Sea Change

Beck is sad. Sad Beck make song. Good time listen, feel bad for Beck. Golden Age, Lost Cause, and Round the Bend were great tracks.

I refreshed the page and it ate my review, so you get bullet points this time: • I just yesterday said I want my downer albums to at least thrash about a bit before collapsing under the weight of the world, so I appreciate that Sea Change has a little bit of that going on. • "Break up with Beck" produces solid results for a sad sack LP, although not as good as "introduce Trent Reznor to heroin." • This thing is way too long. Beck adheres to a "mope around with an acoustic guitar > introduce strings, maybe some synth > get all spacey in the closing seconds" flowchart far too closely here. • By the time he's singing "It's nothing that I haven't seen before" around the halfway point, I feel like I'm being pranked, except the only funny gag Sea Change has to offer is on Sunday Sun, where the little scamp seems to have recorded his verses with an Ed, Edd, n Eddy-sized Jawbreaker in his mouth. It's fine. I would've preferred Odelay, but of course I would. Key Tracks: The Golden Age

While I didn’t hate the album, nothing held my interest.

Man what a beautiful album. The guitar playing is superb, Beck’s voice is on point and I love the lushness of the strings. The sadness is palpable here and I don’t know if this is an album that I can come back to often for that reason. But I do love this record. Favorite song: It’s All In Your Mind Least favorite song: Little One (I guess)

I was a huge Beck fan beginning with "Mellow Gold" and I must admit that this was the first album of his that was a disappointment to me. From this point on in his career I started to slowly drift away from him. My difficulty with this album stems from a couple things: 1) him reigning in his lyrics to be more conventional, and 2) the consistently depressed tone. I get it, he's human and went through a shitty ordeal with his girlfriend. It's completely understandable that he would want to express his feelings about that, but perhaps for a song or two, rather than a whole album. I don't expect him to be some kind of postmodern cartoon his whole career but what I always liked about him was the way he was able to balance a wide variety of emotions on an album, or even in a single song. Another thing that bugs me on this album is illustrated by "It's all in your mind," which is a remake of a much older song of his. I love the original version of that song but somehow the dour tone of "Sea Change" as a whole kind of drags it down - takes some of the raw spirit out of it somehow. I can enjoy these melancholy types of songs of his in a different context but as they are presented here all together I find them slightly off-putting. I think what it really comes down to is this: I find this album to be too pretty, too perfect. The lush string arrangements being a good example of this. I can understand why he would want to try for something like this as an artist; to carefully craft something pristine and beautiful, but to me it lacks the loose soul he so naturally exuded in the past. It's like if your girlfriend never really put on makeup or dressed in fancy clothes and then suddenly one day she decided to get this total makeover and buy a Versace evening gown. It's not that she wouldn't look beautiful, but it would come as quite a shock, and somehow it wouldn't feel like "her." However, one thing I didn't have back when it originally came out was a really good pair of headphones to listen this album with. I do now and must say the sound of the album is pretty exquisite. If I separate it from my own personal baggage and hang ups I can at least appreciate it as a sonic achievement. For an album of his that has similar qualities but isn't so completely emotionally bogged down and humorless, try "Mutations" - it is more balanced, and I believe, a superior album.

I feel like this album is from the point of view of Major Tom, stuck out in space by himself after communication is lost from NASA, From David Bowe's song Space Oddity.

I love Beck. I never know what to expect, but it always sounds like him but never repetitive or boring

*You're* crying.

2. Was bored.

Music to kill yourself.

I love this album so much. My first breakup album in 2017. It was perfect. Still perfect to this day.

Beck is one of my favorite artists so far and it was great to hear something a little more serious from him. Great stuff!

Modern production with nick drake melancholia, great. There’s no way the song Sunday sun isn’t a reference to nick drakes Saturday sun

Super tranquille et mélancolique, mais tellement bien fait. Les arrangements sont superbes et ce n’est jamais mou.

Much like everyone listening to this record for the first time, I was expecting Beck's jokey, white-boy self. I was not expecting a genuine and deeply personal-sounding record. A similar vibe, in my mind, to "You Want It Darker" by Leonard Cohen: a record that I don't feel like I'm getting everything on first listen, and really want to sit down with and explore the layers. If I ever get my heart broken again, think this is the first record I'll look for. Favorite tracks: "Guess I'm Doing Fine", "Sunday Sun", "End Of the Day"

So different from what I expected with my knowledge of other Beck albums. A much more calm, melancholy vibe and feeling with slower tracks and more ambience. The riff-driven songs I know from Beck are replaced with swelling strings, soft acoustic guitars, and more feeling and emotional impact. What a cool album and a pleasant and welcome surprise.

