Beck – Mutations

March 9, 2009 at 7:26 pm (Album Reviews) (album review, music)

Released: 1998
Track Listing:
1.) Cold Brains
2.) Nobody’s Fault But My Own
3.) Lazy Flies
4.) Canceled Check
5.) We Live Again
6.) Tropicalia
7.) Dead Melodies
8.) Bottle of Blues
9.) O Maria
10.) Sing it Again
11.) Static

*This is the US pressing, so the hidden “Diamond Bollocks” in track 11 doesn’t appear as a separate track in the listing. 

Perhaps the greatest thing about Beck is his ability to use nostalgia without falling headfirst into it. Folk rock, psychedelia, and all manners of borrowing are employed in his discography, but he keeps things modern with their production values and his off-the-wall creativity in songwriting and damn near everything else. Mutations is no exception.

It’s probably safe to say that Mutations was never intended to be a commercial hit. Beck’s label, DGC, did next to nothing to promote it, and the album itself is interestingly without any major “Loser” or “Where It’s At” single to let it soar through the charts. Indeed, it deviates quite a bit from the Odelay formula, instead becoming one of those White Album things, drawing from as many different influences as one can think of off the top of their heads. But don’t let the lack of a gargantuan hit single fool you. Mutations is a winner.

“Cold Brains” opens up the album on a high note, being one of the best tracks Beck’s released in his lifetime. It’s a shimmery little mid-tempo song that Beck sings with an interesting death-bed tremor to his voice, likely because the song itself seems to be about death. Of particular interest is the folksy harmonica solo. You can call it “Dylanesque” if you want, but I’ll just call it “damn good.”  The instrumentation is precise and oddly harmonious together…a fitting summary of Beck’s tendency to mix traditional styles with modern styles and production values.

“Nobody’s Fault But My Own” is arguably the best song on Mutations. It boasts a psychedelic take on Eastern inspiration and easily my favorite lyricism on the album. God damn, that dead-pan hook, it’s so beautiful! The sitar is spot-on, more effective even than The Beatles’ best efforts with a sitar, if you ask me. The song is simply a fantastic ballad, through and through. 

The third track, “Lazy Flies” has always been one of those “weird” songs for me. Not because it’s bad, oh no, but because it’s lyrically confusing to me. It strikes me as a piece-by–piece collage of imagery and surrealism. Decay, death, hedonism, etc. Instrumentation-wise, it’s weaker perhaps than the two above, but Beck just makes this tune so damn fun to sing along to. I blame the oddball lyricism and foot-tapping delivery of that signature Beck voice.

But you know, that confusing lyricism pops up elsewhere, too. Take the strange “Tropicalia” for example. The whole damn thing is just…unique. The calypso beat is catchy as hell, but otherwise the instrumentation is just more weird than good for me. The best part is the vocal delivery, but any meaning derived from the utterly strange lyricism just befuddles me. To be honest, “Tropicalia” does little more than create an image in my mind of some drugged-up party in the Bahamas. Likewise, “Canceled Check” makes me think of some Bob Dylan knock-off hanging out in a saloon with a couple of floozies. But the lyricism is spot-on here, with catchy lines like “I get caught up in the moonlight, reaching out for a rotten egg, I don’t wanna beg…” Not really fond of the instrumental thrashing breakdown near the end of the song, but oh well. 

More surrealism, as well, on “Dead Melodies,” which actually strikes me as a slightly inferior version of “Lazy Flies” because of its similar instrumentation and vocals, and obviously the surreal lyrics as well. A better example of Beck’s surrealism is found in “Sing it Again,” a lovingly soft little collage of images and raw feelings. Country-inspired, but not to a fault. The little country geetar solo is very much appreciated indeed. 

“Bottle of Blues” is a good fun romp through some folk-tinged blues. Traditional, but as with the other songs on this album, still very much Beck. It actually reminds me of something off of Led Zeppelin III. Imagine that! I just love the song’s weirder, synthy moments and the small harmonica bits, and the lyrics are just fun, and even a bit more down-to-Earth. 

“O Maria” and “We Live Again” are two songs on this album I tend to forget about, especially the latter. The former is catchier and just more interesting in general, if not just because I always think it’s The Beatles’ “Oh! Darling” at first with the little piano intro. And despite that piano being laughably generic, it’s effective. I really enjoy the spaced-out organ or whatever it is as well, but the trombone solo is something I could do without. “We Live Again” unfortunately is just dull compared to other stuff on this album. However, the “sex-painted windows” line is just golden.

So then, all that’s left is “Static” and the hidden track within it. I find it slightly generic, but a good beautiful tune nonetheless and even an ideal closer, because I find it to be a great summary of the slight bitterness and longing that wriggles its way into so many of the songs on Mutations. I still swear it sounds like something Radiohead would have done, though. But hey, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. At about five and a half minutes, the silence ends and “Diamond Bollocks,” the hidden track, comes in. This is a truly unique song, and one of the few “hidden tracks” I’ve heard that really deserves to be unearthed. It’s got some crazy drum thrashings not to be missed, and even some cool electric riffage. But the real highlight is the sheer weirdness. The song just plain stops sometimes and then completely switches atmospheres, time signatures, instruments…everything. I found myself caught off-guard, and I always appreciate when a song does that to me. I also think it fits very well in the context of “Static” because it seems so very Radiohead-esque to me: weird, spaced-out, and undeniably progressive, a la “Paranoid Android.” Then again, in a way, it’s nothing like “Paranoid Android.” You’ll just have to hear for yourself, you know? 

And thus, with the atmospheric, synthy strings closing “Diamond Bollocks,” Mutations also comes to a close. But don’t worry, you’ll want to listen to it again. It really is an album-oriented endeavor, because the whole thing is just so well-balanced and meticulously pieced together. If it weren’t for “Nobody’s Fault But My Own,” I’d have a near-impossible task in picking the best song here. 

Mutations proved that, in 1998, Beck hadn’t played all his cards yet. He still wanted to rock n’ roll, and to prove it, he took the best from a little of everything and made it his. And damn, did he ever make it his! It’s all premium Beck, not premium copycat. And it rocks.

Rating: B+
Best Song: Nobody’s Fault But My Own
Worst Song: Tropicalia (but just barely!)