Product Description

This collection of performances by musical chameleon Beck Hansen came out hard on the heels of the mega-success of MELLOW GOLD, as the MTV world was promoting him as the alternative rock poster boy of the anthemic "Loser". The unsuspectinglistener picking up ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE will be disarmed (to say the least) by its content--the album is a collectionof folksy, bluesy recordings of the sparest lo-fi variety.
Although there are some Sebadoh-style punky screamers such as "Burnt Orange Peels" in the mix, Beck mostly spends most of his time on ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE creating beautiful shoegazer-folk moments such as "Cyanide Breath Mint", which transcends its slacker title with an alluring drone and beautifully dark lyrics. "Hollow Log" is your basic pretty, fireside folk song done right, while "I Get Lonesome" has Beck andK Records supremo Calvin Johnson duetting on a simple, mournful tune. While those weaned on Beck's higher-gloss MTV-ready output may not fully appreciate ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, it's the first true example of his versatility, not to mentiona subtly beautiful record.

Track Listing

1. He's a Mighty Good Leader
2. Sleeping Bag
3. I Get Lonesome
4. Burnt Orange Peel
5. Cyanide Breath Mint
6. See Water
7. Ziplock Bag
8. Hollow Log
9. Forcefield
10. Fourteen Rivers Fourteen Floods
11. Asshole
12. I've Seen the Land Beyond
13. Outcome
14. Girl Dreams
15. Painted Eyelids
16. Atmospheric Conditions

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60370 in Music
• Released on: 1996-07-22
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Pure Poetry
Please Please Please believe me when i say this is the most touching, mellow, heartfelt album i own. I have listened to this album over the yrs as much as i have listened to any other. Beck, as mentioned in some1 elses review, is the best musician on the 90's. He fused many genres into one and got the success deserved with his break through album Mellow Gold. I feel Beck touches my heart more than any other musician has or will do.

The music on this album is basic, simplistic and yet so perfect. I hate over-produced albums, if you do to and you like raw, accoustic music, then this is for you. Some songs don't include verses, Beck just throws out rhyme after rhyme of pure genious lyrics.

I would hazard a guess that 9.9 people would not like this album. Its an album for those music lovers that feel passion for heart felt lyrics, with accoustic music that is so original it just can't be replicated. I am trying to think of a band or musician to compare with and i find it very hard. This is BECK. Thanks Beck, your a genius and legend.

If you buy this album, have a few listens then smoke till you choke, get in bed and put the album on, not too loud. ENJOY

Awesome acoustic rock
Ah, Beck. Where do we start? In my humble opinion the greatest musician of the decade, and in many fans' opinions OFITG is his finest;a return to the gentle form of Golden Feelings and A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight after the Star Wars Rawk-fest of Stereopathetic Soul Manure and the backwoods trailerpark acid folk of Mellow Gold. After the spectacular success of the 12" Loser and the infamous signing race which Geffen eventually won, Beck was under enormous pressure to release an album of Losers and MTV Makes Me Want To Smoke Crack. In response, he released this unpromoted, low-profile colection of gentle folk songs and acoustic blues he made with a few friends. The result? An album unique among Beck recordings as it concentrates on only one aspect of his genius; no screwball lyrics, no insane cutting, sampling and deadpan eclecticism; no bonus noise, even! Instead we get just 39 minutes of pure tunesmithery. These songs are just great. Must be heard. By everyone. Simple as that. The only possible complaint is the shortness of the album, running just under 40 minutes.

a very amateur review of a great album
Beck's second album proper (The album in between Western Harvest Field by Moonlight and this was a compilation of tracks from '88 to '93)is a record to behold, it sound rough, it sounds campfire-esque, it sounds obscure, but most of all it sounds like Beck at his best. The standout track on the album is a song called "Asshole", it's a rollercoaster of a song, and when the chourus comes round ("She will do anything, She will do anything, She will do everything to make you feel like an asshole")is like the rollercoaster carriage winching itself up to the highest point, and then whooshing down with relieving freshness. I've listened to this album about twenty-five times, since I bought it at Christmas, and it's still one of the most beatiful albums of his career.