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Mellow Gold

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Mellow Gold is the official debut studio album and third album overall by American alternative rock musician Beck, and also his major label debut. Mellow Gold was released on March 1, 1994, following the surprise success of "Loser". "Mellow Gold" is a concept album. Critics noted the album's hybrid of various styles including rock, hip hop, folk, psychedelia, and country,[1] and ironic, witty lyrics. The decidedly anti-commercial attitude of Mellow Gold became an unexpected commercial success and went platinum.

In an effort to get the album into stores such as Wal-Mart and Kmart, which do not stock albums with a "parental advisory sticker", a clean version of the album was released. Nonetheless, Wal-Mart carried the explicit version of the album, though the move is believed to have been an unintentional oversight.

The album's second released track "Beercan," only reached number 27 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, but the success of "Loser" helped this album sell over 800,000 copies at the time.[3]

Mellow Gold reached #13 in the United States and #41 in the United Kingdom. As of July 2008, Mellow Gold has sold 1.2 million copies in the US.[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB[7]
Los Angeles Times[8]
NME6/10[9]
Rolling Stone[10]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[11]
Spin Alternative Record Guide10/10[12]
The Village VoiceA[2]

Mellow Gold received general acclaim from music critics. AllMusic and Rolling Stone gave it five out of five stars (the latter originally giving it only three and a half.)

Guitar World magazine ranked Mellow Gold at number four in the "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Beck, except where noted

Original Tracklist
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Loser"{{flatlist }}3:55
2."Pay No Mind (Snoozer)"" 3:15
3."Fuckin' With My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)" 3:41
4."Whiskeyclone, Hotel City 1997" 3:28
5."Soul Suckin' Jerk"{{flatlist
  • Beck
  • Stephenson
}}		3:57
6."Truckdrivin' Neighbors Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)" 2:55
7."Sweet Sunshine"{{flatlist
  • Beck
  • Stephenson
}}		4:14
8."Beercan"{{flatlist
  • Beck
  • Stephenson
}}		4:00
9."Steal My Body Home" 5:34
10."Nitemare Hippy Girl" 2:55
11."Mutherfucker" 2:04
12."Blackhole" 5:17
Hidden Tracks
No.TitleLength
13."Analog Odyssey"1:44

Samples credits

"Loser"
"Loser" by Beck
Problems playing this file? See media help.

"Loser"

"Fuckin' with My Head (Mountain Dew Rock)"

"Soul Suckin' Jerk"

  • "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier

"Sweet Sunshine"

"Beercan"

Personnel

  • Beck – vocals, guitars, bass, harmonica, percussion, synthesizers, music box, producer
  • Mike Boito – organ (track 8)
  • Stephen Marcussen – mastering
  • Tom Rothrock – producer, mixing
  • Rob Schnapf – producer, mixing
  • Carl Stephenson – producer, beats, sampling, sitar (track 1)
  • Petra Haden – violin (track 12)
  • David Harte – drums (tracks 2, 10, 11)
  • Rob Zabrecky – bass (track 12)
  • Robert Fisher – art direction, design
  • Ross Harris – photography
  • Mike O'Connor – drums
Additional personnel
  • DJ Smash – turntables

Charts

Chart (1994) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[14] 53
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 25
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 81
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 41
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 23
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[16] 18
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[20] 15
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[21] 33
UK Albums (OCC)[22] 41
US Billboard 200[23] 13

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[25] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.


References

  1. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mellow Gold – Beck". AllMusic. Retrieved June 15, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (April 5, 1994). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  3. ^ Rosen, Craig (June 8, 1996). ""DGC's Beck Battles His 'Loser' Image"".
  4. ^ "Ask Billboard". Billboard. 2008-07-18. Archived from the original on 2008-08-01. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  5. ^ Kot, Greg (March 17, 1994). "Beck's Breadth". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8.
  7. ^ Aaron, Charles (March 25, 1994). "Mellow Gold". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
  8. ^ Gold, Jonathan (February 20, 1994). "Beck; 'Mellow Gold'; DGC". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  9. ^ "25 Seminal Albums From 1994 – And What NME Said At The Time". NME. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  10. ^ Azerrad, Michael (May 7, 1994). "Mellow Gold". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
  11. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. pp. 55–56. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  12. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  13. ^ "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994". GuitarWorld.com. July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
  14. ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
  15. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Beck – Mellow Gold" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  16. ^ a b "Norwegiancharts.com – Beck – Mellow Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  17. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Beck – Mellow Gold" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  18. ^ "Officialcharts.de – Beck – Mellow Gold". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Beck – Mellow Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  20. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Beck – Mellow Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Beck – Mellow Gold". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  22. ^ "Beck | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  23. ^ "Beck Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 12, 2014.
  24. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Beck – Mellow Gold". Music Canada.
  25. ^ "American album certifications – Beck – Mellow Gold". Recording Industry Association of America.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mellow_Gold&oldid=725206146"