Sea Change

Grade:

A

Who the hell is Beck Hansen?

Most music artists pick a game plan and run with it. They have a sound, image and expectation that they want to project onto a target audience. The audience, in turn, knows what they are getting when they buy an album or go to a show.

Beck, however, decided to make an indie-folk record (One Foot in The Grave), a grunge stoner record (Mellow Gold), an up-tempo hip hop/rock record (Odelay), an artsy blues record (Mutations), and a funky Prince party record (Midnight Vultures), all to critical acclaim. So after the sexually charged and bombastic tunes of Vultures, Beck releases Sea Change, a down trodden, alienated, lonely but deceivingly optimistic day away from the rest of the world.

Rumors circulated that Beck made this album after he broke up with his long-time girlfriend. If so, this is heartbreak at its finest. Kurt Cobain never came off this sincere. At first listen, all songs might sound the same because it seems to have a certain mood to it. After more than a few listens, however, this LP takes on a life of its own and keeps redefining itself. "Lost Cause" is one of the best "It's over" songs written in a while. "I'm tired of fighting for a lost cause," Beck sings.

With Sea Change, Beck has finally found a cause worth fighting for.