Mellow Gold

by Beck

Overview

From its kaleidoscopic array of junk-culture musical styles to its assured, surrealistic wordplay, Beck's debut album, Mellow Gold, is a stunner. Throughout the record, Beck plays as if there are no divisions between musical genres, freely blending rock, rap, folk, psychedelia, and country. Although his inspired sense of humor occasionally plays like he's a smirking, irony-addled hipster, his music is never kitschy, and his wordplay is constantly inspired. Since Mellow Gold was pieced together from home-recorded tapes, it lacks a coherent production, functioning more as a stylistic sampler: there are the stoner raps of "Loser" and "Beercan," the urban folk of "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)," the mock-industrial onslaught of "Mutherfuker," the garagey "Fuckin' With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)," the trancy acoustic "Blackhole," and the gently sardonic folk-rock of "Nitemare Hippy Girl." It's a dizzying demonstration of musical skills, yet it's all tied together by a simple yet clever sense of songcraft and a truly original lyrical viewpoint, one that's basic yet as colorful as free verse. By blending boundaries so thoroughly and intoxicatingly, Mellow Gold established a new vein of alternative rock, one that was fueled by ideas instead of attitude. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	03/01/1994
Label:	Geffen / Dgc / Interscope
UPC:	0720642463420
Rank:	39138

Tracks

1. Loser
2. Pay No Mind (Snoozer)
3. Fuckin' With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)
4. Whiskeyclone, Hotel City 1997
5. Soul Suckin' Jerk
6. Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)
7. Sweet Sunshine
8. Beercan
9. Steal My Body Home
10. Nitemare Hippy Girl
11. Mutherfuker
12. Blackhole

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Beck   Primary Artist
Rob Zabrecky   Primary Artist,Bass
Petra Haden   Guest Artist,Violin
David Harte   Drums
Mike Boito   Organ

Technical Credits

Rob Schnapf   Engineer,Mixing,Producer
Tom Rothrock   Engineer,Producer,Mixing
Stephen Marcussen   Mastering
Beck   Composer,Producer
Karl F. Stephenson   Composer
Karl Stephenson   Composer,Producer
Ross Harris   Photography
Beck Hansen   Composer
Robert Fisher   Design,Art Direction