The Information

This article is about the Beck album. For the Martin Amis novel, see The Information (novel). For the book by science history writer James Gleick, see The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood. For other meanings, see Information (disambiguation).
The Information
Studio album by Beck
Released October 3, 2006
Recorded Winter 2003 – Spring 2006
Genre Alternative rock, alternative hip hop [1]
Length 61:33
Label Interscope
Producer Nigel Godrich
Beck chronology

Guerolito
(2005)		 The Information
(2006)		 Modern Guilt
(2008)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source Rating
Metacritic 73/100[2]
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic [3]
The A.V. Club A−[4]
Robert Christgau B+[5]
Entertainment Weekly A−[6]
The Guardian [7]
The Independent [8]
IGN 9/10[9]
Mojo [10]
NME 8/10[11]
Pitchfork Media 6.9/10[12]
7.4/10 (Deluxe version)[13]
Rolling Stone [14]
Slant Magazine [15]
The Times [16]

The Information is the seventh official studio album and tenth overall by American alternative rock musician Beck, released in October 3, 2006 on Interscope Records. It was produced and mixed by the established producer Nigel Godrich, a long-time Beck collaborator. Recording began in 2003 alongside Guero, but the album was not completed until 2006, three years after recording started. The album's music and lyrics hearken back to the collage of loose-limbed, quirky white-boy funk-rock, rap, and sampling techniques that brought Beck fame.[17] Upon its release, Beck finally got to do things his way, stating "I've been trying to do something like this for the last three albums."[18] Rolling Stone magazine named it the 24th best album of 2006, while Spin magazine ranked it number 10 on their 40 Best Albums of 2006.

Production

Recording

Before its release, Beck said the album was not a "stripped down" record, in contrast with his previous Godrich collaborations Mutations and Sea Change.[19] According to Beck, "Nigel [Godrich] said he wanted to do a hip-hop record" before they began work on the album. "And in a way it is, and in a way it isn't. It has hip-hop songs, and my previous work with him was Mutations and Sea Change, these sort of introspective records, and so this new one is sort of bringing those two worlds together."[1]

In an interview with the BBC,[20] Beck said the album had been "painful" to make:

It started out painless, and ended up being painful. It's as if we made the album once, and we made it again, and we made it a third time. We started the record in 2003, and we got together annually, the producer [Nigel Godrich] and I. We combed over everything, and got rid of the things we were tired of, the things that seemed trite.

The first single in North America was "Nausea", which was officially released to radio on September 5, 2006.[21] The first single in the UK was "Cellphone's Dead", with an official video directed by Michel Gondry.[22] "Think I'm in Love" went to US radio as the second and final single and became a Modern Rock and Triple A radio hit, garnering renewed interest in The Information.

On February 27, 2007, a "deluxe version" of the album was released. It contained the original album plus three songs only available internationally, six remixes, a complete printing of the lyrics, a DVD with all the studio-released videos plus bonus non-studio-released videos of "Nausea" and "Cellphone's Dead", and four different sticker sheets for the album cover.

Music and lyrics

Musically, the album bears resemblance to Beck's previous record Guero, meaning that it hearkens back to the collage of loose-limbed, quirky white-boy funk rock and rap that brought Beck fame at the peak of the alt-rock revolution, with hints of the psychedelia of Mutations and the folk rock that was the basis for Sea Change. Since this is a Nigel Godrich production, it is meticulous and precise even when it wants to give the illusion of spontaneity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it also pulls the album into focus, something that Guero otherwise lacked. The Information is far more of a proper album than Guero, coming fully equipped with recurring themes and motifs, feeling every bit the concept album Sea Change was. Credit might go partially to his collaboration with Godrich—who is nothing if not a taskmaster.[23] There's nothing here that Beck hasn't done before, but it sounds unexpected once again, which is a fitting development for an artist who made his name repurposing old material in unexpected ways. Here, he's done a Beck on himself, and built a stronger, funkier, more moving Beck in the process.[24]

Music videos

Some copies of the album include a bonus DVD of specially filmed music videos, one for each track on the record.[19] In the Wired interview,[25] Beck explained the making of these videos, which would also appear on video-sharing site YouTube:

We filmed a series of very low-budget, homemade videos for all the songs on the record. We got a bunch of cameras and a $100 video mixer off eBay and shot 15 silly, impromptu videos against a green screen. We even invited our friends and family into the studio to be a part of the action — my mother-in-law did the lighting, and my son and nieces and nephews are running around acting crazy. It was just a complete free-for-all, done on the fly. We're putting all the videos together right now with the idea of having a visual version of the record that we'll put on the Internet. I'm totally curious to see how the videos will add to the experience of listening to the album. Or maybe they'll actually detract from the experience. That would be funny.

