So let's get this out of the way quickly: Odelay is one of the best albums of the 1990s, and is very deserving of the deluxe treatment. And this release comes tantalizing close to actually doing the album justice, collecting (or purporting to collect) non album tracks, B-sides, and other errata to flesh out the Odelay portrait. There's enough wrong here, though, to make one question the $30 purchase price (and to wonder why exactly this thing was in the works for so long)...and if you haven't heard Odelay, you're probably better off grabbing one of the thousands of cheap copies of the original that're floating around.

First, the booklet. I happen to find the "interviews" to be sort of senseless, but I can see someone enjoying them. More problematic is that the lyrics that populate the booklet have been taken directly from a fan-site, errors and all. Universal claims that this was a mistake that should have never made it past the layout phase. I agree wholeheartedly...but it did, and so early buyers (or, perhaps, all buyers) of this disc get a distinctly compromised package. Great!

There's been a lot of discussion about the above issue, but not quite as much discussion about the fact that several songs here *differ* from the original Odelay we've grown to love. Apparently, the compilers grabbed rough mixes of several of the songs (and/or decided to remix parts of the album). The differences range from the subtle (the beeps that begin "The New Pollution" utilize a different sample) to the incredibly obvious ("Hotwax" suddenly has a very evident double-tracked vocal). Why? I can't find anything in the liners that explain why the deluxe edition of "Odelay" changes so much random stuff around in the original album. Given the other issues attendant in this set, I'm willing to bet it was carelessness at play here.

...because there's more where this came from! So we get some B-sides and unreleased tracks. Fantastic! Except where's Diskobox, which was a bonus track on several international editions of the album? It's nowhere to be found here. Worse yet--and I happen to think this is really freakin' inexcusable--several of the tracks that *ARE* here are taken from lossy (i.e. MP3 or AAC) sources. Deadweight and Clock, for example, have noticeable MP3 artifacts, and the corresponding poor frequency response...heck, "Clock" has some DAE artifacts at the beginning, to boot. Was this set assembled by having some guy go on the internet and download MP3s of some of the rarities?

And so on. It's nice, I'll admit, and it's great to finally have some of these B-sides get a re-airing. The idea of charging $30 for something so poorly put together, though, is what energizes the continued appearance of record companies as out of touch, greedy, and incompetent. In the days of ICE and CD Watchdog, this set would have generated letters for *months*...in this day and age, internet warnings will have to suffice.

Summary: If you haven't yet experienced Odelay, run run run to the store and get a cheap used copy of the album. This set's exorbitant price, poor liner notes, and sound issues (as well as incorrect mixes for the original album) make it a lousy way to get acquainted with the original work.

Beck was never better than on "Odelay" (with his "Guero" album being a close second for me personally), and almost 12 years after its original release, this gets the Deluxe Treatment (2 CDs, 33 tracks, 136 min.). Not sure why this is being released at this particular time, but no matter, this is a delight for Beck fans all around.

CD1 (17 tracks; 71 min, 5 stars) brings the original album, and 3 additional tracks. The album is of course a delight from start to finish, finding Beck at the top of his game. I've played it so much that it sounds like a greatest hits album to me. In addition to the best known tracks (Devil's Haircut, The New Pollution, Where It's At) there are little gems like "Hotwax" and "Readymade". The 3 additional tracks are a delightful "Deadweight" (a soundtrack contribution), and the previously unreleased "Inferno" and "Gold Chains", which are great in their own right. Please note that there are 17 tracks, not 16 (as Amazon lists) as a short 45 second instrumental track is sequenced separately.

CD2 (16 tracks, 65 min., 4 stars) starts off with 3 remixes, the first of which is a delightful, if overly long (12+ min.) remix of "Where It's At". The other 2 are not nearly as great. The remaining 13 tracks are a collection of B-sides that popped up all over the world with the various singles of the album. Not surprisingly, there is some "pick-and-choose" here, but still plentiful to appreciate. Highlights include "Clocks" which could've fitted nicely onto the proper album, a straight blues "Devil Got My Woman", a mellow (but not gold of course) "Feather in Your Cap", a beautiful pensive ballad "Strange Invitation" (with strings no less), and the closer Mexicana "Burro" (in Spanish). In all this second CD is a true smorgasbord, as can be expected of a collection of remixes and B-sides.

I am less thrilled with the booklet that comes with this reissue. The first half consists of interviews with high school students interviewed in 2006 on how they've connected to Beck and this album (who really cares?). The second half gives the lyrics to CD1 of this reissue. Most frustrating is that there is zero information on the songs on CD2, in particular no lyrics, and no info where these B-sides appeared. That aside, this is an essential collection for Beck fans who love "Odelay" and want all the music Beck, at his creative peak, created at that time. Highly recommended!

Beck has to be one of the geniuses in music today. Who else could take so many different genres, stitch them together seemingly at random, and come up with a product that is so easy to listen to? Nothing that I've listened to (and I've listened to a lot of stuff) can make that claim like Beck can. "Odelay" is, in a word: awesome.