Know it all too well. Can’t listen to it right now.

Incredible vibes, and such a different sound from what I'm used to from Beck, especially the albums preceeding this. That being said, can't go wrong with this sound.

Love this record.

A little somber but excellent lyrics and songwriting

This album is the equivalent of like, doing the bare minimum extremely well. Production is PHENOMENAL and songwriting is primitive. It’s less impressive than his previous outings like mellow gold and odelay but some bangers hit the feels pretty well. Beck has no edge on sea change but he’s riding sad boy wave pretty well.

All the battlements are empty And the moon is laying low Yellow roses in the graveyard Got no time to watch them grow Now I bade a friend farewell I can do whatever pleases me It's only lies that I'm living It's only tears that I'm crying It's only you that I'm losing Guess I'm doing fine Yeah, this is a really good album. 5/5

Sad. Orchestral. Layered. This album beautifully executes layered arrangements of strings with minimal guitar riffs to create a unique atmosphere. The record sits in a strange space that moves you through waves of depression and grief. While difficult to listen in regard to Beck's depressive lyrics, each song has its own purpose and feel. When listening, you could easily close your eyes and feel like you're immersed in a vast ocean landscape moving over and under the waves. Favorite Songs: Paper Tiger, Lonesome Tears, Lost Cause, It's All In Your Mind, Sunday Sun

Nearly flawless, no skips

Love this album!

excellent album similar to cocteau twins heaven or las vegas it was very relaxing and i found myself liking every song i put them all on playlists that i love it had a very consistent theme throughout which could have been boring had you not liked the theme but fortunately it didnt take away from the album for me

Very good album, I really enjoyed the songs!

This album is not a Lost cause

Great

Beautiful lonely morning listen.

Baby you're a lost cause

Love

I didn't really like Beck when he was trying to be weird. But starting with this album, he moved into a more mature style with lush layers and more cohesive sounds and messaging. This record sounds like it was recorded during a series of sunrises and I really like it.

A home run tbh

This was the "breakup album" of my college years. It was the first time hearing Beck in a serious tone. "Lost Cause" and "It's all in Your Mind" really hit you in the feels.

Beck is 100% my soft spot. This album is just one more masterpiece from him.

Ahhhh, one of the albums that saved my life. I'm not saying that listening to this album is therapy, but listening to this album feels like what I perceive good therapy would feel like. You even get to break shit with Sunday Sun. Except for Lonesome Tears and Side Of The Road, every other song is fully engaging. For me this is as close as Beck has gotten to perfect. However, Guero is my favorite cause it's just more fun.

A perfect album, the last truly high height from Beck’s discography. Good stuff is still to follow, but this one is stunning.

Amazing album -- great production, songwriting, and orchestration...

The best Beck album. Period.

His broken heart has allowed Beck to reach top form here and create a real masterpiece.

Listened to this one a lot when it was released. Still holds up. It’s weird, interesting and sad music. This and Mutations are my favorite Beck albums.

magic. thats it.

I listened to this album a lot when it came out, it was tough not too, as it was when Beck was at his height of changing genres and sounds from album to album, and this beautiful record showed a matured and more personal side of him--and he also toured on it forever. It's been a bit since I've heard it, but it fit perfectly in on this cold Friday morning. Excellent as always.

This somehow works in Neil Young-does-Goldfrapp kinda way. Love the orchestration, and it feels smarter and more polished than Odelay.

What a perfect mellow album. Awesome production, mixed with outstanding vocals. Easy 5. So many bangerz! Too many to list, but here’s some to remember. TBz 1. Lonesome Tears 2. Little One 3. Lost Cause 4. Sunday Sun 5. Paper Tiger

This album made a powerful impression on me, probably the most I’ve taken from a 1001 album so far. I had never listened to Beck beside his song Loser. He really is a master of genre-bending. This is one of those albums that, looking back, I will associate with this particular time in my life. Paper Tiger is when the orchestra comes in and it’s stunning. Guess I’m Doing Fine is devastating track. His voice sounds country, and has an almost Bruce quality to it. It’s All in Your Mind is another spot I turn the volume up: “and I wanted to be, I wanted to be, wanted to be, your good friend.” Already Dead has to be my favorite on the album. It has a beautiful Celtic lilt. It reminds me of something Orpheus might sing in Hadestown: “Because it feels like I’m watching something dying.” I will be listening to this album for a while. I will admit that I was partial to him because his name is, no doubt, a cooler version of my own. But this 5/5 rating has nothing to do with my namesake and everything to do with a stunning and desolate album.

