1994 In Review: Beck - "Mellow Gold"

Two of my fondest memories from 1994 involve Mellow Gold. The first takes place in January, as I'm on my couch watching music videos on TV (which, I swear kids, is something you could do any time of day in 1994); the nonsensical lyrics, the scuzzy cheerleaders, the stop-motion coffin journey and the accumulated weirdness of the Loser video caught me unawares. Struck dumb by the effortless awesomeness of it all, I decided to seek his album out.

The second happens in June, specifically prom night of my senior year. To save much of the detail and cut to the important part, my date thought it would be a good idea to drop acid; my recollections of that night, so special for so many, are mostly rooted in disappointment, but I do have one moment of sheer bliss. After leaving prom, we left for a bite to eat en route to the after party. During the commute, I was listening to Mellow Gold. Suffice to say, Soul Suckin' Jerk made her trip balls SO HARD. The terror in her voice as she screamed "TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF" is, in retrospect, way better than the acid-dashed prospect of terrible sex.

Bursting down the doors of the mainstream and taking a piss on the welcome mat, Mellow Gold is the kind of album that could only have found a wide audience in the '90s. Using raw folk as the base ingredient for any number of bizarre concoctions, it's not as shocking for its ambitions as it is for how easily it reaches them. Smashing genres together while maintaining a seamless full album experience isn't easy, but Mellow Gold pulls it off with a shrug. From the hip-hop infused blues of Loser to the lazy western vibe of Whiskeyclone, Hotel City 1997 to the psychedelic insanity of Beercan to the fuzzed out punk freakout of Mutherfuker, it's certainly got more tricks than sleeves.

As good as this album is (and how surprisingly well it holds up), there's a more important lesson to be learned. Beck's success in the '90s is the epitome of the sense of inclusion and acceptance offered many fringe musicians back then. If Mellow Gold were released today, it's possible that Beck would have faded into obscurity, that guy who had that song with a bunch of YouTube views before we got bored and latched onto the next novelty. However, given the support of fans and peers, Beck went on to one-up Mellow Gold a couple years later and, eventually, carve out an honest-to-goodness legacy through his exploits. He's tried on a lot of hats over the years, and not all of them have been a good fit. But Mellow Gold stands as the harbinger to it all, a smorgasbord of sound daring you to try everything and have the balls to ask for dessert.

March 1, 1994 • DGC

Highlights Loser • Soul Suckin' Jerk • Mutherfuker

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