Mr. Lord Zeus allowed me to use the song titles in this album for the purpose of this review, so it's all good.

Also, any guides on how to resize images would be divine.

Now, let the review begin!



Often regarded as one of the most creative musicians of all time, Beck has changed genres over the years, but his style remains the same. Take some musical genres, cut and paste them around, and make songs out of it. Mellow Gold, his major-label debut, is a perfect example of this, as he mixes together rock, folk, hip-hop, lo-fi, punk, blues, psychedelia, and some minor influences from other genres. However, what would’ve seemed like a brand new world at the time of release, which was March 1994, now feels somewhat dated, although still a good album. And some songs are simply too experimental to be enjoyable now. To analyze this, allow us to go song by song. I present to you, my review of Mellow Gold by Beck.
So, first song up is Loser, a jam from over a year before album release that became a smash hit, boosted him to fame and gave him the slacker tag that he hated so much. A simple folk-rap song with repeating guitar riffs and drumbeats, the song is incredibly catchy, mostly reliant on its hilariously pessimistic lyrics. Being his only gold single, this is usually considered his signature song.
Next, up, we have Pay No Mind (Snoozer), a song with a much heavier folk influence then Loser, and the first instance of why this album received its Parental Advisory rating.
His second (and least successful major label) single, the song is another one of the songs that shines through as one of the best.
Third song is Fuckin With My Head, one of the songs that best shows his mixture of genres. Punk, Folk, Funk, lo-fi, and Blues all are clear influences here, some more then others. Although amazingly catchy with a great guitar riff, the song feels somewhat cluttered due to all the influences going on, although I still consider it one of the strongest songs on the album.
Fourth is Whiskeyclone, Hotel City 1997, and this is where the album begins to seem worse. The song is a Dylan-style folk and blues song, with a more acoustic sound then Fuckin With My Head, but the scratchy guitars really bring the song down. Not bad, but not quite good either.
Fifth is Soul Suckin Jerk, another rap song with a very electronic sound and filtered vocals. The song feels incredibly generic and bland, to be honest, although the hilarious lyrics do somewhat make-up for the blandness of this track.
Now we are midway through the album, and we have Truckdrivin’ Neighbors Downstairs, which begins with a sample of two men fighting. This is the best reason for the album to have gotten a PA rating. This is one of the worst tracks on the album in my opinion. With its annoying pitched-down voices, stupid lyrics and odd falsetto voices in the background, this is more like a novelty then an actual song.
Seventh song is the ironically titled Sweet Sunshine, a song that mixes more filtered vocals, hip-hop and supposedly thrash. This song is, well, really bad. There’s nothing redeeming, and this is the song you will find yourself skipping over.
The centerpiece song is Beercan, and it rightfully stands there. Yet another rap song, the song makes actual good use of filtered vocals, Care Bear (yes, that’s right) samples, and awesome instrumentation. The last single from the album, this is one song you don’t want to skip.
Ninth is Steal My Body Home, where Psychedelia really comes alive. The song contains Indian instrumentation and odd vocals, and contains three breaks. The first break is just a scratchy violin solo. The next is a very lovely guitar arpeggio. And the last is a jugband-styled jam with kazoo, sitar and other instruments, which give it a wonderful mixture of humor and music. Somewhat of an acquired taste, this song is impressive.
Tenth is Nitemare Hippy Girl, another folk song, and the funniest song on the album. An acoustic guitar perfectly complements the vocals, and this is one of the stronger songs on the album.
Eleventh is Mutherfuker, no that’s not a misspelling. This is an attempt by Beck to make a Metal song. It’s a half-decent song, very short. The instrumentation is decent, so overall this song is just plain average.
And last is Blackhole, a psychedelic folk song which mixes acoustic guitar oddly tuned to sound like a sitar, trance-y vocals, and much better violin playing then Steal My Body Home. This couldn’t be a better closer. Of course, it’s not really the closer as there’s a hidden track. What is the hidden track? A song titled “Analog Odyssey” that is nothing more then video game samples altered into annoying noise. Turn off the CD Player or buy it on iTunes so you don’t have to listen to that garbage.
Although it still sounds innovative, this album hasn’t dated very well. Had it been reviewed in 1994 I probably would’ve given it the same stellar reviews it got during launch. This is still worth a listen, but I recommend you listen to some of his other work, such as Odelay first.

Mellow Gold gets a 7.5 out of 10.

MINI-REVIEWS: These are where I will post small reviews to complement the larger reviews, and each song will get only a sentence or two. These will almost always be singles.

Loser single



This was more like an EP then a single with 5 songs (4 on the UK version which I will not review) including the main song. The second song is Corvette Bummer, a simple rap song with not that much to it. The third song, Alcohol, is one of the simplest yet best folk songs by Beck, followed by a very scratchy electric guitar at the end which isn’t really necessary. Next is Soul Suckin Jerk (Reject) which is a far better version of the song on Mellow Gold. No filtered vocals, keyboards and even saxophones make this the best song on the single. And last is Fume which is a punk song first half, thrash song second half. Also a very strong song.

Beercan single



Another EP-single, this with six songs, one hidden for only 20 seconds. 2nd song is Got No Mind, an electric version of Pay No Mind. Best song on the EP. Next is Asskizz Powergrudge (Payback 94) which is a very jokey, cartoony parody of all those tough-guy songs. Next is Totally Kunfused, yet another simple folk song that shines in its simplicity. Last is Spanking Room, the best metal song Beck has ever recorded. Hidden is Loser (Pseudo-Muzak version) which is just an instrumental Loser.