Here's a link to a playlist featuring the music videos to the album

Artwork

Stickers included with the album
Decorated albums

The album was issued with a blank sleeve and booklet and one of four different sheets of stickers for fans to make their own album art. Beck explained to Wired magazine[25] he wanted no two copies of the CD cover to be the same: "The artwork is going to be customizable. The idea is to provide something that calls for interactivity." However, because the album art concept was seen as a gimmick to bolster retail sales, The Information was deemed ineligible to enter the UK Albums Chart.[26]

Release

Formats and promotion

For The Information, Beck made low-budget videos to accompany every song, packaged the CD with sheets of stickers so buyers could customize the cover and leaked tracks and videos on his web site months ahead of the album. "We're moving into a time when the song and the imagery and video are all able to exist as one thing," says Beck. "It's not even technically an audio thing anymore. It's something else." He also remarked, "I've been trying to do something like this for the last three albums," having released several versions of his previous album Guero, including a deluxe CD/DVD package and a remix album called Guerolito. "The conventional ways aren't working like they used to, so now there's a willingness to try new things."[18] Interscope would go on to release a deluxe edition of the album in 2007.[17] It included a DVD containing the videos created collaboratively with producer Nigel Godrich and also a full disc of remixes which consisted of three songs remixed on six tracks.[27]

Reception

The album reached #7 on the US's Billboard 200, #6 in Canada and #31 on Australia's ARIA Chart. As of July 2008, The Information has sold 434,000 copies in the United States.[28] With listeners accustomed to hearing a brand new side of Beck on each album up to 2002's Sea Change, critics would describe his works afterwards as being "Beck-like", meaning they sounded more like revisits instead of reinventions.[29] The New York Times would credit the album's dark themes as a reflection of the world's condition around him at the time, and felt that Beck had made that apparent on the videos released alongside the album. They felt its music was a 1960s pop-infused sound with a more driven message.[30] The English webzine Drowned in Sound released a review that suggested The Information was a mature and honest attempt at a multiple genre production without recreating what he has already accomplished. They praised Beck's variation in vocal style, ability to create a logical flow of tracks, and reflection of his unpredictable styles.[31] The Village Voice credited Beck as being as detached as he has ever been and that the band was far more energetic then he. They highlighted his work with Nigel Godrich as being even more sample-heavy than his Dust Brother collaborations, and felt that the album ultimately suffered from Beck's disconnected approach.[32] Pitchfork Media wrote a review for the deluxe edition of the album which they felt was mostly a cash-in on an overlooked album, but they did give respect to its full disc of remixes which included covers by big name performers.[33]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Beck Hansen, except where noted. 

No. Title Length
1. "Elevator Music"   3:38
2. "Think I'm in Love"   3:20
3. "Cellphone's Dead"   4:46
4. "Strange Apparition"   3:48
5. "Soldier Jane" (Hansen, Nigel Godrich) 3:59
6. "Nausea"   2:55
7. "New Round"   3:26
8. "Dark Star"   3:45
9. "We Dance Alone"   3:57
10. "No Complaints"   3:00
11. "1000 BPM"   2:32
12. "Motorcade" (Hansen, Nigel Godrich) 4:15
13. "The Information"   3:46
14. "Movie Theme" (Hansen, Nigel Godrich) 3:53
15. "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton" (Hansen, Nigel Godrich) 10:36

Deluxe version

Disc one/Album

Disc one contains the original 15 track album re-sequenced with "New Round" moved from track 7 to 14, "Dark Star" moved from track 8 to 7 and "Movie Theme" moved from track 14 to 8. The disc also includes all three Japanese bonus tracks from above for a total of 18 tracks.

Disc two/Remixes

No. Title Length
1. "Cellphone's Dead" (Ellen Allien remix) 5:37
2. "Nausea Pirates Mix" (Bumblebeez remix) 2:28
3. "Dark Star" (David Andrew Sitek remix) 4:08
4. "Nausea" (The Chap remix) 3:55
5. "Cellphone's Dead" (Jamie Lidell Limited Minutes remix) 4:32
6. "Cellphone's Dead Villalobos Entlebuch RMX" (Ricardo Villalobos remix) 14:38

Disc three/Videos

The third disc contains the following music videos. Most of them homemade by Beck.

No. Title Length
1. "Elevator Music"    
2. "Think I'm in Love"    
3. "Cellphone's Dead"    
4. "Strange Apparition"    
5. "Soldier Jane"    
6. "Nausea"    
7. "New Round"    
8. "Dark Star"    
9. "We Dance Alone"    
10. "No Complaints"    
11. "1000 BPM"    
12. "Motorcade"    
13. "The Information"    
14. "Movie Theme"    
15. "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton"    
16. "Inside Out"    
17. "This Girl That I Know"    
18. "Cellphone's Dead"    
19. "Nausea"    

Plus/Artwork

One Lyric Book, one Blank Book and the complete set of (4) Sticker Sheets.

