It's called
18 because the creative process fueling their 2022 duet album made
Jeff Beck and
Johnny Depp feel young again. Of course, they could feel like their younger selves because they're spending the great majority of their time playing oldies but goodies, digging out warhorses by
the Beach Boys,
Smokey Robinson,
Marvin Gaye,
the Everly Brothers,
the Velvet Underground, and
John Lennon to form the bulk of their 13-track album. Such a description suggests
18 might sound like pro forma karaoke, but check another one of the couple's covers: "The Death and Resurrection Show," a
George W. Bush-era tune by industrial icons
Killing Joke. It certainly seems unlikely that British Invasion blues stalwart
Beck pushed for its inclusion, so that can be chalked up to
Depp, as can the general dour tenor of the album. Allegedly, the recording of
18 helped the pair to blow off some pandemic-related tension -- naturally, the
Lennon song they chose to cover is "Isolation" -- but instead of feeling like an outpouring of joyous connection, it's a bunch of griping.
Depp contributes to the sour tone by murmuring his way through the neo-industrial "Sad Motherfuckin' Parade" and attempting to conjure the ghost of
David Bowie on "This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr" in a fashion that winds up sounding like latter-day
Pink Floyd. Much of
18 sounds a bit like
Floyd after
Roger Waters left, where there are wide-open vistas that allow the guitar solos to shine.
Beck often sounds liquid and lyrical, a counter to the stumbling glower of
Depp, who seems to be stuck in a growl even when he shoots for a falsetto on
Robinson's "Ooo Baby Baby." Tonally,
Beck and
Depp don't quite mesh --
Beck's guitar wants to soar,
Depp stays earthbound -- and instead of generating something rife with tension or an outright failure, the results are just leaden and dull. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
