Beck-Odelay deluxe edition

I'll admit it. I'm a total sucker for deluxe editions. It something's got a couple of bonus tracks on it that I don't have i'll want it. The ONLY reason i'll buy a copy of a record I already have is if it has bonus tracks. I could give a shit if there's special packaging or a dvd or postcards or a patch or a snippet of the lead singer's pubes (well, maybe if we're talking about Bjork, but ONLY Bjork). But when I heard that they were doing a deluxe edition of Odelay I knew I would get it because there were a ton of b-sides and remixes for this record floating around most of which I don't have.

First of all, if you're reading this blog, you probably already own the original album. It's one of the most essential records of the 90's. I can't believe it's been 12 years since it came out. I'm getting old. Anyways, what you non-obsessive types probably want to know is if you should drop 20 bones for some remixes and b-sides (and postcards. My copy came with postcards!). I would say that if you consider yourself a serious Beck fan and have most or all of his other albums then yes you should get this. If you're some soccer mom who got it back in the day because you like the "beefcake pantyhose" song well let me just tell you that you've had the wrong Beck cd for the past 12 years. Loser isn't on Odelay. I don't know why so many people think that.

As far as the bonus tracks, they're a mixed bag (of course). They call them b-sides for a reason here people. That being said many of them are very interesting. There are 13(!) b-sides on disc two and the two most essential ones are Feather In Your Cap and Devil Got My Woman (it's a cover of that blues song from Ghost World). Good stuff. There are also a few remixes, a 12(!) minute version of Where It's At by U.N.K.L.E which, while interesting (they use sound effects from Street Fighter II!), gets a bit tedious. Next is the Aphex Twin remix of Devil's Haircut cleverly titled Richard's Hairpiece. All I can say about this one is that Aphex Twin's remixes may not sound like the originals very much, but they always sound brilliant in one way or another. There also two previously unreleased songs, Inferno and Gold Chains which are great and fit right in with the original just dandy. There's more good stuff too. So yeah go buy this so Beck becomes richer and can give more money to the Church Of Scientology. Ew.