Beck- Odelay (Deluxe Edition)
‘Odelay’ was the first album by alternative rock artist Beck to be released in the UK back in 1996. Today, it has been re-released as a two disc deluxe edition containing the original tracks, plus never been released numbers, b-sides, remixes and some revamped original songs.
For some areas on the album Beck had input from the Dust Brothers, who incorporated many samples in the songs here. On the bass line of ‘Sissyneck’ sampled a track from Country Funk, ‘Where It's At’ contains a number of spoken samples such as the catchy “we've got two turntables and a microphone..." from Mantronix. There are also ‘Inferno’ and ‘Gold Chains’ two never been heard Dust Brothers produced tracks. Samples were also taken from various other places; ‘Devils Haircut’ is heavily driven by a number of samples and ‘The New Pollution’ with its altered introduction is heavily influenced by The Beatles.
Beck has roots in folk, blues, rock and hip-hop styles and while creating this masterpiece incorporates these within each track. The reason ‘Odelay’ became so well known was because it is said to have been drastically different in direction and style to his previous work. ‘Lord Only Knows’ has a country feel, ‘Strange Invitation’ is more folksy, ‘Hotwax’ has a more R’n’B styling while ‘High 5 (Rock The Catskills)’ has a jazzy and more soulful nature to some areas while in contrast a more notorious gangster sound in others. There were the occasional indie rock sounding numbers such as the acoustic ‘SA-5’ which has a more vibrant feel and the upbeat electric numbers like ‘Erase The Sun’ and ‘Thunder Peel’ which were needed to even out the sounds on the album.
‘Odelay’ contains more of a party style, some experimental music and sounds of DIY noise and additions of modern technology. ‘Derelict’ for example has what I could only describe as milk bottle sounds. But there are also the instrumentals like trumpets on ‘Burro’.
Atmospheric images and feelings played a large role in what I felt from this album. ‘Feather In Your Cap’ had a melancholy atmosphere surrounding it to an extent, ‘Richard's Hairpiece’ gave off images of people sped up and whizzing around on a dance floor with house lights flashing and it is as if a scene is being set of a party in ‘Where It's At’.
Lyrics and vocals are fairly varied on this release. Lyrically, ‘Sissyneck’ flows excellently like one of the more “normal” tracks on the album. Vocals for the indie rock and country feeling songs are as you would expect, but they become hazy and elevated by the megaphone on ‘Lemonade’ and more screamo on ‘American Wasteland’.
This album is varied and gives a listener a sense of not knowing what is come next. There is something for everyone, so even if you don’t like one song, I'm sure there is something to come you will enjoy.