No one can fault Beck for waiting long between his album releases. He’s one of the more consistent artists working today. Nine albums in 14 years ain’t bad. And he rarely lets the quantity of records or time it takes to release them affect his undeniable skill. It’s more in line with the pace that Bob Dylan and the Beatles released records in their day (not quite). Beck compares to Bob Dylan in more ways than just his relentless work ethic. Many have called him our generation’s Dylan, and similarities peaked when Beck released Sea Change in 2002. The album was immediately compared to Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Both records were recorded during a post-breakup period for each artist. For Beck it was his breakup with a girlfriend of nine years. For Dylan, it was the end of his marriage. The similarities are presented again here in 2008. Beck has been quoted as saying:
“Highway 61 Revisited is one of the first great anti-covers. Dylan looks burnt, shirt wrinkled — like he’s waiting for catering at the gig or something. And somebody’s just randomly walked in behind him. In an era of Patti Page-style, perfectly lit and posed covers, this cover was a defecation. And these days you’d rarely see such a throwaway picture on such an ‘important’ album.”
Beck’s inspiration led him to adopt Dylan’s cover and style for his latest. In this image, you can notice the homage he pays to both the picture and font style. One might ask: Does Beck’s latest compare with Dylan in terms of the music (Highway 61)? Not being a big fan of Dylan, I’m not able to give an educated or unbiased response to that question.
In an effort to change things up, Beck recruited the services of Gnarls Barkley mastermind, Danger Mouse. For months, their sessions were the talk of music blogs everywhere. With the early release of the first single, Chemtrails, the new album was one of the most anticipated records of the year. With that anticipation, Modern Guilt was finally released in July to generally favorable reviews. My intitial reaction was not what I expected. Being a huge fan of Beck since Mellow Gold in high school (but not as crazy about Odelay as the rest of the world), I was a bit disappointed by this effort. There are some very high moments (Walls, Profanity Prayers and Volcano), but the rest sounds too much like a Gnarls Barkley record. To the masses, that may be good thing. However, I do not find myself dancing about when their hit Crazy blares on the radio. Actually, I refuse to listen to the radio these days. The songs feel a bit too much like b-sides from St. Elsewhere. And why wouldn’t they since Danger Mouse is providing much of the production? However, the Danger Mouse signature sound feels like it’s losing its novelty.
The record does show a progression in Beck’s lyrics. You get more serious verses here instead of the usual non-sensical, fun poetry that Beck is known for. More in tune with his melancholy side featured in the dreary but excellent Sea Change, Beck laments, “I’ve been drinking all these tears so long | All I’ve got left is the taste of salt | In my mouth” in Volcano, a standout track on the album. Beck’s referring to a story he read about a Japanese girl committing suicide: “And I heard of that Japanese girl | Who jumped into The Volcano | Was she trying to make it back back | into the womb Of the world?” Obviously, he’s not his cheery self. This creates some awkwardness, as Danger Mouse’s overproduced beats don’t quite match the mood of these verses. In the end, the album is still recommended over the painfully bland selection of whiny lyrics and hollow rhythms that you’d hear on the radio. But then again, I don’t listen to the radio. So what do I know?
