Beck: The Information

By Jon Schober

There are a host of singers and bands which have inspired the musical world with their inimitable styles. For each decade there seems to be someone who completely revitalizes the genre—the Beatles in the 60s, Pink Floyd in the 70s and Queen in the 80s. The 90s posed many candidates to sweep up this distinguished honor. Listening to Beck's new album, The Information, reinforces the fact that he is the king of eclecticism and undeniably deserves the era award for his revolutionary work. The seventh album, no matter how interesting and diverse the fifteen tracks seem to be, is hard to listen to. Having described his new work as being "quasi hip-hop", the generalization leaves a lot of room for interpretation. This self-defined genre benefits him in many ways, but in the end, leaves him at a slight disadvantage.

The first instance of this somewhat off-style is in the very first song, "1000BPM", a rough track intermixed with Beck's lyrics, recorded in a static fashion which aims to set a mood for the entire album. It sets the wrong tone though—one of despair and drudgery. It becomes a nuisance to listen to. Unfortunately, there are several songs in this collection which evoke the same feeling: the ten-and-one-half minute "Horrible Fanfare" which isn't horrible, but more or less thrown in the middle of a couple of great numbers to reduce their quality. "We Dance Alone", a sort-of night club remix concoction, is another example.

There are some great stand-out tracks on this album. In fact, once you hit the middle of the album, Beck seems to return to the style he knows best: inspired, darker pop-hook tunes. In "Nausea", the instrumentation is infectious, the chorus extremely listenable—so catchy you will inevitably be tapping your feet with the rhythm. The mellower "No Complaints" implements a simplistic arrangement—a few guitars and a repetitive drum line backs up Beck's nicely executed lyrics. It's a beautiful song, and one of the best in the entire arrangement. "Strange Apparition" is a busy, piano-heavy piece, with a very catchy melody. It sounds more alternative-country than anything else and if Beck were to do an album in that style, it would probably succeed.

The title track, "The Information" is definitely good, but seems less pronounced than the aforementioned. I almost wish Beck would have defined the style of this album more precisely. His influences are all over the board. Experimentation is an excellent thing, but this collection of songs could easily be one of the best albums of the year if he had tweaked the arrangement somewhat. Needless to say, it's all a matter of opinion, and die-hard Beck fans will find this album very satisfactory...appreciating his quirky style a little more than this picky critic.