a blog for someone who cannot shut up....

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Tough, Tough Decisions

Hello, friends. I have been under the weather with a summer flu since last Saturday, Finally went in to the shaman yesterday...didn't want to, but had to do it. This was only my second visit to this MD. He is part of my insurance plan. This guy could be the stunt double for Dr. Sam Metcalf . You remember, the bitter country doctor that didn't want to go quietly when Harry Temple came to town. After a brief exam, Dr. Sam's-Stand-In gave me 2 prescrips and one OTC and now I am feeling much better in under 24 hours. Kudos to you, Doc. By the way, Arachnophobia fell far short of expectations. Granted, they were trying to keep a sense of humor. But when it comes to scary movies I demand the existence of real, tangible malevolence....and it falls short, just like Independence Day. I mean, sure, you had the alien behind the glass with the telekinetic powers, the kind of bullshit alien you might have seen here.....ok, wait back to the spider movie. You know what I mean. As soon as John Goodman showed up in the pest control truck you knew, just knew, that no character the audience cares about was going to die. Sorry, I can get off on tangents.
More importantly, I am currently listening to a random mix of the 5 Beck albums I own. I have yet to pick up Mellow Gold....don't ask why. It is almost as if I know it is an absolute treasure that I will experience at some point...but the anticipation cannot be matched. Odd, I know. But I'm an odd man. What I will do is rank the 5 Beck albums I own. I encourage your ranking and commentary.

1) Midnite Vultures (1999)
"Over Odelay? What, are you high?" This is MY ranking, not Rolling Stone. Vultures combines the 3 components that Beck specializes in, and does it well: funky grooves, great melodies, and lyrics that make you scratch your head while you bob it to the beat at the same time. Broken Train rules.
2) Odelay (1996)
I can say many glowing things about this album. It flows from A to Z like sweet molasses, and it introduced a musical genius on a large scale. Enough said.
3) Mutations (1998)
On the heels of the outrageous success of Odelay, Beck comes out with what I would call a masterpiece. Bottle of Blues and Canceled Check are two of my favorite all-time songs. Different style? Completely. But I love it. I was at Mesa Ampitheater for this tour, 4,000 people max.
4) Guero (2005)
I must admit that while I love the grooves on many tracks on this album, to me it sounds like Beck trying to mimic Beck. This effort comes in 4th place, but it is nonetheless a solid album. E-Pro sounds like Beck giving in to the music industry's desire for a single. I saw the show during this tour - Beck was part of last fall's Arizona State Fair line-up. Pay $10 to get in to the fair, and see the music for free. Best Hamilton I ever spent. This show kicked ass, including a percussion effort that involved the entire band.
5) Sea Change (2002)
There are some decent tracks here, including Paper Tiger and Lost Cause. From what I have seen Sea Change was a critical darling, but for the most part it comes across as a soundtrack for assisted suicide. Still, I listen to it when I want something completely unobtrusive in the background - like Jack Johnson.

Whew. That was not an easy chore.

4 comments:

Pynchon said...

I only know one Beck song... and I can't remember what it's called!

It had violins on it. "New Religion" or something like that?

Your Host said...

You're thinking of New Pollution, track 4 on Odelay...I think. Borrow Mutations from a buddy if you can, and tell me what you think.

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