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Ah Beck, now here is a talent.
This, his second album, produced by The Dust brothers, was even better than his debut, and established him as a major player.
Mixing lots of influences, from Grunge to Hip Hop, to Blues, he mangles everything up. Sonically he throws everything in including the kitchen sink, Tablas, chains, Harps, carboard boxes, harmoniums, feedback.... This just shouldn't work, but the genius of it is that it does...it makes perfect sense in the way manufactured tunes never could.
Speaking as someone who rarely notices lyrics, here are SOME LYRICS. Reminiscent of cut-up style of William Burroughs, the fragmented chaotic impressions sort themselves out in the mind to paint very real images, delivered in his unique style.
His image of intelligent, wasted life conjures up a beautifully cinematic view of the slacker underdog. Go with him, he will take you places you never dreamed of.

Rating: 5 out of 5

I saw Beck on Jools Holland's TV show playing some very cool stuff, and so bought this album. Very disappointed and sold it after playing it twice (second time just to make sure I wasn't imagining the first time). Several tracks start out really well, great energy, rhythm and sound, then get ruined by samples, painfully distorted guitar and other randomness just chucked in for no apparent reason. Completeley unlistenable. I'm clearly in a minority here, but other reviewers on other sites seem to agree with me.

Rating: 2 out of 5

I 'discovered' Beck through a rather odd route, after he (or rather, his head!) guested in an episode of Futurama which included a rendition of 'Where It's At', complete with washboard break(!)I picked up 'Odelay' shortly afterwards and its one of the few CDs in my collection that I can listen to without skipping tracks. There's a mind-boggling range of styles on offer here, ranging from blues and folk, through lounge (listen to the intro to 'Where It's At') to hip-hop. Whilst there's a serious risk of the entire album drowning in a mish-mash of sound, it's to Beck's credit that he holds everything together.Whilst Beck is obviously an extremely talented musician, the thing that makes this album for me is the vocals - most of the time he sounds half asleep, but for some reason it seems to work. Don't ask me why, it just does. The almost narcoleptic delivery adds an extra dimension to the slower songs, although some of the lyrics tend to be a bit obtuse.There isn't really a bad track on this album, but for me the standouts are "Where It's At", the curiously uplifting "Lord Only Knows" and "Jackass", which is a supremely moving song, despite having a sample of a braying donkey at the end.Don't let the fact that Beck is often lumped in with 'folk rock' artists put you off, this is an extremely varied album which is well worth a listen.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This is a must have album, it appeals to anyone and is very addictive. Being a huge Beck fan, I have to say Beck is one of the best artists for years.If you like this one check out Stereopathetic Soulmanure.

Rating: 5 out of 5

what an LP Beck throws in everthing including the Kitchen sink into this LP 'Devils Haircut@ is a perfect opener and the LP progresses form there nothing is as it seems you'll be listening to a track it seems normal then BANG! it changes a mad 1-string guitar riff, or a harmonica distorted thru a fuzz-box, or craziest of all a robot will join in and start singing along MAD! MAD! MAD! the LP is still highly musical though as the singles show - Jackass, Sissyneck, Devils Haircut, New pollution and Where its at, the singles also the diversity within the LP it trawls thru Country, Heavy Metal, Pop, and the damn right screwed up amongst other genres, if you like your LPs mad but still listenable then buy this.............. do it now!

Rating: 5 out of 5