''Mellow Gold'' is the third studio album by American musician Beck, released on March 1, 1994 by

DGC Records DGC Records (an initialism for the David Geffen Company) was an American record label that operated as a division of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, which is owned by the Universal Music Group. History DGC Records was launched in 1990 as a subsi ...

. Critics noted the album's hybrid of various styles including

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, hip hop,

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

, blues,

psychedelia Psychedelia refers to the psychedelic subculture of the 1960s and the psychedelic experience. This includes psychedelic art, psychedelic music and style of dress during that era. This was primarily generated by people who used psychedelic ...

, and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

, as well as

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

, witty lyrics. Its decidedly anti-commercial attitude led to it becoming an unexpected commercial success, peaking at number thirteen in the United States and eventually being

certified platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. As of July 2008, ''Mellow Gold'' has sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States.

Background

In a 1994 interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'', Beck said of the album:

The whole concept of ''Mellow Gold'' is that it's like a satanic
K-tel K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...
record that's been found in a trash dumpster, quite matter-of-factly. A few people have molested it and slept with it and half-swallowed it before spitting it out. Someone played poker with it, someone tried to smoke it. Then the record was taken to Morocco and covered with hummus and tabouli. Then it was flown back to a convention of water-skiers, who skied on it and played Frisbee with it. Then the record was put on the turntable, and the original K-Tel album had reached a whole new level. I was just taking that whole ''Freedom Rock'' feeling, you understand.

According to the album's liner notes, ''Mellow Gold'' was recorded at Carl Stephenson and

Rob Schnapf Rob Schnapf is an American record producer and musician. He was the co-producer (along with Tom Rothrock) of Elliott Smith's albums ''Either/Or'', '' XO'' (on which he also played guitar on the song " Baby Britain"), ''Figure 8'' and ''From a ...

's houses, predominantly utilizing a four-track.

Album cover

The robot on the cover of ''Mellow Gold'' was created by artist Eddie Lopez, who made a cameo in the music video for the hit song " Loser". The sculpture was named "Survivor from the Nuclear Bomb". The shot was originally taken in Lopez's garage space by Beck's friend as well as early collaborator Ross Harris. The last image was reshot in a studio where Harris was able to control the environment and also add visual effects to make the cover look more apocalyptic.

Title

The album was originally going to be titled ''Cold Ass Fashion'', sharing its name with an earlier song of Beck’s. The final title used, ''Mellow Gold'', was named after a potent strain of California marijuana.

Reception

''Mellow Gold'' received general acclaim from music critics.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

and ''Rolling Stone'' gave it five out of five stars (the latter originally giving it only three and a half). AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote, "although his inspired sense of humor occasionally plays like he's a smirking, irony-addled hipster, his music is never kitschy, and his wordplay is constantly inspired." He also wrote, "It's a dizzying demonstration of musical skills, yet it's all tied together by a simple yet clever sense of songcraft and a truly original lyrical viewpoint, one that's basic yet as colorful as free verse." '' Guitar World'' magazine included ''Mellow Gold'' in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.

Track listing

Samples credits

"Loser"

*"I Walk on Gilded Splinters" by Johnny Jenkins *''

Kill the Moonlight ''Kill the Moonlight'' is the fourth album by American rock band Spoon released on August 20, 2002 through Merge Records. The album features a stripped-down, minimal sound that incorporates various different instruments such as tambourines and pi ...

'' dialogue

"Fuckin with My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)"

* "Save the World" by Southside Movement

"Soul Suckin' Jerk"

* " The Big Beat" by Billy Squier

"Sweet Sunshine"

* "Save the World" by Southside Movement

"Beercan"

* "Hog Leg" by the Melvins * ''

Care Bears Care Bears are multi-colored bears, originally painted in 1981 by artist Elena Kucharik to be used on greeting cards from American Greetings. In 1983, the characters were turned into plush teddy bears. The characters headlined their own televis ...

'' dialogue

Personnel

* Beck – vocals, acoustic guitar, slide guitar, electric guitar, bass, harmonica, synthesizers, percussion, producer * Mike Boito – organ (track 8) * Stephen Marcussen – mastering *

Tom Rothrock Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

– producer, mixing *

– producer, mixing * Carl Stephenson – producer, beats, sampling, sitar (track 1) *

Petra Haden Petra Haden (born October 11, 1971) is an American musician and singer. She is the daughter of the jazz bassist Charlie Haden, and is the triplet sister of bassist Rachel Haden (her bandmate in That Dog) and cellist Tanya Haden (married to ...

– violin (track 12) * David Harte – drums (tracks 2, 10, 11) *

Rob Zabrecky Robert Zabrecky (born June 2, 1968, in Burbank, California) is an American actor, author, magician, and songwriter. His career began as a musician while being the front man for the band Possum Dixon. In the later years of his career, he has ...

– bass (track 12) * Robert Fisher – art direction, design * Ross Harris – photography * Mike O'Connor – drums

Additional personnel

* DJ Smash – turntables

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

10 Years of Mellow Gold Documentary
(retrospective documentary done for anniversary of the album) * {{Authority control Beck albums DGC Records albums 1994 albums Albums produced by Tom Rothrock Albums produced by Rob Schnapf Geffen Records albums Albums produced by Beck Anti-folk albums Cannabis music