Beck's Odelay album, his most successful in UK, is the 1996 entry in this section. I'm more familiar with its successor, Mutations, and don't recognise much on this album when looking at the song names. So while this isn't a first listen, perhaps it might as well be. I have no recollection of buying this!
Starting with the driving riff of the hit single, Devil's Haircut, the rap-style Hotwax follows, Beck's versatility as a songwriter showing already. But he also writes nice, easy pop songs like Lord Only Knows (despite the slightly bonkers ending) and The New Pollution. But things seem to start to dip, I'm not sure if the songs are weaker or the ideas are no longer new. Derelict is average, Novacane's rap/chaos doesn't work for these ears, and Jack-Ass, a slower song fails to inspire. Where It's At livens things up a bit, and the more upbeat mood continues with Minus. But Sissyneck and Ready Made don't hold the attention - not bad songs, but they feel like repetition of what's already gone. High 5 resurrects the Beck pop-rap theme, adding little, but then Ramshackle finds Beck doing what (I think) he does best, singing a nice, simple song in his distinctive style. It's lovely and would make a fine climax to the album (and it seems it was originally), but on this version, after a short interval the tedious rap of Diskobox appears.
I'm conflicted by this album. The rap-style doesn't work for me and it's repeated too often. Each song has its quirks, but they seem haphazard, and as such they don't feel like they make up a coherent album.
3* - Nothing on this album is bad, and there are some very good songs, but for some reason it feels disjointed.
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