The Information

Infobox Album
Name = The Information
Type = studio
Artist = Beck


Released = October 3 2006
Recorded = Winter 2003 – Spring 2006
Genre = Alternative
Length = 61:33
Label = Interscope
Producer = Nigel Godrich
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5pkcu32dandk~T1 link]
*"The A.V. Club" (A-) [http://www.avclub.com/content/node/53636 link]
*"The Guardian" Rating|3|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,1882774,00.html link]
*"The Independent" Rating|5|5 [http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article1769758.ece link]
*IGN (9.0/10) [http://music.ign.com/articles/737/737137p1.html link]
*Los Angeles Times Rating|5|5
*"NME" (8/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/beck/8026 link]
*Pitchfork Media (6.9/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/38917/Beck_The_Information link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/beck/albums/album/11852928/review/11925431/the_information link]
*"Slant Magazine" Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.slantmagazine.com/music/music_review.asp?ID=995 link]
*"The Times" Rating|4|5 [http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,14932-2375271,00.html link]
Last album = "Guerolito"
(2005)
This album = "The Information"
(2006)
Next album = "Modern Guilt"
(2008)

"The Information" is an album by Beck, released in October 2006. It was produced and mixed by longtime Beck collaborator Nigel Godrich. Recording began in 2003 concurrently with "Guero", but the album was not completed until 2006. Rolling Stone magazine has named it the 24th best album of 2006, while Spin magazine ranked it number 10 on their 40 Best Albums of 2006.

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. [cite web|accessdate=2008-07-18|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003829442|title=Ask Billboard|publisher=Billboard|date=2008-07-18]

Release history

Before its release, Beck said the album was not a "stripped down" record, in contrast with his previous Godrich collaborations "Mutations" and "Sea Change".cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/news/beck/23857|title="Beck reveals all about new album"|publisher=NME|accessdate=2006-08-08] 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."cite news|url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_review/0,,710163,00.html|title=Beck Giving Fans Sticky Fingers With Quasi-Hip-Hop Album|author=James Montgomery|publisher=MTV News|date=June 26 2006|accessdate=2006-08-09]

In an interview with the BBC,cite news|title=Beck's 'Painful' Album|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/news/20061002_beckday2.shtml|publisher=BBC|date=October 2 2006|accessdate=2006-10-16] Beck said the album had been "painful" to make:

The first single in North America was "Nausea," which officially went to radio on September 5 2006.cite web|url=http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=259255|title="Beck Reveals More Information"|publisher=FMQB|accessdate=2006-08-15] The first single in the UK was "Cellphone's Dead", with an official video directed by Michel Gondry; [cite web|url=http://www.director-file.com/gondry/beck2.html|title="Beck – Cellphone's Dead"|publisher=director-file.com|accessdate=2006-08-09] the track samples Primal Scream's hit single "Loaded" quite prominently. "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 videos

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

Artwork

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" magazinecite news|author=Eric Steur|title=The Infinite Album|url=http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/beck.html|format=Interview|publisher=Wired|work=14.09|date=September 2006|accessdate=2006-10-16] 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 unique album art concept was seen as a gimmick to bolster retail sales, "The Information" was deemed ineligible to enter the UK Albums Chart. [cite news|url=http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003220433|title=New Beck Album Denied UK Chart Eligibility|publisher=Billboard.biz|accessdate=2006-10-04]

Track listing

All songs by Beck, except where noted.

# "Elevator Music" – 3:38
# "Think I'm in Love" – 3:20
# "Cellphone's Dead" – 4:46
# "Strange Apparition" – 3:48
# "Soldier Jane" (Beck, Nigel Godrich) – 3:59
# "Nausea" – 2:55
# "New Round" – 3:26
# "Dark Star" – 3:45
# "We Dance Alone" – 3:57
# "No Complaints" – 3:00
# "1000BPM" – 2:32
# "Motorcade" (Beck, Godrich) – 4:15
# "The Information" – 3:46
# "Movie Theme" (Beck, Godrich) – 3:53
# "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton" (Beck, Godrich) – 10:36
#* The dialogue at the end of track 15 is spoken by Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze

Deluxe version

Disc one

# "Elevator Music" – 3:38
# "Think I'm in Love" – 3:20
# "Cellphone's Dead" – 4:46
# "Strange Apparition" – 3:48
# "Soldier Jane" – 3:59
# "Nausea" – 2:54
# "Dark Star" – 3:45
# "Movie Theme" – 3:53
# "We Dance Alone" – 3:57
# "No Complaints" – 3:00
# "1000BPM" – 2:30
# "Motorcade" – 4:15
# "The Information" – 3:46
# "New Round" – 3:26
# "The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton" – 10:36
# "Inside Out" - 3:43
# "This Girl That I Know" - 2:43
# "O Menina" - 2:09

Disc two

# "Cellphone's Dead" (Ellen Allien remix) - 5:37
# "Nausea" (Bumblebeez remix) - 2:28
# "Dark Star" (David Andrew Sitek remix) - 4:08
# "Nausea" (The Chap remix) - 3:55
# "Cellphone's Dead" (Jamie Lidell Limited Minutes remix) - 4:32
# "Cellphone's Dead" (Ricardo Villalobos remix) - 14:38

CD/DVD Version

There is also a third version of the album containing the original version of the album plus a 2nd disc with said home-made music videos of all of the album's songs by Beck. [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HIVO64]

Personnel

*Beck – vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, melodica, piano, organ, keyboards, programming, effects, scratching, sitar, bass guitar, harmonica, kalimba, percussion, drums, drum effects, glockenspiel, Game Boy
*Nigel Godrich – production, mixing, keyboards, programming, effects, scratching, tambourine, percussion, background vocals, Speak 'n Spell, whistle, Tote-A-Tune, kalimba, drums, Game Boy
*Jason Falkner – bass guitars, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, African bass, Moog synthesizer bass, background vocals, percussion, drums
*James Gadson – drums, percussion, background vocals
*Joey Waronker – drums, percussion, background vocals
*Smokey Hormel – intro sounds
*Justin Meldal-Johnsen – intro sounds
*Roger Manning Jr. – intro sounds
*Alex Acuña – percussion, background vocals
*Harvey Mason – drums
*Brian Lebarton – Speak 'n Spell
*Justin Stanley – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, background vocals, percussion, flute
*Greg Kurstin – keyboards, berimbau, piano, bass keyboard, synthesizer, background vocals, acoustic guitar
*DJ Z-Trip – scratching
*Stevie Black – cello, percussion, background vocals
*Lucia Ribisi – girl on "Cellphone's Dead"
*Cosimo Hansen – talking
*Sean Davis – bass guitars
*Rachel Shelley – shipping forecast
*David Campbell – string arrangements, conductor
*Suzie Katayama – strings
*Charlie Bisharat – strings
*Spike Jonze – talking on "Exoskeleton"
*Dave Eggers – talking on "Exoskeleton"

Certifications

References

External links

*
* [http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=beck+information Video clips for "The Information"] at YouTube