\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> is supposed to be Beck’s “Dumb party album”
\nof the year. Leave it to Beck to pull something off like this. He’s
\ngot enough props from critics to fill Steve Forbes and Donald
\nTrump’s heads.<\/p>\n
To get the understatement out of the way, Beck is unpredictable.
\nOne moment he’s begging you to pass the doochie from coast to
\ncoast. The next moment, he’s this shy, quiet, reflective guy who is
\ncrafting some pretty moving songwriting on
\nMutations<\/i>. The easiest route to a new album would be to
\n“combine the two” styles into one album. But Beck knows that task
\nwould be all too easy.<\/p>\n
Instead,
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> shakes, swivels and rocks. The chorus, “I
\nwant to defy the logic of all sex laws” and the empowering line,
\n“And make all the lesbians scream,” is about as political as Beck
\ngets on
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i>. Beck already knows he has most critics in
\nhis pocket. On this album, he wants to hang with the B-boys.<\/p>\n
That’s what makes songs like “Get Real Paid,” such a blast. But
\nfor all the “bitch slap,” lines Beck drops, he is a musician in the
\ntruest form. Each song on
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> is fairly rooted in a steady,
\ngroove-oriented rhythm. The fact that he rehearsed this album with
\na live band instead of his typical “handle every aspect” tactic
\nestablishes a breezy flow to
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i>.<\/p>\n
However, groove-oriented doesn’t necessarily translate into
\nbeing accessible. Much like
\nMutations<\/i>,
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> will take some getting used to. A couple of
\nlistens. Maybe even a couple of months before a final judgement can
\nbe rendered. But there’s enough variety in the album to keep you
\ncoming back.<\/p>\n
The ’70s is Beck’s obsession on
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i>. This will probably not come as much of a
\nsurprise to most Beck fans. Dylan-esque folk and funk have been two
\nprominent influences on most of Beck’s songs. But Beck seems to be
\ntaking some pointers from “The Artis…” URHHH…”TERRORIST” on
\nthis album as well. (Damned editor politics.)<\/p>\n
The song, “Peaches And Cream,” is the song “The TERRORIST” has
\nbeen wanting to make for the past decade. “Milk And Honey,” another
\nhighlight on
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i>, incorporating both interesting musical
\ntransitions as well as head-scratching rhyming choices.<\/p>\n
Does
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> have drawbacks? Yes, depending on how you
\nlook at it. You can almost see this album as Beck’s version of
\nIll Communication<\/i> by the Beastie Boys. That was the first
\nalbum where the formula greatness started to feel like a
\nformula.<\/p>\n
But taken as a whole,
\nMidnite Vultures<\/i> is a great listen. It may not create a
\nrevolution like some of his previous releases, but it stands just
\nfine as one of the better releases this year. So what if it is not
\nan undisputed masterpiece? A win streak is still a win streak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5717],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-36386","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-beck","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36386"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36386"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}