Like fellow genre-hoppers David Bowie and Prince, it isn't always clear where Beck's soul calls home. Is he a mad dabbler, the jack of all trades and master of none? Or is he a genuine polymath with no clear allegiances to any specific style or substance? Such questions make it easy to commit one of two errors when listening to Sea Change. The first would be to consider it a one-off, with no more of the man himself in it than he put into the tongue-in-cheek lounge sleaze of Midnite Vultures' "Debra." But, if this album only means to send up or approximate sadness rather than convey the real thing, then Beck needs to quit his day job and start acting full-time. The second misstep would be to think of Sea Change as a skeleton key to the one true Beck, a portal offering a fleeting glimpse into his psyche. The latter path is probably the more perilous considering how many critics who thought Blood on the Tracks was the best breakup album of all time were stunned when Bob Dylan claimed the songs were instead based on the short stories of Anton Chekhov. To me, more compelling than debates about the album's literal truth is the question of how its sound came to be. Nigel Godrich's production is lush and soft, almost like it belongs on 70s AM radio. Beck's voice is forlorn, even on tracks like "Sunday Sun" that hint at memories (or premonitions) of a life less hard. To sustain this type of minor-chord melancholy without becoming morose requires a whole lot of talent and even more discretion. Most remarkable, perhaps, is the extent to which the music is unclassifiable yet wholly "Beck," while still employing familiar structures and hinting at clear influences. Just as there's something very punk rock about the three-chord strum and in-your-face morality of Woody Guthrie, so too is Sea Change a country album in spirit, if not sound. One obvious historical touchstone for this type of full commitment would be The Velvet Underground's Loaded, which found Lou Reed creating polished pop rock mostly just to prove he could be commercially appealing if he really wanted to be. With songs as strong as "The Golden Age," "Lost Cause," and "Lonesome Tears," the burden of proof has to be on this album's detractors. If "country-tinged balladeer" is just one of the many hats Beck can wear, then it's an awfully good fit. Grade: A
