If your knowledge of Beck is “Loser”, Sea Change will probably surprise you. It’s full of sad songs and dour misery reflecting the disintegration of Beck’s relationship. I rather liked most of it. Beck has a nice voice, and he marshals all of its emotional power throughout the record. Beck expertly wields an acoustic guitar to punctuate all the poignancy. I didn’t realize his mastery of guitar. While it is a beautiful piece of art I can’t see revisiting this very often. Just too sad and despondent for me. My rating:
While offering high praise for some of the songs on Sea Change - "‘Paper Tiger’ is a low-key triumph…the deliciously overwrought ‘Lonesome Tears’ is an uncomfortably raw display of emotion, with an unpredictable melody and unbelievably tortured chorus…the moody, cinematic ‘Round the Bend’ cribs the cadence and nocturnal vibe of Nick Drake's "River Man", augmented by plucky upright bass and Beck's subdued, almost intentionally slurred vocal” - Pitchfork was not keen on this album concluding its review with:
Given how much soul-searching obviously went into this record, it's distressing how little soul the finished product actually has. If there's anything the self-absorbed murk of Sea Change illustrates with unmistakable clarity, it's that Beck has forgotten how to connect with his inner loser-- and it's nobody's fault but his own.
If there's anything the self-absorbed murk of Sea Change illustrates with unmistakable clarity, it's that Beck has forgotten how to connect with his inner loser-- and it's nobody's fault but his own.1
Conversely, Slant Magazine proclaimed Sea Change “a meditative masterpiece of powerful resonance.”2
Rolling Stone gave it five out of five stars.
Sea Change, his eighth album, is the real thing — a perfect treasure of soft, spangled woe sung with a heavy open heart.
It’s the best album Beck has ever made, and it sounds like he’s paid dearly for the achievement.
The clarity of his crisis has a lot to do with the naked strength of Beck’s singing. For someone who started out as a teenage folk hobo — just voice and strum — Beck has rarely walked this far out in front of the music on his own records. And considering his eternal-high-school looks, he possesses a surprisingly manly tenor, a clean, deep instrument of lust and worry. It fills the big spaces in Nigel Godrich’s haunted production — the backward-tape buzz in “Lost Cause”; the desert-Bach air of the keyboards in “Nothing I Haven’t Seen” — with the combined pathos of Nick Drake, the solo, freaked-out Syd Barrett and the John Lennon of Plastic Ono Band. When Beck and Godrich pour on the Indo-Beatles chaos in “Sunday Sun” — ghostly pounding piano and not-so-unison guitar; a meltdown coda of drums and distortion — you can still hear Beck’s resignation and unsteady resurrection inside the song.3
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Mark Bennett wrote:
After a decade of grubby hip-hop and threadbare folk, Sea Change saw Beck grow weary of his incessant genre hopping. And how weary he sounded. Coming hot on the heels of his split from girlfriend Leigh Limon and his becoming a Scientologist, Sea Change wallowed in unhappiness, which meant that - save for the odd cathartic noise blast - post-modern mischief-making was out. So while 1999’s Midnite Vultures sounded like the soundtrack to an unmade Banana Splits movie, Sea Change sticks to simple, mournful songs with a straightforwardness that is rare for this often-obscure singer-songwriter4
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 202. Sea Change by Beck
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #85
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: Gold | March 21, 20056
Released on September 24, 2002. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “Dilemma” by Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland7
• Number one album: Home by Dixie Chicks8
• Number one movie: Barbershop by Tim Story9
• Most watched TV programs: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Friends, Joe Millionaire, ER, American Idol, Survivor, Everybody Loves Raymond10
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold11
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Let’s Roll! by Lisa Beamer with Ken Abraham12
Some other albums released that day
• Craveman by Ted Nugent
• Demolition by Ryan Adams
• Head on Straight by Tonic
• Jerusalem by Steve Earle
• The Lion and the Witch by Weezer
• The Naked Ride Home by Jackson Browne
• Strong Enough by Travis Tritt
• Under a Pale Grey Sky by Sepultura
• Up by Peter Gabriel
• Voyage to India by India.Arie13
Sport
• Sep 22 Solheim Cup Women's Golf, Interlachen CC: US regains Cup 15½-12½.
• Sep 29 Ryder Cup Golf, The Belfry: Europe wins 15½-12½ after teams tied at 8 points going into Sunday singles matches.
• Sep 29 Seattle running back Shaun Alexander sets NFL record for most touchdowns in a half with 5 in 1st half of 48-23 win v Minnesota Vikings.14
Notable Births
• Sep 3 Iman Vellani, Pakistani-Canadian actress (Ms Marvel), born in Karachi, Pakistan.
• Sep 27 Jenna Ortega, American actress and scream queen (The Fallout, Wednesday), born in Coachella Valley, California.
• Sep 30 Maddie Ziegler, American dancer, actress and model, born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.15
Historical Events
• Sep 22 54th Emmy Awards: The West Wing, Friends, Michael Chiklis and Allison Janney win.
• Sep 23 First version of the web browser Mozilla Firefox dubbed Phoenix 0.1 is released to the public.
• Sep 26 Overcrowded Senegalese ferry MV Joola capsizes off the coast of Gambia killing more than 1,000.16
Notable Deaths
• Sep 11 Johnny Unites, American NFL quarterback (Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers); one of the greats, dies of a heart attack at 69.
• Sep 11 Kim Hunter [Janet Cole], American actress (A Streetcar Named Desire; Planet of the Apes), dies of a heart attack at 79.
• Sep 14 Jim Barnes, American basketball center (Olympic gold 1964; #1 NBA draft pick 1964; NBA C'ship 1969 Boston Celtics), dies of a stroke at 61.
• Sep 14 LaWanda Page [Alberta Peal], American actress (Sanford & Son - "Aunt Esther"), dies of complications from diabetes at 81
• Sep 16 James Gregory, American actor (The Manchurian Candidate, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Barney Miller), dies at 90.
• Sep 18 Bob Hayes, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 4x100m relay 1964) and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver (3 x Pro Bowl; Dallas Cowboys), dies of kidney failure at 59.
• Sep 24 Leon Hart, College Football Hall of Fame end and fullback (Heisman Trophy 1949, Notre Dame), dies at 73.
• Sep 24 Mike Webster, American NFL football center, 1974-90, 9X Pro Bowl, 4X Super Bowl champ (Pittsburgh Steelers), dies of a heart attack at 50; 1st former NFL-er diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).17
Bennett, Mark, 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Fifth printing, ed. by Robert Dimmery p. 895.
Ibid.