Beck - Odelay (1996)

SOLD! $45.50

Auction Link (ends August 20th)

Bong Load: BL30 Original First Pressing

Format: 12" LP 180g Audiophile Vinyl

Includes: All original inserts! Tri-fold poster, Bong Load Sticker, and Merchandise Order Form

Cover Condition: Near Mint - Pulled from the shelf only a few times and always stored vertically in a protective poly sleeve.

Vinyl Condition: Near Mint - Only played a few times, still like new!

Release Info: Odelay is the fifth studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, originally released on June 18, 1996 on Bong Load Records. After the mainstream success of "Loser", Odelay featured several hit singles, including "Where It's At", "Devils Haircut", and "The New Pollution". The album peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200 chart and eventually sold over 2 million copies in the United States. It was also Beck's first hit album in the United Kingdom, making #17; it has since gone platinum in the UK.

The sessions for what would become Odelay originally began as a subdued, acoustic affair. In 1994, Beck started to record tracks for his follow-up to Mellow Gold with Bong Load producers Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Hansen had recently experienced a number of personal tragedies (including the death of his grandfather, Al Hansen), and the tone of the songs as well as their production were considerably somber. Only a handful of tracks from these sessions have been released: "Ramshackle", "Feather in Your Cap", and "Brother". All three of these songs are acoustic, sparse, and melancholic, and have a haunting sound very different from the more upbeat, "party" style of Odelay. Beck would eventually return to this downbeat style with his 1998 album, Mutations.

He would eventually abandon work with Rothrock and Schnapf, opting to work with the Dust Brothers instead. The Dust Brothers' production style was notably more upbeat and hip-hop-focused; their résumé included work with The Beastie Boys and Tone Lōc.

The title is a phonetic English rendering of the Mexican slang interjection "órale." The phrase "odelay" is repeated in the lyrics during the outro of the song "Lord Only Knows".

The album's unusual cover photo, which has been misinterpreted as a mop head jumping over a hurdle, is actually a real photo of a Komondor, a rare Hungarian breed of dog with thick matted hair. The image was chosen at the last minute after Beck failed to decide on an album cover. The image was presented to him by his girlfriend and was chosen almost out of desperation. The typeface was chosen by a record company worker.

Odelay won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1997, as well as a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Where It's At'. It was ranked 16 in Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, and also in the NME's annual critics poll. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted Odelay the 51st greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 305 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Voters in Channel 4's 2005 "100 Greatest Albums" poll placed it at number 73. The music website Pitchfork Media ranked it at #19 on their top 100 albums of the 1990s.

All songs written by Beck, John King and Michael Simpson, except where noted. All tracks produced by Beck Hansen and The Dust Brothers, except where noted.

1."Devils Haircut" – 3:14
2."Hotwax" – 3:49
3."Lord Only Knows" (Beck Hansen) – 4:14
4."The New Pollution" – 3:39
5."Derelict" – 4:12
6."Novacane" – 4:37
7."Jack-Ass" – 4:11
8."Where It's At" – 5:30
9."Minus" (Beck Hansen) – 2:32
Produced by Beck Hansen, Mario Caldato Jr. and Brian Paulson.
10."Sissyneck" – 3:52
11."Readymade" – 2:37
12."High 5 (Rock the Catskills)" – 4:10
13."Ramshackle" (Beck Hansen) – 7:29