Daily Staff Writer

“Midnite Vultures”

Beck

Break out the bell bottoms, parachute pants, polyester shirts and cowboy boots. Grow a mullet or an afro, slap on some shades and cruise around in your lowrider with a 40 in your hand.

Ditching his acoustic guitar on “Midnite Vultures,” a sonic metamorphosis of the decades, Beck gets eclectic more than ever as he ventures into the realm of weirdness.

As wild as it may sound, it works.

In fact, the album solidifies Beck’s title as one of the most genuine musicians of the present era. He represents the future of music — no genre definitions, no boundaries, just straight music.

As countless pop artists strive and thrive on everything formulaic, Beck makes it his chore to find and fuse new sounds to spice up his sonic landscape.

“Midnite Vultures,” the artist’s most eccentric effort to date, finds him opening up his palette to newer and brighter colors — most notably funk, soul and R&B.

Between the vibrant horn section and banjo instrumental break on “Sexx Laws,” slap bass wah wah pedal craziness on “Mixed Bizness” and the ’80s retro new wave of “Nicotine & Gravy,” not one loophole escapes the wrath of Beck’s ingenuity.

Slipping into Snoop Dogg mode on “Hollywood Freaks,” Beck drops rhymes like “We drop lobotomy beats, evaporated meats on hi-tech streets/ We go solo, dance floors and talk shows/ Hot dogs No Doz/ Hot sex in back rows.” Beck’s raps make a mockery of the gangsta rap movement with silly, almost pointless word pairings.

The outer space, video game madness of “Get Real Paid” checks in with kick-ass sampling that defines what the music from Zelda would sound like played through an Atari 2600.

“Debra,” the closing track, sets itself apart from the others as Beck shifts into vintage Prince style capping off an album that’s a sure highlight of this year’s fall releases.

And the record’s digital hardcore bonus track could inspire any happy hardcore fan to jump up on their feet and rave till dawn.

“Midnite Vultures” makes the perfect soundtrack for the next funkadelic freakshow, country hoedown, gangsta rap house party or all-night rave.

Go figure.

4 1/2 STARS

— Conor Bezane

“Chronic 2001”

Dr. Dre

With the exception of his multi-platinum recruit, Eminem, the hip-hop world hasn’t heard much from the maestro of West Coast G-funk in quite some time. After Dr. Dre’s split with Death Row Records, he shunned his “gangsta” personality and was criticized for going pop.

But now he’s back with “Chronic 2001,” and once again it ain’t nothing but a G thang.

Dre unleashes a furious arsenal of fresh beats and razor sharp rhymes that proves his critics wrong. Dre hasn’t lost a step in this rap game.

“Chronic 2001” features appearances by new bloods like Eminem and Xzibit, plus old friends MC Ren, Kurupt and, of course, Snoop Dogg.

Snoop raps on four songs on the record, but it is his appearances on “Still D.R.E” and “The Next Episode” that bring back his pre-No Limit glory days. The Doggfather hasn’t sounded this slick and all around excited since his debut record.

Eminem shows up on two songs, including what is probably the album’s best song, “Forgot About Dre.” Dre refuses to let you forget about his street credentials. “Who you think taught you to smoke trees/ Who you think brought you the O.D.’s/ Eazy E’s, Ice Cube’s, and D.O.C.’s/ The Snoop D O Double G’s/ And the group that said motherfuck the police.”

Dre mixes it up a bit too, throwing in “Let’s Get High,” a track that brings back an old school party rap feeling. But he is quick to return to what he’s known for — down and dirty street songs. “Murder Ink” and “Bang Bang” provide big beats and tough rhymes that no other producer could dream of supplying.

Even Dre falls short once in a while though. He tries too hard to return to his “never loved a bitch” attitude of old on “Housewife” and “Fuck You.” The story just isn’t as believable now that Dre is happily married. And too many guest appearances start to gradually kill the record. “Some L.A. Shit” contains seven rappers, not one of them being Dre.

“Chronic 2001” isn’t going to make you want to buy a ’64 Impala with gold rims and switches, but it brings credibility back to a scene that is in desperate need of it.

3 STARS

— Trevor Fisher

“S & M”

Metallica

It seems like every band is “wasting” an album by putting out a live recording of exactly the same music on their previous albums minus the high sound quality. Some bands even use the live album to create an unofficial greatest hits.

Metallica shatters both of those stereotypes with their latest release, “Symphony of Metallica.”

Every song on the live album has been altered eminently with the help of Michael Kamen and his world renowned San Francisco Orchestra.

From the album’s opening bells on “The Ecstasy of Gold,” during which the orchestra plays solo to warm up the crowd, it’s clear this is a side of Metallica much different from anything we’ve heard before.

When Metallica takes the stage, the familiar instrumental “The Call of Ktulu” from 1984’s “Ride the Lightning” rings from their amps. Kamen’s brilliance begins to shine as all of the strings, horns and percussion follow along with the group as if they belonged there in the first place.

The gems on this solid two-hour-plus album include “Master of Puppets,” with its amazing bridge section, “Battery” with its incredible symphonic introduction and an unreleased Metallica song titled “No Leaf Clover,” which brilliantly shows the chemistry the orchestra and Metallica somehow had.

Metallica would probably need a lot more than two CDs to create a greatest hits because of the length and magnitude of their songs.

Instead, they create an honest collection of classical-infused heavy metal.

Hopefully, bands will turn their trends down Metallica’s path and strive for uniqueness on live albums.

Not only does “S & M” capture Metallica’s amazing live show but it officially shows that these metal rockers can play with the best of them.

4 STARS

— Dewayne Hankins

“Birds of My Neighborhood”

The Innocence Mission

The Innocence Mission is like a caged death match between Mazzy Star, Jewel and Fiona Apple: A lazy, hazy, crazy pop/folk excursion that is great for relaxing, sleeping, not moving, taking massive bong hits or just sitting very quietly while flies crawl all over your motionless body licking the salt from your pores.

This is not a dance album.

It is slow, moody and melodic.

It’s like listening to the sound of the ocean at midnight with cotton shoved in your ears while drinking tequila … lots and lots of tequila.

It’s like a sensory deprivation tank filled with tapioca.

It’s a dream about wistfulness and intangible musings.

It’s like rock climbing up a marble facade, there is just not much to grab a hold of.

For all of this, it is not just background music, either — that would be a plus.

On the up side of the balance sheet, there is a lot of thought in these shifting forms which coalesce in the mind like audio brain candy.

Karen Peris has a voice so sweet and tender it could be packaged and sold as a veal substitute for vegetarians.

“Birds of My Neighborhood” is a mild ride on the highway of acoustic love. There are virtually no bumps or potholes, and that is something of a problem.

This thing is so sedate, Perry Como wouldn’t listen to it without being on downers.

Relaxed is one thing, but The Innocence Mission could have picked up the pace once in a while to give listeners a little variation.

Overall, it’s not too bad of a listen, but unless you are honestly looking for something which can put wild animals to sleep, you might want to try rediscovering Paula Cole or 10,000 Maniacs “Unplugged.”

2 STARS

— Greg Jerrett

Ratings based on a 5 STAR scale.