How can such a downer of an album be so good? I know that heartache is responsible for many great songs but I thought an album of depression might be too much. Nope! I'm now listening to Sunday Sun, where a ray of light is piercing through the gloom. He's taken me on a journey that I'll have to visit again.

One of my all time favorites !

Fantastic. Beck gets serious and changes the trajectory of his career. Fitting name for the album.

So chill I loved it

I love Beck. Of all of his albums, this one probably doesn't have as wide a range of musical styles. The songwriting was amazing. I didn't pay attention to the lyrics, but my guess is that this is Beck's version of a break up album.

I’ve long lived this record. Perfect on those rainy days. Beck is versatile and amazing.

I put this on when I am feeling down and I really want to wallow in it. It's not fun but it's so heart-wrenchingly beautiful. The end of Lonesome Tears goes on and on and on, climbing to the stratosphere, tugging and tugging until you can't bear it any longer, and still keeps going. Past the point of discomfort to a kaleidoscopic mad huge picture of loss and grief.

Really emotional sound, the story of breaking up and loss flows through the album.

Absolutely brilliant... reminds me of mellow Pearl Jam.

I enjoyed this album a lot. It's serious and sombre, which I like. I like how he touched on deep lyrical themes. I also like his vocals and the soft instrumentals.

Never listened to this album closely. Always wrote it off as a boring departure for Beck. Of courses was way wrong.

Like a warm blanket next to a fire on a rainy day

Can't separate this one from real life. This came out almost exactly when I was ending a long-term relationship. That then became a relationship again. And then ended again. So dumb. But this was kind of the soundtrack to that, so it's hard to be objective. Still, I think all of this sounds great. I'd been a big fan of Beck since the beginning and this was all sort of a whole new range that really worked for me. Great stuff.

Even though it is a real slow pace, the songs are well written, passionate in the right places, and nearly all of them have a hook that i really enjoy. If you're in the mellow mood, this is perfect.

An album that lets you know right up front that this is going to be a sad, wistful journey. Opening track "The Golden Age" is an absolute gut punch, and the hits keep coming from there. Great soundtrack for driving through wide open spaces while contemplating life and how you got there. The strings! My god, the strings.

Got this when it came out and it blew me away. That hasn't changed with time. While it's a far cry from his usual near-mania - and may be lacking in appeal as a consequence - as a confessional album, it drives right to the center of me, and I hold it in slightly higher esteem than much of his other material.

I have a long standing love for this album - Beck does dreamy alt-country. "Mellow Gold" is my absolute fave Beck album, but you have to take the rough with the smooth there, whereas "Sea Change" is smooth sailing all the way. Fave track - "Guess I'm Doing Fine", maybe, or "Already Dead". This is very much a listen-to-the-whole-album piece for me, though, rather than picking out individual tracks...

Fantastic!

Wow - so sad and so beautiful to listen to. Sonically fantastic, worth sitting down with a decent set of headphones. And a nice bottle of red. Turn it up and relive your most recent heartbreak, and cry just a little.

Gently pulling my heart into the water

Congratulations Beck, you sad Scientologist son of a so-and-so, you made one of the best albums of the early 2000s.

I’m not the biggest Beck fan. I like most of his stuff and admire how diverse his music is. But man… I love this album. I come back it occasionally when I’m in a certain mood. Great wallowing in sadness album. Great production by Nigel Godrich.

Such chill

Melancholy Beck. Great stuff.

Brilliant

5

Beck gets dumped and all mopey. The songs are fairly similar in tempo throughout and kind of blend in to one. Maybe he got dumped because he was already mopey and this album was the final straw. I don't blame her. Best Tracks: The Golden Age; Paper Tiger; Lost Cause

I really dig this. It was a lot more melancholy and downtempo than I would have predicted, but each track offers depth and something to like.

Sea Change I bought a hooky version of this on CD from a bloke selling counterfeit albums on the street outside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in Manhattan in November 2002 while visiting Mackie. I often wonder why he chose this album to copy and that spot to sell it. It doesn’t really say carefree fun loving New York excursion. Anyhow, funding crack addictions aside, it’s a truly excellent album, up there with Odelay and Midnite Vultures as my favourites of his. The difference between Midnite Vultures’ dynamic soul/funk and Prince-esque vibrancy and energy and Sea Change’s intimate, sometimes bleak, focused and concentrated folk and country-dappled melancholy is starkly brilliant. While all the songs are thematically and tonally similar, they don’t feel repetitive at all, gently lapping and swaying with each other over the course of the album, all with slight variations in instrumentation, tempo and arrangement. The playing is great, sympathetic and rather lovely little guitar and keyboard embellishments and the string arrangements are fantastic, from the pastoral to the vaguely middle eastern. The first three songs really grabbed me when I first listened, the country guitar on The Golden Age evoking Lonesome Me, Paper Tiger’s shuffling percussion, guitar and string arrangement are superb, and Guess I’m Doing Fine’s melancholy melody accented by the reverb and guitar is brilliant. It remains excellent after that, each track is great, but some highlights for me are It’s All in Your Mind with its ghostly and reverb guitar piano, Round the Bends use of upright bass, the fingerpicking of Already Dead, Little One with it’s heavier oppressive guitars, and Side of the Road, a great bit of downbeat country-folk melancholia. All through the album you can pick up the influences and references - I’m sure Sunday Sun is a Nick Drake reference to Saturday Sun, but there’s bits of Neil, Dylan, other folk and country as well as some electronica inflected rhythms and drums, adding to the subtle variance of the songs. It’s a great sad album as well as being just a great album. Easily a 5, clive 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 Playlist submission: The Golden Age