Let's take a look at the tracks on this disc. "Odelay" starts out with "Devils Haircut," a good indicator of what you can expect to hear on the rest of the CD: catchy drumbeats and hooks, noise which Beck's songs would almost seem naked without, and of course Beck's trademark lyrics. Next comes one of my favorite tracks, "Hotwax." This one mixes a laid-back beat with just enough feedback, retro keyboard hooks, and even a little accordion to keep things funky enough for the rhymes ("I get down, I get down, I get down all the way...") to seem right at home with. And ya just GOTTA love the ending! ("Who are you? I'm the enchanting Wizard of Rhythm.") "Lord Only Knows" starts out with a scream that hints at a rocker of a song, then abruptly shifts into a straightforward (for Beck) country-type tune that can very easily be "goin' back to Houston." "The New Pollution" is another one of the highlights here, with a groovy late '60s/early '70s vibe and a cool sax line thrown in for good measure. "Derelict" sounds like some Arabic song, which is vaguely seductive in nature. "Novacane" just plain rocks, with a serious truck-drivin', CB radio talkin' jam. "Jack-Ass" mellows thing out with a folky groove that seems to unravel (in a good way) at the end. Now we come to "Where It's At," one of THE songs of '96/'97 and one of the main reasons I got this CD in the first place. "Two turntables and a microphone" indeed. Funky, old-school rap with that great organ hook. "Minus" reminds me of something that Kurt Cobain (RIP) would come up with the music for. "Sissyneck" is a smooth country/blues-tinged tune with a great bassline. "Readymade" is perhaps best-described as "spacey," with enough "elevator music"/organ to keep it somewhat grounded. "High 5 (Rock The Catskills) is another rocker, sounding almost like something Kid Rock would do (check out the reference to "Novacane" in the middle of this one.) And last but not least, "Ramshackle" smoothes everything out with a very mellow, very folky sound. Keep listening after the end of this song for a little noise surprise.

Well, that's it. What else can I say about "Odelay," other than if you have yet to obtain a copy, do so!

I really have not been a Beck fan for very long. The first Beck album I bought was "Odelay", which was about a year ago. The only reason I bought it at the time was because "Where It's At" and "Devil's Haircut" were on it. But after I listened to the entire CD, I could not keep it out of my stereo. I heard what is now my favorite Beck song to date, "Hotwax". I thought that this was a fluke, I mean how many songwriters can have an album with all awesome songs? To test my theory, I went out and bought "Mutations". Once again, Beck outdid himself, with great numbers, like "Lazy Flies", "Cold Brains", "We Live Again" and "O Maria". All right, he's good, but nobody's perfect. The very next day, I bought "Mellow Gold" which, of course, had "Loser". Every song, completely addictive, especially "Snoozer", "Beercan", "Nitemare Hippy Girl" and "Soul Suckin' Jerk." "Odelay" got me rolling on the Beck Bandwagon. I searched, and finally found "One Foot In The Grave" which ranks all the way up with his other awesome albums. I am in the process of receiving "Stereopathetic Soul Manure" which I ordered from amazon.com. I am also anxiously awaiting the release of his newest album, "Midnite Vultures". Beck is one of the most original, raw and taleted artists of our time. He's so amazing because he doesn't just stick to one genre of music. I mean, he made country music sound HIP for Pete's sake. His lyrics cannot be turned into negative influences, because no one knows what to make of them. In a time of "gangsta" rap, telling kids to do drugs and shoot people, Beck gives music listeners what music listeners really want: good music, with none of the hassle. We're just able to sit back and listen to someone who's writing music for music's sake.

Signed, Beck's biggest fan

this album is somewhat overrated. Admittedly, this was the first Beck album I bought, and initially, I was amazed with the production and sudden shifts in sound within one song. it is a great dancable, catchy and accessible party album with just enough dynamics and quirk to keep it interesting for listens at home by yourself. However, I then went out and bought Mutations and then backtracked to Mellow Gold and One Foot In The Grave and eventually began comparing the three. Compared to the other two albums, lyrically it lacks depth. On the last major album Mellow Gold, the lyrics did have some sort of genreral coherent story to them, they just would usually have odd ways of saying them and unique forms of imagery. Most of the lyrics on this album are more of word collages, seeming randomly put together ( a good example: "heads are hanging from the garbage man trees/ mouthwash jukebox gasoline"). Although these collages are interesting and amusing, they make no sense at all, and are by no means intended to have any sort of depth to them whatsoever. I read somewhere that beck and the dust brothers would put together interesting sonic collages, and then beck would listen to them, sit there for about 15 minutes writing stuff in a notebook and then be ready to lay down his vocals. Beck has shown he is cabable of more surreal yet engaging imagery (see "soul suckin' jerk", "pay no mind", or "truck driving neighbors downstairs" to name a few), and is certainly capable of more brilliantly introspective and emotional content ("nobody's fault but my own", "girl dreams", etc.). For these reasons, although the record is fun, enjoyable, and sonically interesting, it seems kind of disposable compared to earlier stuff. Although Beck's technical singing ability sounds better on this album, his performance on earlier work had more emotion to it. Another thing is that I think that Beck's music was much more original and creative before he had all these cool modern electronic gadgets to play with. Beck has done much more with much less. I mean Mellow Gold was recorded for less than $500, and even featured parts that were transferred directly from demo tape to cd, and in my opinion it was much more groundbreakingly creative musically. Nevertheless, this is a good, fun, enjoyable album with some really great fun songs, and it still warrants an occasional replay when I'm in the mood, it's just not my favorite.