Samples

Personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Charts (2006) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 31
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[35] 56
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[36] 22
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[37] 50
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[38] 6
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[39] 15
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[40] 58
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[41] 39
French Albums (SNEP)[42] 40
German Albums (Official Top 100)[43] 78
New Zealand Albums (Recorded Music NZ)[44] 37
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[45] 20
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[46] 26
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[47] 32
US Billboard 200[48] 7
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[49] 3

It should be noted that the United Kingdom's Official Charts Company deemed The Information ineligible to chart, as they felt its customizable sticker album art gave it "an unfair advantage" in terms of album sales.[50]

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[51] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[52] Gold 500,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 James Montgomery (June 26, 2006). "Beck Giving Fans Sticky Fingers With Quasi-Hip-Hop Album". London: MTV News. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  2. ↑ "The Information Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  3. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Information - Beck". AllMusic.
  4. ↑ Phipps, Keith (2006-10-03). "Beck: The Information". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Beck". RobertChristgau.com.
  6. ↑ Hermes, Will (2006-10-06). "The Information Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  7. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline (2006-09-29). "CD: Beck, The Information". London: The Guardian.
  8. ↑ Gill, Andy (2006-09-29). "Album: Beck". London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 2006-11-08.
  9. ↑ Spence D. (2006-10-03). "Beck - The Information". IGN.
  10. ↑ Sharp, Johnny (November 2006). "Beck The Information". Mojo. p. 100.
  11. ↑ Pattison, Louis (2006-09-22). "Album Reviews - Beck: The Information". NME.
  12. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (2006-10-04). "Beck: The Information". Pitchfork Media.
  13. ↑ Patrin, Nate (2007-03-12). "Beck: The Information: Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork Media.
  14. ↑ Fricke, David (2006-09-30). "The Information". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-09-14.
  15. ↑ Schrodt, Paul (2006-10-16). "Beck: The Information". Slant Magazine.
  16. ↑ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-2375271,00.html[]
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Information - Beck". Allmusic. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Serpick, Evan (October 5, 2006). "Beck Breaks New Ground". Rolling Stone (1010) (New York City: Wenner Media LLC). p. 16. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved February 22, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Beck reveals all about new album". NME. Retrieved 2006-08-08.
  20. ↑ "Beck's 'Painful' Album". BBC. October 2, 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-16.
  21. ↑ "Beck Reveals More Information". FMQB. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
  22. ↑ "Beck – Cellphone's Dead". director-file.com. Archived from the original on 2006-08-10. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  23. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "The Information - Beck". Allmusic. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  24. ↑ Phipps, Keith (2006-10-03). "Beck: The Information". The A.V. Club. Retrieved February 21, 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Eric Steur (September 2006). "The Infinite Album" (INTERVIEW). 14.09 (Wired). Retrieved 2006-10-16.
  26. ↑ "New Beck Album Denied U.K. Chart Eligibility". Billboard. Retrieved 4/3/2014. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  27. ↑ Patrin, Nate. "Beck: The Information: Deluxe Edition". March 12, 2007. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  28. ↑ "Ask Billboard". Billboard. 2008-07-18. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  29. ↑ McCarthy, Sean. "A Strange Invitation: Ranking the Beck Albums". PopMatters. Retrieved 2014-04-09.
  30. ↑ Pareles, Jon. "Beck "The Information"". New York Times. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  31. ↑ Driver, Mike. "Beck The Information". Drowned In Sound. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
  32. ↑ Walters, Barry. "Disinformation Society". Village Voice. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  33. ↑ Patrin, Nate. "Beck The Information: Deluxe Edition". Pitchfork Media Inc. Retrieved 2014-04-04.
  34. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Australiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  35. ↑ "Beck – The Information" (in German). Austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  36. ↑ "Beck – The Information" (in Dutch). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  37. ↑ "Beck – The Information" (in French). Ultratop.be. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  38. ↑ "Beck Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Beck. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  39. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Danishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  40. ↑ "Beck – The Information" (in Dutch). Dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  41. ↑ "Beck: The Information" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  42. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  43. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Officialcharts.de. GfK Entertainment. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  44. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Charts.org.nz. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  45. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  46. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Portuguesecharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  47. ↑ "Beck – The Information". Swisscharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  48. ↑ "Beck Album & Song Chart History" Billboard 200 for Beck. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  49. ↑ "Beck Album & Song Chart History" Billboard Top Rock Albums for Beck. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  50. ↑ Goodman, Elizabeth. "U.K. Charts Discriminate Against Beck's Stickers". Rolling Stone.
  51. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Beck – Morning Phase". Music Canada.
  52. ↑ "American album certifications – Beck – Morning Phase". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH

External links