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.[2] Since its release, the album has appeared in numerous publications' lists of the greatest of the 1990s and of all time.
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 artworkedit
The title is a phonetic English rendering of the Mexicanslang interjection "órale", which translates roughly to "listen up" or "what's up?"[citation needed] 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.[3] 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.[4]
Touredit
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 5th, 1997, with a taped band performance at "Sessions at West 54th" in New York,[5] after over 150 shows from July '96 until September '97.[6]
^Some copies include a hidden track "Computer Rock" after "Ramshackle". Total length increases from 51:26 to 54:13.
^Some copies made in the European community include "Diskobox" as a bonus track.
Deluxe editionedit
On January 29, 2008, Odelay – Deluxe Edition was released.[27] 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. The cover art was deliberately edited to appear as if it was a personalized copy of the album, with stickers carelessly half-ripped off and various doodles on it (such as a face drawn on the dog and rainbows behind it) and including the phrase "Property of Michael" written on the back. The exclusion of "Diskobox" may have been done as a deliberate nod to the cover art having the 'strictly limited edition bonus track' sticker partly torn off.
"Diskobox", which appeared on the original UK and Japanese pressings of Odelay, was not included on the deluxe edition for unknown reasons. The Odelay sessions version of "Debra" (later re-recorded for Midnite Vultures) is also absent, despite initial statements to the contrary.
Some of the bonus tracks on the Deluxe Edition (specifically "Deadweight" and "Clock") appear to be from lossy (e.g. MP3) sources. Some of the tracks included have been altered beyond simple remastering.[28] No official explanation for these changes has been given. Some of these alterations are listed below:
First CD:
"Hotwax" has a more double tracked vocal during the verses.
"The New Pollution" has the same synthesized beeps from the original version, but played at a different pitch.
"Sissyneck" has a slightly extended 'breakdown' part at around 2:00.
Bonus CD:
"Thunderpeel" is folded down to mono from the regular stereo version.
"Electric Music And The Summer People" is an alternate mix.
"Erase the Sun" runs at a faster speed (the original release may be slowed down).
"Trouble All My Days" is folded down to mono from the regular stereo version.[28]
^Kot, Greg (June 27, 1996). "Beck's Whimsical 'Odelay' A Musical Smorgasbord". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
^Smith, Ethan (June 21, 1996). "Odelay". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
^Romney, Jonathan (June 21, 1996). "Music: This week's pop CD releases". The Guardian.
^Scribner, Sara (June 16, 1996). "Beck Takes Quirkiness to New, High-Tech Level". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2015.
^"Reviews" (PDF). Music Week. June 8, 1996. p. 30. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
^Cameron, Keith (June 22, 1996). "Beck – Odelay". NME. Archived from the original on October 16, 2000. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
^Schreiber, Ryan. "Beck: Odelay". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on October 3, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
^"500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
^"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2020-09-22. Retrieved 2020-11-04.
^Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (23 March 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.