Beck declared himself a “Loser” to the world on his debut album, Mellow Gold, in 1994. Flash forward 22 years, multiple Grammy nominations and awards, and four platinum albums later, it would become quite apparent he is not. Beck has blazed a prolific path into the future of music while simultaneously foraging through the past.
On October 28, UMe will begin to reissue Beck’s entire DGC/Geffen/Interscope catalog on vinyl. The trifecta of his 1996 Grammy Award-winning single LP, Odelay, 2002’s Sea Change and 2005’s Guero will showcase not only Beck’s envelope-pushing style but also his wide range of musical ability. Sea Change will be released as a double LP while Guero will be made available for the first time ever as a single LP. Mellow Gold, Mutations, Midnight Vultures, The Information and Modern Guilt releases will be announced at a later date.
First up is Odelay, which was Beck’s breakthrough followup to his platinum bow, Mellow Gold. Originally released 20 years ago on June 18, 1996, on DGC, the album sold more than two million copies in the U.S., thus becoming double platinum certified. Odelay, which was produced by the Dust Brothers, featured classics that maintain a heavy presence in Beck’s live sets to this day, including “Where It’s At,” “Devils Haircut” and “The New Pollution.”
Watch “Devils Haircut” official video…
Odelay won two Grammy Awards in 1997, Best Alternative Music Album and Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for “Where It’s At,” and was Beck’s first album to be nominated for Album of the Year, the top honor his most recent album Morning Phase took home last year. Universally praised upon its release, Rolling Stone named Odelay Album of the Year as well as #9 on its list of the “100 Best Albums of the ’90s.”
Sea Change, Beck’s seventh album, signified a dramatic musical shift in sound and tone from its predecessor, the funky, R&B-influenced Midnight Vultures, and as its title suggested, was a profound transformation. Inspired by the dissolution of a longtime relationship, Beck transformed his sadness into a deeply personal record, trading his trademark sample-filled songs and impressionistic, irreverent lyrics for pensive melodies, sweeping strings and direct, confessional lyrics.
The album, which peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200, was widely praised upon release in 2002 and has only grown in stature. Rolling Stone‘s David Fricke hailed it as “the best album Beck has ever made,” adding that it’s his Blood on the Tracks, referencing the 1975 Bob Dylan album, which would quietly become known as one of his greatest albums despite mixed reviews. The album will be released as a double LP with a download card featuring 320kbps AAC MP4 audio files of the entire album.
Following Sea Change, Beck released the genre-mashing Guero in 2005, which shot to #2 on the Billboard Top 200, his highest-charting album to date. Beck’s eighth album found him reuniting with the Dust Brothers for a tour de force of Latin rhythms, rhymes, guitars, beats, samples, 8-bit electronics, turntables and vocoder for a fun ride through rock, hip-hop, bossa nova, country-blues and soul. Album opener and lead single “E-Pro” went to #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart. “Black Tambourine” was also a fan favorite and used in many soundtracks, including The Good Wife and the David Lynch film Inland Empire.
Related: Check out Beck’s latest single, “Wow,” here.
ODELAY TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. Devils Haircut
2. Hotwax
3. Lord Only Knows
4. The New Pollution
5. Derelict
6. Novacane
7. Jack-Ass
SIDE B
8. Where It’s At
9. Minus
10. Sissyneck
11. Readymade
12. High 5 (Rock the Catskills)
13. Ramshackle
SEA CHANGE TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. The Golden Age
2. Paper Tiger
3. Guess I’m Doing Fine
SIDE B
4. Lonesome Tears
5. Lost Cause
6. End Of The Day
SIDE C
7. It’s All In Your Mind
8. Round The Bend
9. Already Dead
SIDE D
10. Sunday Sun
11. Little One
13. Side Of The Road
GUERO TRACK LISTING
SIDE A
1. E-Pro
2. Qué Onda Guero
3. Girl
4. Missing
5. Black Tambourine
6. Earthquake Weather
SIDE B
7. Hell Yes
8. Broken Drum
9. Scarecrow
10. Go It Alone
11. Farewell Ride
12. Rental Car
13. Emergency Exit
