ALBUM OF THE WEEK: Modern Guilt - Beck

 There are only two things I knew of about Beck. He won a grammy and everyone was mad about it, and his song Colors is okay. Until this day I had never listened to an entire album by Beck. Modern Guilt received mostly positive reviews from critics, and featured contributions from Danger Mouse and Cat Power. Can't be too awful, right?

The album begins with "Orphans", where I feel like the guitar melody chosen does not fit how he is singing at all. The entire song sounds off to me and that kind of thing drives me nuts.

"Gamma Ray" is a little better, but I am wondering if Beck always sings this emotionless and flat. 

I really like the rhythm choices for "Chemtrails". He sings in a way that makes him blend more with the music and I found this song to be a lot better than the first two.

"Modern Guilt" shows some improvement but again I am not super fond of his vocals.

"Youthless" sounds somewhat experimental and I like the experiment. It sounds like he is trying to mixed rock and industrial electronic a little bit. 

I feel like "Walls" is the first song I genuinely feel like I will return to. Lyrically and musically it stands out and really grabbed me. 

And after impressing me he chose to go with "Replica", where he is drowned out with electronic distortions.

"Soul of a Man" takes on more of a grunge-esque rock direction and it fits his vocalisms better. It becomes the second song I'd consider returning to.

I am finding the latter half of this album is a lot better than the start. "Profanity Prayers" has a very indie-rock vibe with some introspective lyrics.

The album closes with "Volcano", which seems an introspection more on life itself and what it means to be alive in a world full of chaos. The track is one of the strongest on the album.

Lyrics: 6/10 - Some stand out, and others just leave me confused of the point exactly.

Music: 6/10 - Musically experiments, some of it works and some of it does not.

Overall: 6/10. Modern Guilt is an okay showing. I don't know if his other works are better but this one doesn't seem to come together as well. I feel like I never quite understood what he was trying to tell me about life. I could be too young to embrace the words.