Track Listing

1. Sexx Laws
2. Nicotine & Gravy
3. Mixed Bizness
4. Get Real Paid
5. Hlwd. Freaks
6. Peaches & Cream
7. Broken Train
8. Milk & Honey
9. Beautiful Way
10. Pressure Zone
11. Debra

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34959 in Music
• Brand: Beck
• Released on: 1999-11-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds

Album Description
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com
When Beck mangles folk, hip-hop, country, blues, and lo-fi rock into a unique sonic species, he pays homage to his influences in a way that is utterly entertaining. Indeed, the alt-rock vagabond is responsible for some of the 1990s' most indispensable music. In his lesser moments, however, Beck's attempts at emulating his preceptors fall flat, creating only B-grade versions of the genuine articles. Midnite Vultures splits down the middle between the great Beck and the not-so-great Beck. About half the album gorges on retro pulp fiction, a "Becksploitation," if you will, where his relatively straightforward impersonations shortchange his influences. On the slow-burn soul tracks "Peaches and Cream" and "Debra" or the 808-driven tributary "Hlwd. Freaks," he lacks the pipes, heart, and history to pass as a legitimate double-breasted soul man or old-school rapper. The other half, finding Beck in his element, is exhilarating. His unfaltering studio mastery is especially evident on standouts such as the horn-punched "Sexx Laws," the steamy, slap-bass-blasted "Nicotine and Gravy," and the wah-wah bombast of "Mixed Bizness." The album proves that Beck playing the straight-up funkateer will never match ranks with the raw talents of Marvin Gaye, George Clinton, or Prince, but as long as he adheres to more inventive genre splicing, he remains compelling in his own right. --Beth Massa

Customer Reviews

Beck gets it on the money!
The new Beck album is perfect. It's gorgeous. It's a delight. Do I sound hyperbolic? Or just plain hyper? "Midnite Vultures" has restored my faith in pop. Beck, I could pinch your cheek, you gangly, goony freak. What's so great about "Midnite Vultures"? "Sexx Laws", the disc's first cut, kicks out the jams all funky like, proving for a blue-eyed blond, Beck is super fly. In fact, only Prince, or the Artist Formerly Known As That Squiggly Symbol, rivals Beck in sheer funkability. Drawing from classic 1970s soul and R&B, as well as organ-tinged '60s kitsch, "Midnite Vultures" is full of homage -and irony. But not for one second does it sound derivative. How does Beck pull it off? By incorporating awesome horn blasts and go-go dancin' riffs Freaky banjo pickin' and hilarious lyrics. If "Nicotine & Gravy" doesn't bust your gut, you're dead. Then comes "Peaches & Cream", a sultry soul gem with nasty background vocals the likes of which you haven't heard since Squiggle Symbol ditched the Revolution. Or the New Power Generation. Whichever. Listen to Beck's homage to the Isleys and Barry White on the slo-jam "Debra". Hear Beck do a right-on falsetto. (Where did THAT come from?) And girl, you better step inside his Hyundai, when Beck asks you. This guy means LOVE. Oh, Beck, thank you. I needed "Midnite Vultures". We all did. Go on with your bad self. 5 STARS!

Beck's 70s Dance Party! (Kind of)
Beck's new album, Midnite Vultures is on the whole a differnt bird than his other works so far. If you liked Odelay's aural brilliance and experiementation, Midnite Vultures will either shock you pleasantly or seem a little overworked and obscure. The opening track, "SEXX Laws," is a gassed up torent of 70s brass and big stage antics that gives a b-slap to all that voodoo daddy nonsense. "Hollywood Freaks," a blistering satire/homage to the modern R&B scene post-Puff Daddy comes off as playfull and has a nice groove.

"Peaches and Cream," is an interection between Prince's "Rasperry Beret" and kitch American advertising ideal. And it works in its repititions and scope. "Beautiful Way," obviously the best track on this album, is a folksy/traintrack-bluesy/post-woodstock track and could best be compared to the best song Beck ever wrote, "Nobody's Fault but My Own." It is a sad and rolling track about a girl going insane and destroying her life.

My personal favorite on the album is a track called "Debra," a 70s suburban love song again with a touch of Prince falsetto. (I want to get with you/ only you/ and your sister/ I think her name's Debra?) Overall, this album may seem a little less inspired and free than Odelay, but it is still better than anything that is out there now.

More surprises from a musical chameleon
I'm very envious of Beck and his freedom as an artist. "Mutations" absolutely blew me away and remains a staple in my CD player. "Midnight Vultures" displays more of Beck's irreverent lyrics and deft songwriting style, with more of an unbridled glee and jump-about thrill. The last five songs on the album are the real treat here, but the album unfolds much better than "Odelay" (which, as much of a Beck fan as I am...I could never appreciate). Highly recommended.