📬 Get the Newsletter: Weekly podcasts, 'History of the Band' articles, new music reviews & more

Podcast Episode
Season
Eight
number
402
Type
Album Review
Post Date
9/25/2018

Beck

402 Mellow Gold by Beck

Mellow Gold

Label
DGC
Release year
1994
Producer
Beck Hansen, Tom Rothrock, Rob Schnapf, Carl Stephenson

We revisit Beck's major label debut Mellow Gold, was it a warm-up for the multi-platinum Odelay, or is Loser the only worthwhile nugget?

Author & Special Guests

While Beck was known in the underground anti-folk scene of the early 90s, it's his major label debut Mellow Gold and the single "Loser" that both put him on the mainstream map and tapped into the cultural "slacker" zeitgeist of the 90s (a term he rejected, BTW). Revisiting his breakthrough reminds us what a weird and unpredictable place "alternative" music could be, as Beck taps equally into the New York hip hop and deconstructed blues scene via the Beastie Boys and Jon Spencer, while dabbling into West Coast twisted folk and psychedelia of Captain Beefheart and Moby Grape, all mashed together on in a stew of beat poetry and cut-and-paste lyrics. Unlike Odelay and later releases, the decidedly anti- approach of some of the material gave us pause about whether it was really a cohesive record, or a collage of hit and miss experiments.

Coming soon

We haven't reviewed this record yet. However, you can compell us to grab our shovels and dig it out. Request a review and we'll devote a full episode to discussing this album. Heck we might even invite you on as a guest. Support the show and help rock fans discover a lost album of the 90's.

Patreon: $2.50 a month

Support us for the year (12 consecutive months), and you’ll be rewarded with an album review for 2017 that you can join us to talk about.

Visit Patreon

PayPal Donation: $30.00

This is the fastest option to get your recommendation on the show. Make a donation and put the artist and album title in the payment comments. We’ll follow up with any questions and let you know the episode release date.

Donate

Dig ME Out - 90s Rock review

Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Songs in this episode

  • Intro - Loser
  • 12:54 -Soul Suckin' Jerk
  • 17:58 - Beercan
  • 26:28 - Truckdrivin Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)
  • Outro - Sweet Sunshine

Follow us to know when this episode is available

We are a weekly podcast with new episodes published every Tuesday morning. Subscribe to the show in iTunes or your favorite podcast app to get new episode delivered to you. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter for episode releases, previews and 90's rock news.

View in iTunes
Social media

Playlist

Spotify playlist for this episode

Mellow Gold