Modern Guilt

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GUILTY AS CHARGED
WILL THE DEFENDANT PLEASE RISE. - YOU STAND TODAY ACCUSED OF FAILING TO EXTEND YOUR FUTURE TALENTS TOWARDS WORLD MUSIC- HOW DO YOU PLEAD ? I RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CLAIM MY FIFTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS YOUR HONOR BY NOT ANSWERING THIS QUESTION. THE BECKSTER COMES OUT OF THE BLOCKS WITH A PUTRID LACK LUSTER SHORT BURST OF CONTRACT COMPLIANT 44 MINUTES OF TOP HEAVY - BASS INFUZED DRIVLE. WITH NOTHING MUCH AROUND BECK SEEMS TO JUST MISS THE BOAT IN REFRESHING HIS FANS WITH SOMETHING INVIGORATING - NEW - EXCITING. MR MOUSE ON THE OTHER HAND SEEMS TO BE TREADING WATER WITH HIS MEAGER PRODUCTION SKILLS IN MAKING BECK SOUND MUDDY AND CONFUSED. BEST TRACK = SIX MEDIOCRE TRACKS = ONE TWO AND THREE. RATHER LIKE MOBYS NEWEST - LENNYS NEWEST, MOST AMERICAN POP ARTISTS HAVE TEMPORARILY, LOST THEIR EDGE - WITH SUCH A WEALTH OF SUBJECT MATTER AND INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES SURROUNDING THEM CAN THEY NOT GET A GRIP AND COME OUT WITH BOTH BARRELS LOADED. THE DEFENDANT WILL PLEASE RISE - THIS COURT WILL NOW PRONOUNCE SENTENCE - HAVE YOU ANYTHING TO SAY? WELL - EH EH EH EH - MY RECORD COMPANY SAID I HAD TO HAVE IT READY FOR THE SUMMER - EH EH ERH - YA KNOW WHAT I MEAN DUDE - THAT MEANS I ONLY HAD 44 MINUTES IN THE CAN AND THEY SAID EH EH EH EH THAT'S OK - I MEAN I FELT LIKE FRANK BLACK - SONGS I WANTED TO BE FIVE MINUTES LONG ENDED UP UNDER THREE - PLEASE YOUR HONOR IT WASN'T MY FAULT YOU ARE HEREBY SENTENCED TO RETURN TO HANCOCK PARK AND TRY TO REMEMBER WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND ATTEMPT TO REHABILITATE YOURSELF BACK INTO BEING ONE OF THIS WORLDS MOST PROMISING MUSIC TALENTS. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR ! THE DEFENDANT CAN STAND DOWN. NEXT CASE PLEASE. BUY IT OR FLY IT - YOU DECIDE,MINES HALF WAY TO DISNEY LAND WITH MICKEY.

Good but not great.
If this album was made by anyone but Beck I would be telling all of my friends to run out and buy it. However when held to the standard that Beck has set for himself, it then is downgraded to just mediocre. Unlike the general public I am not the biggest fan of Danger Mouse. I feel that he is predictable and takes all of the great bottom end out of the bass on this album. Modern Guilt sounds like a Gnarls Barkley album that Beck overlaid guitar and vocal tracks on top of. The best songs on the album are the ones that Danger Mouse had the least to do with. I was disappointed that the beats remained largely the same throughout most of the songs on the album. The thing that keeps me coming back to Beck time and time again is his element of surprise and I felt that element was sorely lacking. All in all it is good, just not great.

Must have for a Beck fan
If you have enjoyed the musical genius of Beck, then you will enjoy this CD. Lyrically, and musically Beck takes us one step closer to the edge of his sanity. Modern Guilt is an audio hallucination that will transcend your inner being, and leave you like a junkie, begging for more.

brain out of gear
I have almost all of Beck's CDs and I must say this is the most uninspired of the lot (not to say the worst; that honor goes to Midnight Vultures) it sounds as if Beck accepted the first words that came into his head for lyrical content and the music behind the lyrics unsuccessfully falls somewhere between Mutations pop and half hearted experimentation . At best, on Modern Guilt, Beck sounds like he's robbing Galaxy 500's "On Fire" album-at worst like he couldn't be bothered to improve upon first takes. When I listen to this album I can't help but want to hear songs like Nausea and Elevator Music from his last CD or put on Stereopathic Soul Manure and crank it up to 11.

Further down the slippery slope...
Once again, Beck is moving further away from actual music resorting to the undoubtedly easier to compose (if you want to call it that) and record. This album is simply dribble. I used to love Beck's singing, playing, and compositional abilities, but his last 2 to 3 albums have all been rather boring, too electronic, and really they have no actual feeling. Albums including Mutations and Sea Change not only had emotion (to the max), but they highlighted Beck's unique ability to stretch his vocal and musical talents. What can I say, I'm incredibly disappointed yet again. I realize this album will appeal to a great many people, but as a musician that seeks quality rather than quantity from artists, I barely feel any urge to buy any more Beck releases. The main reason I purchased this album was my interest in the vinyl-to-MP3 free download that comes with the lp version. This bonus was also rather short-lived. If I were you I'd hold off on this one.