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 number sixteen on the ''Billboard'' 200. As of July 2008, the album had sold 2.3 million copies in the United States, making ''Odelay'' Beck's most successful album to date. Since its release, the album has appeared in numerous publications' lists of the greatest of the 1990s and of all time.

Recording

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. Only the tracks "Ramshackle", "Feather in Your Cap", and "Brother" from these sessions have been released, all of which are acoustic, sparse, and melancholic. He would eventually abandon work with Rothrock and Schnapf, opting to work with the Dust Brothers instead. The Dust Brothers' production style was hip-hop-focused yet more layered; their résumé included notable work with Beastie Boys, Tone Lōc and Young MC.

Title and artwork

The title is a phonetic English rendering of the Mexican slang interjection "'' órale''", which translates roughly to "cool" or "ok". The phrase "odelay" is repeated in the lyrics during the outro of the song "Lord Only Knows". According to Stephen Malkmus, the title is a pun on ''Oh Delay'', since the album took very long to record. The album's cover is a photo of a Komondor, a rare Hungarian breed of dog with a heavy, corded coat, jumping over a hurdle. The original photo was shot by canine photographer Joan Ludwig (1914–2004) for the July 1977 issue of the American Kennel Club's ''Gazette''.

Tour

The promotional tour for the album began in May–June 1996, appearing in several record stores and radio stations in the U.S. Throughout the rest of the year followed numerous U.S. tours and European festival dates.

As the tour continued into 1997, Beck began playing larger venues in America. The tour unofficially ended on September 5, 1997, with a taped band performance at "Sessions at West 54th" in New York, after over 150 shows from July '96 until September '97.

It was on the ''Odelay'' tour that Beck earned a wide reputation as an energetic and impeccable performer, and his profile rose after multiple appearances on MTV, ''The Howard Stern Show'', the 1997 Grammys, '' Later... with Jools Holland'' and more.

Deluxe edition

On January 29, 2008, ''Odelay – Deluxe Edition'' was released. The two-disc set contains the original album, plus 19 B-sides, remixes and previously unreleased songs. The liner notes feature complete lyrics and artwork, as well as an essay from Thurston Moore and the transcript of 15 high school students interviewed by Dave Eggers.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Odelay'' received almost unanimous critical acclaim. At the 39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997, it was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and won for Best Alternative Music Album, as well as Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Where It's At". ''Odelay'' was named Album of the Year in ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Village Voice'' Pazz & Jop critics poll, and ''NME''s annual critics poll.

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine observed that, like ''Mellow Gold'', ''Odelay'' incorporated elements from various genres, including " folk and country, grungy garage rock, stiff-boned electro, louche exotica, old-school rap and noise rock." ''Rolling Stone''s Rob Sheffield noted punk rock, bossa nova, Latin soul and mainstream R&B as additional influences.

Legacy

In 1998, ''Q'' magazine readers voted ''Odelay'' the 51st greatest album of all time. It was voted as one of the top 10 pop albums of the 1990s by the music writers of The Associated Press. It was ranked No. 16 in ''Spins "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005". The music website ''Pitchfork'' ranked it at No. 19 on their top 100 albums of the 1990s in 2003 and No. 93 in their updated Top 150 list in 2022. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the album No. 306 in their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2009, and later ranked it No. 424 in the 2023 edition, as well as No. 9 on its 2019 list of the 100 best albums of the '90s. Voters in Channel 4's 2005 "100 Greatest Albums" poll placed it at No. 73.

In 2000, ''Odelay'' was ranked No. 54 in Colin Larkin's '' All Time Top 1000 Albums''. It was also included in the book '' 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' in 2010.

Track listing

* Track 13 includes a minute-long hidden track of noise.

Personnel

Credits adapted from 2008 "Deluxe Edition" CD liner notes.

* Beck Hansen – vocals (1–13), guitar (1–2, 4, 6, 8–12), bass guitar (1–4, 6–12), harmonica (1–2, 6–7), organ (1, 4–6, 8, 10), slide guitar (2–3), clavinet (2, 4), Moog synthesizer (2, 5–6, 9, 12), electric guitar (3, 7), acoustic guitar (3, 7, 13), thumb piano (5), drums (5), rhumba box (5), tambourine (5), shakers (5), electric piano (6–8), xylophone (7), turntables (9), conga (10), echoplex (12), percussion (12)

Additional musicians
* Dust Brothers – turntables (1–2, 6, 8, 12), 808 drum machine (6, 12)
*Ross Harris – wizard (2), child (2)
* Joey Waronker – drums (3, 6, 9, 13), percussion (3, 9, 12–13), chimes (9)
*Mike Millius – scream (3)
*Paolo Diaz – tablas (5)
*Mike Boito – clavinet (6), trumpet (8), organ (8, 10, 12)
*David Brown – saxophone (8)
* Money Mark – organ (8)
*Eddie Lopez – outro talking (8)
* Greg Leisz – pedal steel (10)
* Charlie Haden – upright bass (13)

Technical
*Beck Hansen – producer, mixing (1–12); art direction, design
*Dust Brothers – producers, mixing (1–8, 10–12)
* Mario Caldato, Jr. – producer, mixing (9)
* Brian Paulson – producer, mixing (9)
* Tom Rothrock – producer, mixing (13)
* Rob Schnapf – producer, mixing (13)
*Bob Ludwig – mastering
*Shauna O'Brien – project coordinator
*Robert Fisher – art direction, design
*Ludwig – cover photo
*Nitin Vadukul – Beck photos
*Charlie Gross – Beck photos, collage images
*Alison Dyer – Beck photos
* Manuel Ocampo – inlay paintings, collage images
* Al Hansen – collage images
*Zarim Osborn – collage images

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Further reading

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External links

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Beck albums
1996 albums
Albums produced by Brian Paulson
Albums produced by the Dust Brothers
Geffen Records albums
Albums produced by Beck
Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album
Sampledelia albums
Albums produced by Mario Caldato Jr.
DGC Records albums