Disc #17: Beck (Mutations)

Artist: Beck
Album: Mutations
Released by Geffen records in 1998

In the late '90s, I didn't quite have the income that I had in the early 2000's picking sweet corn. Therefore, when I bought a CD, it was usually a pretty safe buy. Either I had a lot of singles to go on, or a friend had the album and I knew I would like the majority of the tunes. The former is the reason I bought Beck's "Odelay". "Mutations", on the other hand, only had one single ("Tropicalia") which I liked, but usually wasn't enough to go grab an album. However, I loved "Odelay" a whole bunch, so I went out and got "Mutations" based on its predecessor.

How disappointing. First of all, "Mutations" is nothing like "Odelay". "Tropicalia" is really the only song that resembles "Odelay" in any way. For the most part, the album is super-chill. I don't have a problem with music that is chill, in fact there are times that it's all I want to listen to, but for some reason I just can't get into this album.

In addition to the album feeling kind of sluggish, it doesn't have that same experimental element that I loved on "Odelay". It's still evident, but not to the extent that "Odelay" is.

There's one thing you must remember about Beck: he beats to his own drum. He will record and release the kind of music he wants to, when he wants to. Some rumours I've heard suggest that he released "Odelay" to intentionally have some radio hits, but then did "Mutations" because it was the kind of music he wanted to record, even though he knew it wouldn't have the same commercial success. He then repeated the pattern with "Midnite Vultures", followed by "Sea Change". This behaviour reminds me of Neil Young, which is a huge compliment to you, Mr. Hansen.

I don't need to tell you to get this album. If you're a Beck fan, you've already got it, because most Beck real fans are 100%. If you're not a fan, you wouldn't like it. It's not catchy enough for you. Trust me.

The music is good, and I have great respect for Beck in those regards, but it just doesn't do it for me. Perhaps this is the reason I never bought another Beck album again. Therefore, I shall award "Mutations" by Beck a score of:

5

Join me next time as the experiment continues with Disc #18: Ben Folds Five (Whatever and Ever Amen).