ok listening this again last night i felt i should check out what metacritic and pitchfork have to say.
it seems we all agree its not his best work, i personally would have given it 3 and a half to 4 stars
obviously mutations was a much more consistant record, but the one thing we dont agree on is what songs work and wich dont paper tiger is the biggest loser it really threw things off for me, the strings overwhelm the bands performance(also reminds me of bad Yes) but the critics seem to like that song cause lyrically its a throw back to his mutations type songwriting, but they dont seem to get the point that this record was promoted as being a somber break up record. tricky songwriting like the ones on mutation dont have any place on a heartfelt record about mourning the loss of someone you love, does anyone else have this cd?? let me know what you think im very curious......

I don't like it much, but then, I don't like Mutations either, so what do I know?

I'm not a big Beck fan (I've liked a handful of the singles but not the albums) but I think Sea Change is a beautiful record. It was one of my Top Ten of 2002. Something about it just hits me right...maybe the lushness, maybe the vaguely alt-country sound, maybe the sadness. It's a really good record.

Other than Sea Change, I probably won't own another Beck record. I might buy a Best-Of...

eh, I like Sea Change, but like most I don't think it is his best work. I think it kind of drags in the middle. I don'y like mutations at all though. I'm not afraid to admit that i like Midnite Vultures the best.

honestly i think mutations was better and much more consistant , besides all that its a great album to get high too, anyways i really really dont like paper tiger on sea change every time i hear it i just imagine becks unkle comes up to him and goes "i have this string arrangement that noone wants cause its too proggy" sometimes i think maybe beck doesnt even like it that much or at least thats how i picture it

To me, "Mutations" is a brilliant tour-de-force and one of the best albums EVER made. The music, all by itself, would make the album great, but Beck's lyrics and vocals push it into the Cosmos. (Coincidentally, my wife and daughter LOVE it to pieces too!)

I am going to play "Sea Change" right now, but I've always found the strings on "Paper Tiger" to be more reminescent of the Beatles or perhaps Elton John's "Levon", so they sure don't sound like prog to me. And by the way, "Sea Change" was my #1 of the year, well ahead of "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot", and to crib from another recent thread, "Sea Change" IS a concept album.

About lost love, right?

I agree that the album is about lost love, but it's more specific than that. It's about how people are free enough to make choices, and sometimes those choices result in extreme loneliness and regret.

thats very deep and thought provoking , wow

elton john and beatles string arrangments never overpowered the singer and the band tho

Personally I don't think the string arrangements were overpowering at all. And it's difficult to compare Seachange to other Beck records because its so different from what we've come to expect (which is usually the unexpected) from Beck albums. It doesn't contain Beck's trademark wacky personality because he's way to depressed to make jokes. As heartbreak albums go, I believe it really does cause the listener to feel his pain, and as such is up there with the all time great break-up albums.

I think it kicks ass. I also think it's not the sort of thing I can listen to every day. Some evening, I'll be looking through my mp3 library, and I'll come across it, and I'll be like "Damn, I haven't listened to this in a while. I should listen to this more often." and I'll listen to it and really enjoy it. Then I won't listen to it for another three months.

thats ok i do that with just about all my cds , theres really only one song i dislike completly and then theres some songs that have parts that dont work and the rest is really good

quote:

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Originally posted by woo-hoo!:
Personally I don't think the string arrangements were overpowering at all. And it's difficult to compare Seachange to other Beck records because its so different from what we've come to expect (which is usually the unexpected) from Beck albums. It doesn't contain Beck's trademark wacky personality because he's way to depressed to make jokes. As heartbreak albums go, I believe it really does cause the listener to feel his pain, and as such is up there with the all time great break-up albums.

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hmmm well when i had it on surrounded sound i could barely hear his vocals at all whats even stranger is that when i took it off theres like a bass solo in the middle of the song wtf is up with that???

I don't really care for it.

However, "Paper Tiger" is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The string arrangements make it different enough to break up the monotony. For that reason, it would have been better placed towards the middle of the album.

i think long songs should always be placed in the middle of an album but thats just me, personally i dont think paper tiger fits into the theme of the album or the sound

Sorry if this sounds cruel, but when I looked on the back and discovered that one of the songs was named "Lonesome Tears," I couldn't help but laugh. Beck was swimming in a river of sap.

actually the title sounds like something hank williams would write and as far as sap its the lifeblood of tree's if im not mistaken and tree's are the backbone of our oxygen carbon- monoxide system , so i see sap as something very crucial to living

It's no Mutations, but I really like Sea Change. I gained a lot of appreciation for "Paper Tiger"'s strings, oddly enough, from Boogaloo to Beck's interpretation of the song.

I am a bit biased because I consider beck to be one of my all time favourites. But I loved Sea Change. It might have been my favourite album of 2002.

WHat I love about Beck is that every album he takes a sound, and devotes himself to that sound and develops a great cd around it.

Sea Change.... is a break up/relationship concept but the person who mentioned loneliness and despair as being a major theme is absolutely true. I could only imagine what it would be like if you made this the album you listened to after having a long term relationship end.

I love this album but months go by without me putting it in the stereo. The only Beck album I listen to more is Midnight vultures.