The new Beck album is perfect. It's gorgeous. It's a delight. Do I sound hyperbolic? Or just plain hyper? "Midnite Vultures" has restored my faith in pop. Beck, I could pinch your cheek, you gangly, goony freak. What's so great about "Midnite Vultures"? "Sexx Laws", the disc's first cut, kicks out the jams all funky like, proving for a blue-eyed blond, Beck is super fly. In fact, only Prince, or the Artist Formerly Known As That Squiggly Symbol, rivals Beck in sheer funkability. Drawing from classic 1970s soul and R&B, as well as organ-tinged '60s kitsch, "Midnite Vultures" is full of homage -and irony. But not for one second does it sound derivative. How does Beck pull it off? By incorporating awesome horn blasts and go-go dancin' riffs Freaky banjo pickin' and hilarious lyrics. If "Nicotine & Gravy" doesn't bust your gut, you're dead. Then comes "Peaches & Cream", a sultry soul gem with nasty background vocals the likes of which you haven't heard since Squiggle Symbol ditched the Revolution. Or the New Power Generation. Whichever. Listen to Beck's homage to the Isleys and Barry White on the slo-jam "Debra". Hear Beck do a right-on falsetto. (Where did THAT come from?) And girl, you better step inside his Hyundai, when Beck asks you. This guy means LOVE. Oh, Beck, thank you. I needed "Midnite Vultures". We all did. Go on with your bad self. 5 STARS!

Beck's new album, Midnite Vultures is on the whole a differnt bird than his other works so far. If you liked Odelay's aural brilliance and experiementation, Midnite Vultures will either shock you pleasantly or seem a little overworked and obscure. The opening track, "SEXX Laws," is a gassed up torent of 70s brass and big stage antics that gives a b-slap to all that voodoo daddy nonsense. "Hollywood Freaks," a blistering satire/homage to the modern R&B scene post-Puff Daddy comes off as playfull and has a nice groove.

"Peaches and Cream," is an interection between Prince's "Rasperry Beret" and kitch American advertising ideal. And it works in its repititions and scope. "Beautiful Way," obviously the best track on this album, is a folksy/traintrack-bluesy/post-woodstock track and could best be compared to the best song Beck ever wrote, "Nobody's Fault but My Own." It is a sad and rolling track about a girl going insane and destroying her life.

My personal favorite on the album is a track called "Debra," a 70s suburban love song again with a touch of Prince falsetto. (I want to get with you/ only you/ and your sister/ I think her name's Debra?) Overall, this album may seem a little less inspired and free than Odelay, but it is still better than anything that is out there now.

I'm very envious of Beck and his freedom as an artist. "Mutations" absolutely blew me away and remains a staple in my CD player. "Midnight Vultures" displays more of Beck's irreverent lyrics and deft songwriting style, with more of an unbridled glee and jump-about thrill. The last five songs on the album are the real treat here, but the album unfolds much better than "Odelay" (which, as much of a Beck fan as I am...I could never appreciate). Highly recommended.

This may not be the best album of the 90's, but it is certainly the album that sums this decade up. We've come from funk, arena rock, disco, hair metal, gangster rap, grunge, goth, and the shadow of Beefheart, only to have our precious advances swallowed and vomited back to us by commercial producers seeking to prey on our pop sensibilities.

How do you escape the shadow of consumerism? By laughing at it, breaking it apart, and piecing it together into a kicking party album that is so reminiscent of Prince's 1999, that Prince must have been predicting an album like this to happen. Every track on Midnite Vultures pokes holes in all the music we grew up with and weaves a surreal web of sex, self-hype, and ultimately fear and loathing.

"I can smell the VD in the club tonight." Yeah, and it smells like our future. Buy this album, savor it, and hope your kids understand it.

Never before have I bought an album and been quite so blown away (save for Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile" or Self's "Breakfast with Girls"). This "official" follow-up to the Grammy winning "Odelay" is more than just a follow-up...it is the reigning king in the Beck repertoire. This album combines soulful motown loops with a sexy groove, and of course, is complete with the quirky ingenuity that is Beck. The CD begins with the brilliant "Sexxlaws", and continues to pound away with "Nicotine and Gravy". And if you think that the CD climaxes too early with "Mixed Bizness", then you haven't listened to the rest of the album. After an early 80s throwback ("Get Real Paid") and an homage to Puffy Style Rap ("Hlwd. Freaks"), he shines through with the remaining tracks (most notably "Peaches and Cream", "Milk & Honey", and "Pressure Zone"). The CD culminates with the silky-smooth "Debra" which drives the CD to a smart close, and pushes Beck's falsetto in a Prince-esque ode to the threesome. Overall, this disc is a must have for anyone who is looking for good music in this age of prefab rockers that couldn't write their way out of a musical hole in the ground.