One Foot In the Grave (Bonus Track Version)

iTunes Review

While Beck made a career out of confounding expectations by consistently finding new ways to express himself, juxtaposing genres that no one else seemed able to make fit, he was often at his most effective at his most simple and direct. This acoustic album, recorded before his hit Mellow Gold but released several months after his sudden success, makes the most of his “folk” roots with tunes that mine old blues (“He’s A Mighty Good Leader,” “You Gotta Move,” “Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods”) and his own modern sensibilities (“I Get Lonesome,” “A*****e,” later covered by Tom Petty). The deluxe edition presents three previously released cuts including the difficult to find ”It’s All In Your Mind” single, and thirteen previously unreleased cuts that suddenly turn this album into a major, sprawling opus, including “Your Love is Weird,” “Burning Boyfriend” and an alternate take of “I Get Lonesome.” The simple acoustic guitar and vocal presentation, with producer Calvin Johnson adding some backing vocals, has a modern day rustic charm, with only a few sonic manipulations present (“Closer to God”) suggesting Beck’s more studio-enhanced side.