You're not my real Beck! (Beck - Morning Phase)

Beck: Morning Phase

Why you'll love it - Beck's commitment to a genre is remarkable

Why you'll hate it - Plain as cardboard

If you're not familiar with Beck at this point, welcome to the modern era.  While you were cryogenically frozen, I'm afraid all of your Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa records have not been... quite as well preserved.  Don't be so sad!  You see, there's this thing called the internet... actually, this might take a while to catch you up on.  Here are some Beck albums for now.  We've got you his beloved Odelay (1996), The Information (2006), and even his under appreciated Midnite Vultures (1999). NODON'TPICKUPTHATONE!...

Eclecticism is one of Beck's finest traits.  He's found most of his success through the "art pop" material; mastering funk, disco, garage rock, psychedelic, you name it.  Every once and a while, he'll put a leash on his sound, and commit to softer tones.  While there are some good songs in albums like Mutations (1998) and Sea Change (2001), this isn't the Beck we're used to.  Basically, this kind of stuff is like "weekend dad".

Morning Phase is another one of those "weekend dad" albums.  Rumor has it that Beck has another weirdo album in the chamber (actually, I was expecting it to release by now), so I'm trying to enjoy this one for what it is.  Problem is that it's a little to committed to its genre.  It has the emotion of something like Sea Change, but none of the bombastic deep orchestral sound.  There are a few studio effects, but this basically is just "whittling on your front porch" music.  The single, "Blue Moon" is the best song on here, and it isn't by very much.  I wish I had a lot to say about this album, but it's pure Saltines.  I've got nothing to work with here!

Thankfully Beck has so much good material in the bank.  This doesn't change my opinion of him at all.  I'm sure his next album will be full of wonderful "elevator bones", funky robots, and other non-sequiturs that made him (WARNING: OPINION INCOMING) the best pop artist in the last 20 years.