My writer Peter Hemminger is wrong–very wrong (click here for Peter’s review). The new Beck CD isn’t just good, it’s fantastic.
Just to give you a little background information: My CD player only has a slot for one single disc, and for the past two weeks, Sea Change, Beck’s latest release, has graced the crown of my kingdom. And how could it not? With some of the best actual songwriting I’ve ever heard (see: “Nothing I Haven’t Seen,” “Sunday Sun”), Beck has definitely joined the ranks of the great storytellers of the world.
Now, to diminish the idea that I’m some reviewer who jumped on the Beck bandwagon five years ago to give my name credibility, you should know that I really don’t like his previous efforts. Discs such as Odelay and Midnight Vultures, in my opinion, were sloppy attempts by an artist who wanted to do something different rather than play what was in his heart. Maybe it was the fact he had Nigel Godrich (famed producer of Radiohead) help him out, or maybe Beck has just figured out how to get out his true feelings. Either way Sea Change is a disc that cries out with pure emotion—a lacking feature on many new releases.