prodigy of the 90's) has become nothing but more and more interesting musically.

 

[Zoomerang96]

well it's one of my favourite albums...

but for me, i can't just listen to it at any time like many of my other favourite albums.