''Golden Feelings'' is the debut studio album by American musician

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

, released in 1993 by Sonic Enemy. The album showcases his roots in the

anti-folk Anti-folk (sometimes spelled antifolk) is a music genre that emerged in the 1980s in New York City, founded by the musician, author and comedian Lach, as a reaction to the commercialization of folk music. It is characterized by its DIY ethos, ...

scene.

Release

The album was initially available only in limited quantities on cassette, Sonic Enemy

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed the album and re-released it on CD in 1999. Beck was upset that they did so without his permission, and after he made his displeasure known, Sonic Enemy ceased to press any more copies. Only 2,000 were made, causing the CD to become quite valuable. A few of the tracks on this album would appear on later releases, specifically "No Money No Honey" on his second studio album '' Stereopathetic Soulmanure'', "Mutherfukka" on his third studio album ''

Mellow Gold ''Mellow Gold'' is the third studio album by American musician Beck, released on March 1, 1994, by DGC Records as Beck's major label debut album. Critics noted the album's hybrid of various styles including rock, hip hop, folk, blues, psyche ...

'' (renamed to "Mutherfucker"), "Super Golden Black Sunchild" and "Special People" as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to the 1994 single " Pay No Mind (Snoozer)", and "Trouble All My Days" also as a B-side to "Pay No Mind (Snoozer)", 1995 single "

Devils Haircut "Devils Haircut" is a song by the American musician Beck, released in December 1996 by DGC Records as the second single from his fifth album, ''Odelay'' (1996). Both co-written and co-produced by Beck, the song peaked at number 94 on the US ''Bil ...

" and later on the deluxe edition of that singles album, ''

Odelay ''Odelay'' is the fifth studio album by American musician Beck, released on June 18, 1996, by DGC Records. The album featured several successful singles, including " Where It's At", " Devils Haircut", and " The New Pollution", and peaked at num ...

''.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

described the album as "an extremely interesting, entertaining, and humorous document that proves that from the start Beck had his heart set on making experimentation his only gimmick." ''UDiscoverMusic'' wrote that the album had varisped vocals and backward tapes, that "battle with cut-and-pasted audio scraps, weird, dissonant effects and deranged screams, in an oddly involving and darkly humorous excursion to Dystopia". They also wrote that ''Golden Feelings'' was anarchic and "sometimes not entirely listenable", but that "the contents of that lowest of lo-fi cassettes were nonetheless compelling". Aaron Paskin of ''Spectrum Culture'' described the album as a "filthy, largely abrasive but fascinating document of the anti-folk movement and the beginnings of one of the most illustrious careers in music history", planting the seeds of what would eventually become lyrics on his third studio album ''

''. They also stated that frequently, the "music here is unhinged and abstract", highlighting this fact with specific tracks "No Money No Honey", "Mutherfukka", and "Schmoozer". Overall, they state that the album is an intriguing listen despite being unpleasant, being an "essential document for both anti-folk history and the roots of one of the most stylistically versatile and prolific artists ever." In a ranking of every Beck album, Maura Johnston of ''Vulture'' placed the album in last, stating that while the occasional "grappling-hook-strong riff bubbles up", there's so much else going on that finding these isn't "all that appealing a prospect." The eighth track, "Heartland Feeling", which remains Beck's third longest song behind "Bonus Noise" and "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton", was ranked as the 28th best Beck song by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. Another ranking of Beck's records by ''Diffuser'' stated that while a time capsule to his early, more experimental work, is also "borderline unlistenable". Specific examples included Beck's distorted vocals and the layers of "intentionally obnoxious noise", even with that, they still note that some of the lyrics on this hint at "what's to come".

Track listing

References

External links

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Discogs entry
{{Authority control Beck albums 1993 debut albums Albums produced by Beck