JEFF BECK

JEFF BECK

YOU HAD IT COMING (2001)
320 KBPS

At an age when fellow ex-Yardbirds guitar gods Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page are polishing their legend and trying to recapture it, respectively, Jeff Beck has produced one of his most challenging and rewarding albums. An edgy, metallic maelstrom with a distinctly postmodern slant (thanks largely to the tense, digitized rhythms of producer Andy Wright and drummer/programmer Aiden Love), You Had It Coming is the kind of album his fraternal fretmeisters might scarcely understand, let alone attempt. Already the guitar's unparalleled master of feedback, distortion, harmonic sorcery, and microtonal manipulation, Beck here pushes the envelope yet again. From the manic thrash-metal of "Earthquake" to the hot-rod sampled "Roy's Toy" and especially "Loose Cannon," Beck's soloing is all haunting howls and jagged corners, a nervy dance along the razor's edge of dissonance and melody. The emotionally charged changes of pace are as surprising as they are compelling: Beck exploring Eastern modalities while showcasing his arsenal of technique in a stunning take on Indian pop musician Nitin Sawhney's "Nadia"; the techno revamp of the blues staple "Rollin' and Tumblin'," fronted by the urgent vocals of Imogene Heap; Jeff literally jamming with a chirping feathered friend on "Blackbird" (while plying the frets with a table fork!); the fingerpicking funk of "Rosebud"; and the graceful, lyrical resolve of "Suspension." This is one of Beck's best and a worthy companion to Blow by Blow, Wired, and Guitar Shop.

1. Earthquake
2. Roy's Toy
3. Dirty Mind
4. Rollin' And Tumblin'
5. Nadia
6. Loose Cannon
7. Rosebud
8. Left Hook
9. Blackbird
10. Suspension

JEFF (2003)
320 KBPS

Calling fabled guitar god Jeff Beck "mercurial" doesn't do justice to the word – or the legend himself. While this latest blast of maniacal Beckology seems to form a loose techno-centric triptych with its predecessors, by no means is the guitarist resting on his laurels here. If anything, his continuing collaboration with You Had It Coming producer Andy Wright (aided and deliciously sonically subverted by Splattercell's David Torn and Apollo 440) has yielded one of Beck's most muscular--if willfully challenging--collections of musical future shock. Save for the elegant, orchestra-backed take on the traditional folk of "Bulgaria" and introspective respite of "Line Dance with Monkey' and "JB's Blues," the guitarist seems to have little interest in traditional lyricism here, instead coaxing an inventive maelstrom of unearthly, metallic timbres and alien modalities from his instrument on the angular "Trouble Man," the hypnotic grooves of "So What" and the Torn-icated, melodic minimalism of "Plan B." On "Grease Monkey" and "Hot Rod Honeymoon," Apollo 440 playfully fold Beck's notorious car-culture fetishes into an ironic sonic origami of retro-samples and tense electro-rhythms, the latter highlighted by his neo-country chicken-pickin' and incomparable slide work. That track may be cast as mock Beach Boys car tune, but there's definitely nothing nostalgic about the evocative, often hard-edged mood here; it might as well be subtitled "Beck to the Future."

1. So What
2. Plan B
3. Pork-U-Pine
4. Seasons
5. Trouble Man
6. Grease Monkey
7. Hot Rod Honeymoon
8. Line Dancing with Monkeys
9. Jb's Blues
10. Pay Me No Mind
11. My Thing
12. Bulgaria
13. Why Lord Oh Why?