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Beck – “Odelay” Reviewed and Revisited

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Beck had, by the mid-1990s, created the kind of quirky alt-rock super hit, “Loser,” that seemed to have sentenced him to a career as a one-hit wonder. Instead, with “Odelay,” Beck proved he was married to no musical style, that his ideas and taste were just as adventurous as early signs had indicated, and that he was looking further back and forward than nearly anyone in the alternative music world.

Critics and fans heaped praise on “Odelay” upon its release. It was called a revolutionary album by many. But how does it stand to the test of time? I am revisiting and reviewing one of the most famous alternative albums of the 1990s and attempting to find out.

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Beck’s Journey to Making “Odelay”

Beck, like Björk or The Beastie Boys, presented a new approach to making music and to becoming famous. You didn’t need to be in a band or to strictly write pop or rock songs. There was no need to cover topics related to love and heartache. And even looking like a typical rockstar was no longer a requirement.

Others, like Scott Walker, have done similar things with less commercial success. However, indie rock and alternative had prepared audiences. They were now ready to embrace wild experimental sounds, have their rock mixed with dance music, or simply turn quirky novelty songs into hits.

This is what happened to Beck’s folk-rap “Loser” and to the memorable DYI video, which had been on heavy rotation on MTV in 1994. Mainstream audiences loved the song but didn’t know what to make of the performer beyond the song. They assumed it was just another novelty alt-rock act coming and disappearing like many others had during the early 1990s.

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Instead, Beck was already a fully formed musical creation of Beck Hansen, a young man who came from a distinctly artistically inclined family. He had already recorded many demos, selling some from the booth of his car, by the time of the success of “Loser” and had recorded an album, “Stereopathetic Soulmanure.” This release collected his best lo-fi recordings produced between 1988 and 1993.

To those who kept listening, “Mellow Gold,” the album which contained “Loser,” was a brilliant psych-folk daydream. And “One Foot in the Grave,” speedily released in 1994, proved Beck’s underground credentials.

Surely, though, he’d never produce another mainstream hit again, right?

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Context

If Beck had not been a songwriter, he would have made an excellent DJ or music reviewer. His knowledge of obscure, overlooked sounds and songs is amazing, as is his genuine passion. Unlike some of his retro-obsessed contemporaries, Beck wasn’t just stuck on collecting old records.

Beck was just as interested in new sounds. The Dust Brothers’ chop-and-paste approach for The Beastie Boys’ “Paul’s Boutique” had shown a completely new way of making records. It was a sound that defied genre categorization. And while it had notoriously failed commercially, it has grown in stature ever since.

“Paul’s Boutique” was heavily influential in the rising dance and electronica music boom of the 1990s. By the mid-point of that decade, artists like Massive Attack, Portishead, The Chemical Brothers and Bjork had made pop music, which heavily relied on electronic beats, a mainstay on the charts. Radiohead or Beck were intrigued enough to leave their guitars in the background for their future material.

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Review of “Odelay”

As with many other famous indie-rock releases of the 1990s, context is important. The Dust Brothers had not worked on a record since 1989. Their work with samples, found sounds, the copy-paste approach applied to Beck’s compositions was wildly spectacular to mainstream audiences. Few had heard anything like it.

But does the album live up beyond the story of innovation? Yes, at the heart of the album are strong songs. Their importance is only increased by the kind of production which makes the record feel like a sonic recreation of Thomas Pynchon’s post-modern literature.

The Dust Brothers are not indebted to styles. They work with sounds found on obscure records or recorded randomly. Beck’s songwriting is not indebted to a genre either. “Odelay” flows from tunes that feel exported from the past to ones beamed down from the future.

Beck - "Odelay" Reviewed and Revisited

Post-Modern Post-Pop Hit Singles

Like “Paul’s Boutique,” there’s significant pop potential beyond the mere journey and sonic exploration. “Devil’s Haircut” is a rock song with a powerful riff that infuses the soundtrack-like sounds added by The Dust Brothers. “The New Pollution” plays 60s-like psych-rock melodies over electro beats. And “Where It’s At” had Beck mock-rapping over a vintage keyboard sound and sex education found sounds.

These songs also benefited from bizarre, colourful videos. These videos were played frequently on MTV and immediately solved Beck’s one-hit-wonder problem.

But the strength of “Odelay” lies deeper than in its singles, rather in the way that Beck and The Dust Brothers guide the listeners through their collection of pop records and obscure releases. “Jack-Ass “utilizes a sample taken from Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” but expands on it in marvellous ways, not unlike The Verve had done with “Bittersweet Symphony.”

The smooth electro-country of “Sissyneck” is both cartoonish and striking. “Readymade” plays with vinyl scratches and guitar dissonance while Beck delivers stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

The Dust Brothers and Beck often use old sounds on “Odelay,” yet nothing feels old hat. Yes, many artists and bands will adopt similar strategies in the years to come. What helps “Odelay” remain relevant and enjoyable is the palpable excitement provided by the people who made it and the strong songwriting.

Legacy of Beck and “Odelay”

By the mid-1990s, alternative music was no longer just a forgotten section in music stores. The Grammys opted to present an award for it, and gave it to Beck for “Odelay.” It also won “Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.”

Music critics praised the album nearly universally. It was included by the likes of Q Magazine, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone in their selection of the best albums of all time.

Most importantly, “Odelay” was one of the albums that helped erase the idea of strict music genres, at least in the world of indie and alternative records. Beck and The Dust Brothers made a rock record using found sounds, as well as country, rap, punk and bossa nova elements and made everyone else simply writing songs on a guitar seem obsolete.

About author

Eduard Banulescu is a writer, blogger, and musician. As a content writer, Eduard has contributed to numerous websites and publications, including FootballCoin, Play2Earn, BeIN Crypto, Business2Community, NapoliSerieA, Extra Time Talk, Nitrogen Sports, Bavarian FootballWorks, etc. He has written a book about Nirvana, hosts a music podcasts, and writes weekly content about some of the best, new and old, alternative musicians. Eduard also runs and acts as editor-in-chief of the alternative rock music website www.alt77.com. Mr. Banulescu is also a musician, having played and recorded in various bands and as a solo artist.
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