New Beck Album

Hah! It's these kinds of things that make me totally overjoyed. I got a copy of Beck's new (and currently un-named album). Some jerk must have stolen this first cut of the 13-track album from the studio, because it's available.
Right, so last night I listened to most of it, and I've got a pretty good impression of the album. It starts out with a latin-themed song called Brazilica, which was a bit of a turn-off for me. I liked Mutations, but I was kind of hoping that Beck would only do that album once. Luckily, the rest of the album is, as promised, a return to Odelay (although it has less sampling and a higher production value). The Dust Brothers did a hell of a good job co-producing the album with Beck.
UPDATE -- There is a music video for Hell Yes out now. And yes, it is semi-lame, but sort of cool!

Okay, that's enough of the optimistic me. I did like the album, but I am a little sad about it. I guess I wanted to have another Odelay as promised, and I suppose I kind of got it, but it just isn't the same. It will never be 1996 again, and Beck's album will sound different no matter what. Beck is one of the few survivors of the whole 90s alternative scene ... Pavement, Pearl Jam, Nirvana ... all those guys ... they're all gone. But somehow, Beck has hung in there for 10+ years, and he's still kicking. So, I'm happy that he's still around because it will make me sad to see him go, but I will still always be sad since he will never be the same ...