Guilty As Charged

With the exception of maybe Ryan Adams, I can't think of a musician this decade that has been as consistently prolific as Beck. And as as I'm sure Adams can attest to, this penchant for productivity can be as large a burden as it is a gift -- one day delivering universal praise, the next summoning up the wrath of every reviewer this side of Wednesday. Case in point: 1999's Midnite Vultures earned an 85 on Metacritic, yet was named the 50th 'Worst Album Ever' by Q Magazine. Sea Change, Beck's first effort of the 21st century, was arguably his best to date -- showcasing the post-pop troubadour's vulnerable side on a mellow collection of ballads that could jerk a tear from even the most callous of critics. After a brief hiatus, Mr. Hansen got back to his old self again, giving us the experimental one-two punch that was 2005's Guero and 2006's The Information (and even a remix album wedged in between). Although well-received by pretty much anyone who knows anything about music, these albums failed to catch on commercially, registering nary a blip on our our collective musical radar.. Down for the count? I think not. Alas, seemingly out of nowhere, Beck is releasing his EIGHTH studio album tomorrow, just a year and a half later. And it looks like he's back with a vengenance, recruiting fail-proof producer Danger Mouse and his good buddy Chan Marshall (a.k.a. Cat Power) to lend their helpings on the album's tracks. You'd think that Beck's experimentalist tendencies coupled with all this collaboration would amalgamate a wonderous wall of sound, right? Wrong. What we get here is the most stripped-down Beck record since Sea Change, minus the melancholy. Those longing the funk and swagger of an Odelay or a Vultures might be a little disappointed, but after taking a step back and forgeting that this is indeed Beck creating a minimalist lo-fi vibe, naysayers might discover that this is a solid effort by ANYONE. It doesn't take a keen ear to realize that this one's got some dark undertones. Leadoff dreamy single "Chemtrails" has distorted "end of the tunnel" vocals that croon about boats sinking and getting "swallowed by an evil sea." Not exactly sunshine and flowers here. The Sonic-Youth sounding "Gamma Ray" lists every natural disaster imaginable to man: hurricanes, melting ice caps, fires -- you name it. The jazzy "Walls" is about -- you guessed it -- walls falling down. The album reaches it's highest peak on the second to last track, "Profanity Prayers," which could have very well been b-side from the now classic SY record Rather Ripped. It's difficult to tell what Beck is thinking about at times (afterall he IS a Scientologist) but he doesn't exactly have to spell out that there is political element to Modern Guilt. But hey, this is an election year after all, right? And although this album is a vast change from his previous releases, this is not say that he doesn't have a good thing going on here. Beck has mastered the art of being consistently different, as remains the case with Guilt. The sum of the parts makes the whole thing pretty damn good.

My Rating: 7.8/10