Beck - Sea Change (2002)
# "The Golden Age" – 4:35
# "Paper Tiger" – 4:36
# "Guess I'm Doing Fine" – 4:49
# "Lonesome Tears" – 5:38
# "Lost Cause" – 3:47
# "End of the Day" (originally titled "Nothing I Haven't Seen") – 5:03
# "It's All in Your Mind" – 3:06
# "Round the Bend" – 5:15
# "Already Dead" – 2:59
# "Sunday Sun" – 4:45
# "Little One" – 4:27
# "Side of the Road" – 3:23
Sea Change is an alternative rock album with folk rock influences by Beck and was released in September 2002. Inspired by the dissolution of a relationship, Sea Change received glowing reviews upon its release and is considered by many to be a highlight in Beck's discography.
Sea Change features ornate string arrangements and soft acoustic guitar finger-picking. Much of Beck's trademark recondite, ironic lyrics are replaced by more sincere, simpler lyrical content. On Sea Change, Beck eschews the heavy sampling of his previous albums for real, live instrumentation. In interviews, Beck cited the breakup with his longtime girlfriend as the major influence on the album. With its lovelorn lyrics, critics have compared Sea Change to Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks and the works of Nick Drake. "Paper Tiger" draws inspiration from Serge Gainsbourg, in particular the groundbreaking 1971 album Histoire de Melody Nelson.
Sea Change peaked at #8 on Billboard's Top 200 chart and was eventually certified gold in March 2005. In the UK charts, it peaked at #20.
In 2002, Sea Change was the only album that received the magazine's highest, five-star rating from Rolling Stone magazine. In 2003, the album was ranked number 440 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Sea Change was released with four different album covers, each version containing distinct artwork on the CD and the booklet. There are also different hidden messages (lyrical snippets) written under each version's CD tray.
Beck, Alternative rock|Indie Rock|Singer-Songwriter|Folk Rock
