17. Odelay - Beck 1996
Beck Hansen, is truly, a musical oddball. His work has visited Hip-Hop, Alternative Rock, Country, Jazz, Folk, Funk, Soul, Psychedelia and more. His story is a real rag-to-riches type affair where he went from pretty much living homeless in Los Angeles, to being the subject of a bidding war between a few very large record labels. His debut album, 'Mellow Gold', featured the world-wide smash hit, 'Loser' that was labelled a "slacker anthem" and a perfect follow up to Radiohead's hit, 'Creep'. Beck resented the slacker association though, saying that at the time of writing, he was working $4 per hour jobs and trying to stay alive. He went on record saying, "slacker my ass, I
never had any slack. That slacker stuff is for people who have the time to be depressed about everything!" After touring for 'Mellow Gold', Hansen, decided that he wanted to prove to people that had written him off as a "one-hit wonder" and a "fake" that he was actually an artist to be taken serious. He not only managed this with, 'Odelay', he also created one of the most popular and genuinely loved albums of the 90's. He initially recorded a collection of songs that were very somber, stripped down and folky, that addressed how he had faced a difficult period of time and a "cycle of everyone around me dying!" He then had a change of heart and shelved all those compositions, except one titled, 'Ramshackle', that would be the closing track on 'Odelay'. He had begun recording that initial group of songs with the producers he had recorded 'Mellow Gold', with. He decided that the new direction he wanted to take would work better using production duo, The Dust Brothers, who had, most notably, worked on the
very highly regarded Beastie Boys album. Paul's Boutique. The sample-heavy, cut-and-paste approach employed by the pair was seen as perfect for what Beck was wanting to create on his second full length release. Of course, their fondness of Hip-Hop sat very well with Hansen's love for the genre too, hence that being the basis of most of the material on 'Odelay'. There were 5 singles culled from the release and three of them were bonafide hits, including the seemingly ubiquitous, 'Devils Haircut'. The album itself has currently sold over 2 million units in the U.S. and gone platinum in the U.K. Record label, Geffen, though the album was going to be a disaster when they heard it, and Hansen enjoyed the fact that the success was confusing many of the labels executives. What he didn't enjoy so much was that he was now a genuine star and even commented when asked about being recognized when out and about by members of the public, that it "made him feel strange", and added, "It's just weird. It doesn't feel right. It doesn't feel natural to me. I don't think I was made for that. I was never good at that." Listening to the album now, it sounds as if it could have been released last week, and was, at least a few years ahead of its time. It could have easily bombed, but no matter how sporadic and directionless it really is, there are some really great songs and grooves going on, and Beck does know his way around a hook. Much-respected and long running British weekly, NME (New Musical Express), published their much anticipated annual poll of the years best releases, at the end of 96, and placed Odelay at number 1, above such major players as the Manic Street Preachers and Orbital.