This is a fantastic breakup album. Every song is executed perfectly here. Really shows Beck’s range!

Hauntingly beautiful and sorrowful album. Each song breaks your heart ver and over. Such a follow up to midnight vultures.

Sea Change is so pretty it hurts. Melancholy Beck is a vibe. This is his best album, but I’m partial to the slower, less funky ones (Mutations, Morning Phase, Modern Guilt) Love how the songs sound minimalist and maximalist at the same time; it’s very sophisticated. Favorite tracks: "Guess I'm Doing Fine", "Sunday Sun", “Lonesome Tears”, "Lost Cause" “Round The Bend” but there are zero skips. 5/5

Was really surprised by this album. Really great. Sad but meoldic. will listen to again.

An old favorite of mine. Great songwriting and I love the mood of the album. Still a go to when I want something mellow with a hint of melancholy

Love this record always.

My favourite sad and beautiful album to go to.

Incredible album. Front to back is a journey.

Super hot fire

Wow. I am simply floored by this album. This is singer/songwriter Beck after the breakup of a nine-year relationship with his gf and it shows. No samples. Real musicians. It’s one of the most mournful, introspective and elegiac albums I’ve ever heard and I loved every single note of it: his voice, the lyrics and the melodies. Stunningly sad/beautiful. That all said, it is not for everyone. This kind of music is right up my alley though.

Multi layered beauty. I can pick out many similarities to other artists I love - all in each track. All while sounding unique. A genius album.

Fantastic!

LOVE. always in heavy rotation during the tough times

I wasn't looking forward to this when i read the write-up, it didn't sound like something I'd enjoy for some odd reason. Well, holy crap, this is good! I knew his albums 'Mellow Gold' and 'Odelay', but this is so different compared to those, also completely on another level. Loving the melancholic feel to all these songs, he can certainly write a miserable ballad when he wants too, so he does a whole album full of heartbroken sadness. It seems heartbreak can inspire greatness, it's almost up there with Spiritualized's LAGWAFIS in inspiration. I'm only on track 4 and its getting a low 5. Update: My god, I've been blown completely away by this. I keep expecting a right duffer of a track to turn up, but no, there wasn't a single one. It's a super depressing album, not like Joy Division's life ending nihilism or The Cure at their most miserable or angry gloominess, but a beautiful introspective sadness. I feel his pain. It's a straight up high 5.

A melancholy and ethereal masterpiece.

Super mellow but still interesting to listen to. Good for chilling!

It’s like being smacked in the face by a nice summer breeze. What a good album

Love it

Love me some Beck! So chill and so lyrical.

This album is such a mood. While I enjoy Beck’s more eclectic, lively, energetic albums (Odelay, Colors), the melancholy that pervades this album feels so distinct. Featuring some of his best songs—“Lost Cause,” “Guess I’m Doing Fine,” “Lonesome Tears”—the album is lush, beautiful, and heartbreaking. It’s one that I can have on in the background or can listen to intently and enjoy equally. Great lyrical and melodic writing throughout. If I have any criticism, it’s that the album is so consistent, the songs veer into the territory of all sounding the same. Nonetheless, I love this album and think it deserves the 5 stars.

Great album

I have absolutely fallen in love with this album. It's so dreamy and easy to get lost in all the diverse sounds, as well as the incredible mellow vocal performances from Beck himself. Definitely one I will be keeping in consistent rotation from now on.

A much more mellow offering than usual from Beck but a hugely important departure in his career that maintains his roots but explores new directions. There are no bad songs on this album. Standout tracks: The Golden Age, PAper Tiger, Lost Cause

I cannot believe I loved it that much. I've always recognized this album cover, but I wasn't that interested in Beck at age 6. Now, though? Hell yes.