New Jeff Beck album... is it a tad safe?

[Uk Ant]

My all time guitar hero, Jeff Beck, has a new album. This should be very exciting for a devotee of the great mans unique playing... but then I heard some of the tracks and I can't say it's doing it for me.
His take on the old Screaming Jay Hawkins track 'I put a spell on you' (featuring Joss stone on vocals) is very competently done... and the guitar playing is good.... but it all sounds just a tad safe.
Safe is not a word usually associated with Jeff beck. In fact some of his work down the years has been pretty challenging, just listen to Guitar Shop or his excellent contribution to Roger Waters' amused to death albums and the guitar is just somewhere else. Great stuff.
The new album, Emotion & Commotion, just sounds like the kinda album they were trying to get him to make in the eighties... actually that was his last attempt at mainstream on the very poor album Flash. But the guitar playing was more dangerous on that, even if the songs were rubbish.
I'm not hugely disappointed, not every album can be great, but this album is getting a very big media push and for once the world is taking note of one of the often disregarded (by the mainstream) great rock guitarists but what they'll be buying could have been recorded by clapton and I don't think it would have sounded much different.

[Evan Skopp]

I don't know if I would say "safe" as much as "mature." When I listen to the warbling vibrato he uses on "Over The Rainbow," that's anything but safe. I can't imagine any other guitarist hitting those whammy bar harmonics that way. He really sounds like Judy Garland's voice. IMO, that's not safe. That's walking a high wire without a net.

But it isn't the techno-infused grind of his last few albums. It's older and wiser. It's orchestrated. It's mature.

[daemon barbeque]

I prefer The techo-infused grind stuff a lot! it's just "original", "kid-like" "immature" and "bold". And that makes it so cool I think. Mr. Beck did everything on guitar he can dream of, but he still made very original albums in his very late career! Respect!

[Uk Ant]

I don't know if I would say "safe" as much as "mature." When I listen to the warbling vibrato he uses on "Over The Rainbow," that's anything but safe. I can't imagine any other guitarist hitting those whammy bar harmonics that way. He really sounds like Judy Garland's voice. IMO, that's not safe. That's walking a high wire without a net.

But it isn't the techno-infused grind of his last few albums. It's older and wiser. It's orchestrated. It's mature.

To his credit the interviews I've heard with him (bit odd hearing JB interviews) he's sounded really enthusiastic about the whole thing, and yes, mature it is... but if it's mature it's just not good enough. That may sound harsh. Actually it's very harsh as it's a very slick sounding album and the guitar playing is till top notch.
There's a version of Lilac Wine, which is very nice... but in no way what so ever does it even remotely bring out in me the feelings the Jeff Buckley version did. I just think this album lacks passion.
Mature, well executed, well crafted... yes. but the emotional content is not what I expect from Mr Beck.

[Curly]

I think 'safe' would've been doing something more along the lines of "Live at Ronnie Scott's", which was so well received, and his last three albums, which explore a lot of texture in the midst of some high tech backgrounds.

I didn't expect some folks to like the strings -- there are always some who don't -- but if anyone looks for a description of the disc before buying, that's pretty plain.

As far as "Put a Spell ..." , whatever you might think of it, it's more the exception than the rule on this disc.

JB has been straightforward in saying that he had to make an album.
He's also said that he wanted to explore Classical settings, but with songs that weren't Classical songs, but had great melodies.

here's a decent interview, where he just sits and chats about his technique. around 6:40 he discusses the new disc:



I don't always like everything every artist does, but Jeff Beck has always been a restless spirit, artistically. Don't expect the expected from him.

[Evan Skopp]

I've been listening to the album on and off over the last few days. I could see ascribing the word "safe" to the track "Serene."

[tone4days]

his cover interview in guitar player mag is pretty descriptive of what he was going for ...
i heard the tune he did on AI with joss stone and it was clearly very good but indeed restrained ... looking forward to the CD