5.5/10
Beck Hansen is one of the biggest names in alternative rock from the past 20 years or so. In 1993, he released the track “Loser” which helped make a name for him and has since become his most widely known song. A few years after his breakout with “Loser”, he released the album Odelay which is widely regarded as his best work and one of the best albums of the 1990s. Odelay combined alternative rock with laid back, sample-based hip hop to make a signature blend of danceable alternative music with some relaxed rap rock sprinkled in. This happy, bright sound is one that many people like to remember as Beck’s signature, but he also has released albums like Mutations and Sea Change, which are much more acoustic and even sad. Morning Phase definitely follows in the footsteps of these two albums with its sound, but unfortunately, it doesn’t use that sound as well as its predecessors.
Morning Phase starts out with the short intro track “Cycle” followed by the semi-title song “Morning”. When I first listened to this record, these two tracks got me excited to hear the rest. The lush string melodies from “Cycle” followed by the dreamy, relaxed vocals and beautiful instrumentation on “Morning” got the album off to an awesome start. However, apart from the few highlights on this album, Morning Phase is a huge letdown. The melodies are uninteresting, there’s almost no variety amongst the songs, and the overall mood of the album is just too bland. There are a lot of slow, relaxing albums that I like; Sea Change is one of them. Unfortunately, in Morning Phase, Beck just sounds like he’s sacrificing interesting material for breezy, laid back, yet completely bland music. Hardcore Beck fans might like this record, but even if you really like Beck, I doubt you’ll think Morning Phase is a great album.
Like I mentioned, there are a few highlights on this thing. The dark, swelling strings on “Wave” and the lush instrumentation and beautiful vocals on “Waking Light” bring some enjoyability to the album, but for everything I like about this album, there’s another thing that makes me realize how bland so much of it is. If you like Beck’s slowed down, acoustic music, maybe check it out, but on the other hand, I say stick with Mutations and Sea Change. Morning Phase is kind of a dud.
Favorite tracks: “Cycle/Morning”, “Waking Light”, “Wave”
RIYL: Sufjan Stevens, Cass McCombs
Reviewed By: Alex McCullough
