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

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)

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

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

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.

*You're* crying.

2. Was bored.

Music to kill yourself.

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

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

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.

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"

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

A little somber but excellent lyrics and songwriting

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.

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.

Love this record.

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.

Love

Very good album, I really enjoyed the songs!

Brilliant

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

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.

The best Beck album. Period.

Such chill

5

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.

A home run tbh

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

Melancholy Beck. Great stuff.

This album is not a Lost cause

Beautiful lonely morning listen.

Baby you're a lost cause

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

One of my all time favorites !

So chill I loved it

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

Great

Fantastic!

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...

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.

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.

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.

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

Love this album!

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

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

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

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’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.

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

so depressing but exactly what I needed Good for him for getting catharsis!

Classic album that I’ve played many times and now heard live. Quintessential folksy Beck, one of my all-time favorite artists.

Nice change of pace. Honestly surprised how much I liked this album.

The orchestration is straight up yummy, especially in Paper Tiger and Round The Bend. Wonderful, chilled out vibes with more to it than might initially hit the ear. End Of The Day forces me to slow down and match its pace in a way that's really luscious. LOVE when Sunday Sun gets a little bit crunchy, it's so freaking fun. Overall a great listen, I loved it.

I've been sleeping on Beck. this is such a beutiful somber album. one of my favorite parts was when the left ear was an electronic sound and the right ear was and acoustic guitar

Really loved and connected with this one! I had not heard this style from Beck before.

10/10 I will love Beck till the day I die

Great album, really showed the artistic side of Beck.

Spaced out country and sad, string-laden pop. A beautiful album with fantastic production. The music captures the melancholy fog of heartbreak. But the songwriting is so strong that I don’t mind spending 50 minutes with that tone. And Beck has a gorgeous singing voice. His typical style doesn’t get to showcase it as much.

Where has this album been all my life? It’s perfect. Prod by Nigel Godbitch. What a legend. Need to let this one sink in

This is a perfect choice for this list. While albums like Guero, Modern Guilt and Mellow Gold might be more obvious choices, Sea Change is a snapshot of Beck at a pivotal moment in his career. A departure from a celebrated artist's then-signature production style that proves he's no one-trick pony. Post-breakup Beck strips it all back to plumb the depths of melancholia and psychedelia and yet nothing here feels plodding or tired. String arrangements on Paper Tiger are incredible, which makes sense given that's what his dad did for a living. B side of the record introduces elements more atmospheric like Sigur Ros, harmonic like the Beach Boys, and grungy like Nirvana alternatively. I thought I would enjoy this but I didn't anticipate it holding up THIS well.

oh hello there stranger! even more beautiful than I remembered. Worth listening to in full! I love it so much, I may need to buy it on vinyl so I can hear it all the time

A huge and welcome departure from his earlier albums. Melancholy provides a beautiful counterpoint to the party music he's known for.

This album hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd never really listened to Beck before, and the album art (which looks like it could've been done in photoshop in about 5 minutes) didn't give me high hopes for the album itself. But I've been going through a melancholic phase and this was exactly what I needed to reflect on that and get through it. It's the rare album that shows up for you exactly when you need it. The album itself is filled with that bittersweet sensation - joy, sadness, melancholy, it's all there in Beck's voice, the melodies, and the quiet background. To me it captures the feeling of a lonely sunset drive. It's exactly what you need to reflect and get through a moment, and that to me is ultimately what a great album can capture. A good album has great tracks that you love to listen to, and is maybe full of them. A great album transcends that, capturing a feeling, an experience, perhaps even taking through a series of emotions and is something you turn to when you need to move through those, for whatever reason. This is that, and I would contend is one of the best albums on this list as a result. A true masterpiece.

Stone cold banger. Slaps from beginning to end. Often overshadowed by funkier/bigger albums by Beck, Sea Change is exactly that. It's so good they gave him a make-up grammy a decade later for a lesser album

Super chill

amoxicillin

Good

Awesome album, Beck's best.

top notch album

Love this album from beginning to end.

cool

same as yesterday🤩

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.

Beck is one of the rare artists that has had 30+ year carrier and has been relevant with every album released over time. I think Beck is incredibly talented and i fucking love his music! This is a wonderfuly beautiful album ❤️

What an amazing twist in Beck's journey. I have always thought his lyrics were his weak point and the creative musical structures carried things and here he strips everything down and it would interesting were it mediocre but he makes a beautifully realized album and doesn't rely on his strengths. Its a marvel. I bought this album on the day my daughter was due.. it had just come out... We played it on repeat when my wife was in labor at the hopsital so it will always bring up a slew of emotions for me.