A more refined and very timely Beck album

Modern Guilt is immediately a relevant highlight in Beck's musical career, both a turning point and one of his strongest albums to date.

The image Beck has been incubating lately through his own personal outlets is one of a man who has grown introspective, and indeed, believe it or not, he has surpassed the hump of middle age at nearly 40-years-old. Always a musician who has produced creative albums with varying degrees of depth, he has held on as one of those musicians everyone likes but whose popularity doesn't seem to reap the benefits of high relevance, which may be changing. Whereas part of Beck's appeal is in his fun, Modern Guilt turns serious while keeping the love of music for music's sake entact--quite an achievement considering how many attempts made by other artists have completely alienated their audience.

Coproduced by Dangermouse, Modern Guilt is a dizzying and engrossing mix of dance beats, 60's pop-folk harmonies assisted by flutes, abstracted guitars, and heavily compressed percussion. Amidst the tyedyed musical experience, moments of timewarping repeat and provide the most unique effect of the album.

Ultimately, Modern Guilt is an album of exactly that--our hard-to-place guilt where, in today's world, one may never know what one is guilty of; and if one can figure that out, knowing what to do about it is a whole new issue. As the album closer says, "Don't know what I've done / but I feel ashamed."

But this is album that reaches far higher, almost sounding like XTC's more self-aware moments--indeed, it begins with the lines "If I wake up and see my maker coming / with all of his crimson and his iron desire / we'll drag the streets with the baggage of longing / to be loved or destroyed / from a void to a grain of sand in your hand." Not your typical Beck material. The album continues with themes of environmental damage, war, and dejected youth. There's a consistant but hazy dystopian feel throughout, largely social rather than political.

Musically standing out are the album's later tracks that begin to deviate from a more cohesive sound and push in a direction the rest of the music doesn't seem to want to go, including an out of place drum 'n bass track--ironically it's these songs that try to choose a style that become the odd ones out, rather than the songs with acoustic guitar over hiphop beats or the cello-disco of "Youthless".

On the whole, however, Modern Guilt stands out amongst similar attempts in our recent times to muck up the dance-to-our-doom motif musically; thematically, it would be nice to see an artist to stand out with a critique of modern life with more than mere negativity; but, of course, these artists are just doing what comes naturally.

Tracklist:
* Orphans
* Gamma Ray
* Chemtrails
* Modern Guilt
* Youthless
* Walls
* Replica
* Soul Of A Man
* Profanity Prayers
* Volcano

Recommended Songs: Profanity Prayers, Replica, Soul of a Man, Volcano