Beck, and why Beck sucks

[starwire]

I have to stand up for Beck here. I mean, it's okay not to like him, but to not like him because he hasn't had as many hits as you'd like? I don't know, it just sounds like an effort get an argument started.

But he has had his share of hits, including "Beer Can," "Tropicalia," "Sexx Laws," "Devi's Haircut," "Where It's At," and "New Pollution." All of these got videos on MTV, all were played on the big alternative rock station in Chicago when they were released. And more than any rock song of it's time, save for the hits of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, "Loser" is a memorable track. Most people my age still know the words to it.

Heh, I was channel-surfing tonight and caught a few minutes of him playing on the "Sessions At West 54th" show. He's a great preformer, really energetic and animated, fun to watch and fun to listen to. Certainly not the lazy slacker that the uninitiated might picture him as.

And you can't fault a guy that challenges himself as much as Beck, whose equally adapt playing country, folk, hip-hop, punk, or any amalgamation of them. He's never put out the same album twice either. Of course he doesn't always write perfect songs every time, but who does? Not the Beatles, not Bob Dylan, not even the great Sum 41.

If you don't like him, that's cool, but try to understand that if it wasn't for him, there would be no Citizen King, no Cibo Mato, no Kid Rock, no Getaway People, no Badly Drawn Boy. More than anyone in pop history, he proved that you can work in different styles and mix them together, which opened up tons of possibilities for everyone and broadened the canvas of rock past the limits that people had imposed on it.

I don't think he's Jesus or anything, but I think he's a good musician that matters.