Time Machine - Record of the Year 2002

Sea Change (album)
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Studio album by Beck
Released September 24, 2002
Recorded Spring–Summer 2002
Genre Alternative rock, alternative country
Length 52:24
57:14 (MFSL)
Label Geffen Records
Producer Nigel Godrich
Professional reviews
Allmusic 2002
Robert Christgau (B) 2002
The Guardian 2002
Pitchfork Media (6.9/10) 2002
PopMatters (favorable) 2002
Rolling Stone 2002
Slant 2002
Stylus (B+) 2003
Vibe 2002
Village Voice (mixed) 2002

Beck chronology
Midnite Vultures
(1999) Sea Change
(2002) Hell Yes EP
(2005)




Sea Change is the eighth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck and was released in September 2002. Inspired by the dissolution of a relationship, Sea Change received glowing reviews upon its release [1].

Sea Change peaked at #8 on Billboard's Top 200 chart and was eventually certified gold in March 2005[2]. In the UK charts, it peaked at #20. As of July 2008, Sea Change has sold 680,000 copies in the United States.[3]

Contents [hide]
1 Details
2 Track listing
3 Personnel
3.1 Other
4 External links
5 References


Details
This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this section if you can. (November 2009)

Much of Beck's trademark recondite, ironic lyrics are replaced by more sincere, simpler lyrical content. On Sea Change, Beck eschews the heavy sampling of his previous albums for real, live instrumentation. In interviews, Beck cited the breakup with his longtime girlfriend as the major influence on the album.

In 2002, Sea Change was one of only two albums to receive Rolling Stone magazine's highest rating–five stars–the other being Bruce Springsteen's The Rising. The magazine went on to call it the best album of 2002. The next year, the album was ranked number 440 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Sea Change was released with four different album covers, each version containing distinct artwork on the CD and the booklet. There are also different hidden messages (lyrical snippets) written under each version's CD tray.

The original cover art for the album was used as an effigy in the music video for Beck's single "Lost Cause".

It is said that the album sound concept is inspired by the sound of Serge Gainsbourg album: "Histoire de Melody Nelson".

The album was remastered and released by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab in June 2009.

Track listing
All songs written by Beck Hansen.

"The Golden Age" – 4:35
"Paper Tiger" – 4:36
"Guess I'm Doing Fine" – 4:49
"Lonesome Tears" – 5:38
"Lost Cause" – 3:47
"End of the Day" – 5:03
"It's All in Your Mind" – 3:06
"Round the Bend" – 5:15
"Already Dead" – 2:59
"Sunday Sun" – 4:45
"Little One" – 4:27
"Side of the Road" – 3:23
"Ship in a Bottle" – 3:11 (Japanese bonus track)
[edit] Personnel
Beck Hansen – vocals, acoustic guitar, background vocals, electric guitar, percussion, synth, glockenspiel, banjo, harmonica, keyboards, piano, string arrangement, wurlitzer
Justin Meldal-Johnsen – electric bass, upright bass, percussion, background vocals, glockenspiel, electric guitar, piano
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – clavinet, synth, background vocals, percussion, piano, wurlitzer, banjo, Indian banjo, glockenspiel, harmonium
Smokey Hormel – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, acoustic slide guitar, percussion, background vocals, bamboo saxophone, megamouth, piano, tape recorder
Joey Waronker – drums, percussion, background vocals, beatbox drums
James Gadson – drums
Jason Falkner – electric guitar, background vocals, percussion
David Campbell – string arrangement, conducting
Nigel Godrich – keyboards, percussion, string treatment, synth
Suzie Katayama – cello
[edit] Other
Nigel Godrich – production, engineering, mixing
Darrell Thorp – assistant engineering
Bob Ludwig – mastering
Autumn de Wilde – cover photo
Jeremy Blake – artwork
Kevin Reagan, Beck – art direction, design


The above, cold Wikipedia's facts don't say this very disc by Beck Hansen is among the best musical issues ever... I own a standard disk copy, a Japanese disk (for the bonus track;-)) and two vinyl double-sets: a stock version and the MoFi recent issue, a true winner...

I let this discs spinning for friends who weren't aware of Beck Hansen and they compared to "If I could only remember my name" by David Crosby (...)

Classic, West Coast-ish atmospheres, gorgeous acoustic guitars landscapes, slides and beatiful voice(s) with a touch of Nick Drake... the sound is nothing short of an audiophile dream: dynamic, broad soundstage, sincere and naturally sounding

A masterpiece worth searching/buying/enjoying... but not try - as I did - to find the same atmospheres in other Beck's recordings!