Okay i've listened to Modern Guilt about 20 times already, which is really easy since it's only half a fucking hour long.
Wait.
Shut up.
I have no problem with the short form.
Tell me this sounds stupid, but i might feel much better about MG if it had 'EP' attached to the end. Wierd how that changes things. I would rate this as an excellent EP, but as an album it seems half-baked. And not just the length- the girth. You know what i'm saying.
So what is it about the EP that changes the rules?
6 comments:
EP lowers expections, right off the bat you dont take it as seriously. it implies a sense of fun or causality.
i used to say the more the merrier. now i tend to think less is more. if it leaves you hungry thats better than overstuffed. i had a hard time getting thru the back half of guero & information for this very reason
i think the e.p. thing makes a huge difference because usually the e.p. is a taste test for the future album. you get a hint of the goodness to come, and the ones you aren't so hyped on you assume will go wayside to make room for more exciting tracks on the future album.
my problem isn't the shortness, albums didn't used to be so long anyway. it kinda got ramped up early on with the cd nonsense so people didn't feel bad paying $20. Shit ton of classic 70's and 80's albums clocking in at around ten songs. Now that i type that though, there also wasn't as strict un-rule of making every fucking song fit the 3 min single parameter either.
my problem with the album is that it didn't bring the same excitement as albums pre-guero, and that each album has had less "oh shit" moments than the one preceding it on initial listen.
after 2 or 3 spins, i felt like i was looking for reasons to like it as opposed to enjoying it on face value, and wondered how much grace we give artists on albums that probably wouldn't have garnered any attention had it been a debut from an unknown.
while they all manage to grow on me and get stuck in my head, the initial glee of a beck album, upbeat or down, has kind of gotten lost to me.
oaky, just to clarilfy, i like this beck. this album is like a prototype of a banded-up version of sea change beck. Chemtrails is automaticaly in my top five beck, and that's a hot statement. It just feels like he sold this path short, esp by calling this an album. if this were an EP, it would make me feel as though this were the trial run for what was to come. That's what i LOVE about an EP. it's a a preview of greatness. man it gets me hard.
of course, this COULD be an preview of what's to come. but the EP seeems to say "here's what i've got coming" or "here's the rest of the idea." i love b-sides; if every song could be a b-side, how sweet. think about it.
i like this beck as well, no doubt, not trying to go to hate or dissappointment status, but in terms of initial excitement, overall it's still pretty flat. i've found more and more to enjoy with more listens, 20 or 30 like you pulled, but it definitely missed the immediate thrill or engrossing nature of prior efforts.
i will say i think the information as a whole is completely disposable. you could delete the entire thing from his catalog and i wouldn't miss a bit of it. i think actually it was a detriment, disagree as you will, there's not a single song that sticks in my head or moves me in any real way in comparison to the rest of his output.
in line with my question, why after 20-30 listens are you still hesitating on jubilation for this album? you like it, it's too short, obviously you want more, but obviously the content coughed up wasn't good enough to satisfy.
it's all hypothetical, you can't delete attachment, but honestly if beck didn't exist before this album, or the last, would anyone know who beck was?
i feel the sheer fact that we're all struggling with it one way or another emphasizes that there's something not right going on.
you shouldn't have to struggle internally over an album, you should just enjoy it. to paraphase you, in the past you've mentioned you don't like music to be work. this isn't work in the sense of understanding, but worse, it's work in finding enjoyment in it overall. it's got good tracks, but you're still hesitating.
how much of this is really us fighting our view on it versus it's not really that good?
i think it's good too, but trying to get past that, maybe it's not and we're working too hard to convince ourselves that it's worth listening to when that's not the case.
p.s. chemtrails is good because of dangermouse. he's hit or miss, but it holds more of his trademarks and less of Beck's. And to further the nonsense, if it was on a Dangermouse solo disc maybe all of a 1000 people in the universe would have given a shit even with his current higher profile.
since you're claiming top five of beck, cough em up, cause there's entire halves of albums that move more than this in my opinion and am interested for the sake of a Rick-ish list.
from the information "cellphones dead" is hot so their chris. 1 by 1 ill knock u out. that shit is great.
also sometimes i own a album for years before it really hits me. frame of mind is crucial.
it could be the boring girlfriend curse. youve fucked her, you love her, but how many times can you really expect the thrill.
that ain't no knockout fool. i'm talking albums, that's one track.
not even talking cohesiveness, but solid tracks throughout.
one banger does not an album make, and that track was out six months before the album so it could have easily been a one off single like the one with the spike jonze video but he made a worthless album to cocoon it in.
and if you want to bring girlfriend metaphors in, why stick with her if there's nothing between you anymore?
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