What is it with some people and Beck? "Odelay was great .... but he's been treading water ever since" they bemoan. Hogwash! Beck remains a stunning musical genius, quirky, unique and an artist all real music lovers should treasure.

However, the calls for Beck to reinvent himself from some quarters (no matter how unwarranted) have been answered, though I seriously doubt that such a wilfully independent spirit would follow anything other than his own instincts and muse.

I listened to a couple of the tracks on this record prior to the album's release and viewed a couple of video promos and must admit that I initially baulked at Beck's image change (that girly-curly waist-length hair was a real shock and a seismic departure from his trademark geeky-but-cool youthful hobo-cowboy look). And the tracks positively screamed "psychedelia", a word that usually has me scrambling for holy water and a sharp pointed stick.

My fears were completely groundless. 'Modern Guilt' is a… more »

What is it with some people and Beck? "Odelay was great .... but he's been treading water ever since" they bemoan. Hogwash! Beck remains a stunning musical genius, quirky, unique and an artist all real music lovers should treasure.

However, the calls for Beck to reinvent himself from some quarters (no matter how unwarranted) have been answered, though I seriously doubt that such a wilfully independent spirit would follow anything other than his own instincts and muse.

I listened to a couple of the tracks on this record prior to the album's release and viewed a couple of video promos and must admit that I initially baulked at Beck's image change (that girly-curly waist-length hair was a real shock and a seismic departure from his trademark geeky-but-cool youthful hobo-cowboy look). And the tracks positively screamed "psychedelia", a word that usually has me scrambling for holy water and a sharp pointed stick.

My fears were completely groundless. 'Modern Guilt' is a gem and should reaffirm any doubter's faith in Beck's status as an exceptional songwriter, performer and icon.

'Modern Guilt' sees Beck's music largely stripped of his trademark sampling and electronica, often consisting of little more than voice, bass, guitar and keys. His obvious instinct for intricate and fascinating rhythm patterns remains intact (though how many of these rhythm patterns can be attributed to producer Danger Mouse is unclear) - just listen to the interplay between the drums and handclaps on the opener "Orphans" - they almost distract you from the sheer beauty of the melody and Beck's understated soulful vocal performance.

"Gamma Ray" twitches spasmodically underpinned by a ridiculously simple four-note riff.

Which leads to "Chemtrails" - ethereal, unreal, dreamlike and slightly unsettling, Beck's falsetto shattered by the apocalyptic entrance of the drums partway through the track; a bizarre mixture of fragility and brutality.

The title track slides in with a curiously inebriated air, jaunty drums, squelchy echoes and world-weary vocals before floating off into the sunset.

"Youthless" briefly reignites Beck's fascination for electronica backed by a chattering typewriter rhythm and all sorts of wheezes and hisses firing in the background. Once more, though, the song is held together by a simple four-note guitar riff, a recurring theme throughout the record. One of Beck's greatest gifts (a gift shared by all great songwriters) is the sheer simplicity of his overall song structures.

I did find "Walls" a bit unpalatable at first but repeated listenings have revealed its charms. It's a curious mixture both in form and instrumentation and is like nothing else on the album.

And if "Walls" was unpalatable, "Replica" was virtually impossible to listen to. All I can say is stick with it; a tune does eventually surface from the shadow of the rhythm track. It's my least favourite moment on the record probably because the time signature and form is so positively at odds with the rest of the record.

Now we all know Beck is not a rock artist. Yet "Soul Of A Man" has to qualify as one of his most rock-like recordings. A glam-stomp with groaning guitars, it stops just short of mutating into leather trouser territory before mysteriously petering out. The same with the fuzz-toned "Profanity Prayers". It's rock but not as we know it.

And "Volcano" is quite simply a classic; what appears to be a meditation on the craziness of modern life, and a prayer for quieter, less complicated times, it closes the album quite magnificently.

Modern Genius.