Beck: Ranking His Albums From Worst To Best

9. Mutations

More or less here by default, Mutations is a fine collection of mainly folk-rock acoustic numbers. The album was a change in direction from the sample heavy Odelay, sounding more mature and internal.

It bathes more in the vintage age of music like the waltzing 'Lazy Flies' and the ballroom, country-blues jam 'Cancelled Check', the sound of a more musically content Beck. What it lacks in musical innovation, it makes up for in seamless genre transitioning and expert songwriting like the exotic flavored, bossa nova dreamland 'Tropicalia' or the middle eastern, sitar drenched 'Nobody's Fault But My Own', highlighting yet again Beck's creative flare.

There are some missteps in there though. The pleasant but plodding 'Sing It Again' and the somewhat flat tone of 'Dead Melodies' don't quite hit the same creative peaks that songs like 'Bottle Of Blues' or 'Diamond Bollocks' do.

Although a favorite among fans and it's easy to see why, it does lack the song power to compete with some of his very best work.

Hightlights: Nobody's Fault But My Own, Lazy Flies, Tropicalia, Diamond Bollocks