Why did Beck win album of the year over Beyonce?

Let’s start with the basics.  First, Beck and Beyonce both put out very good albums.  And in all honesty, Beyonce has the better album.  Personally, I prefer to listen to Beck’s album but Beyonce’s is still a triumphant piece of music.  I love Beck but this isn’t his best album.  It doesn’t even make my top five, which would be:

1. Sea Change
2. Midnight Vultures
3. Odelay
4. Modern Guilt
5. Guero

I even prefer Beck’s Record Club’s full album cover of the Velvet Underground and Nico over Morning Phase.  So why did Beck’s good but not great album beat out Beyonce’s career-defining tour de force?  One reason: legacy.

Sad but true, the Grammys are more about legacy and proficiency than what’s trending.  It comes down to the voters.  Most of the voters are old school rockers.  So what’s more appealing to an old school rocker who still spins vinyl because he never got into that CD craze:  a funk-dified bombastic sexual dance party or an intimate portrait of a man and his guitar?  Beck has been nominated a few times for album of the year.  It’s just name recognition.  Ultimately, it doesn’t mean anything.

On Monday I may want to listen to Beck.  On Tuesday, Beyonce.  What I like at that moment has to do with the mood I am in, it has nothing to do with which album is a better piece of music.  The outrage over Beck’s win from the media, to Twitter to Kanye is totally misplaced.  We shouldn’t be mad at the voters for picking Beck.  We should be mad at ourselves for caring.

That said…ahem…here’s a list of the best Beck songs.

Here are the 111 Best Songs By Beck:

1. Girl (Guero)
2. Jackass (Odelay)
3. Sexx Laws (Midnight Vultures)
4. Where It’s At (Odelay)
5. Lost Cause (Sea Change)
6. Chemtrails (Modern Guilt)
7. Debra (Midnight Vultures)
8. Gamma Ray (Modern Guilt)
9. Loser (Mellow Gold)
10. Mixed Bixness (Midnight Vultures)
11. Turn Away (Morning Phase)
12. One of These Days (Cold Brains)
13. I Think I’m In Love (The Information)
14. Golden Age (Sea Change)
15. Pressure Zone (Midnight Vultures)
16. Modern Guilt (Modern Guilt)
17. Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)
18. Devil’s Haircut (Odelay)
19. Lord Only Knows (Odelay)
20. Nicotine and Gravy (Midnight Vultures)
21. Lonesome Tears (Sea Change)
22. Diamond in the Sleaze (Cold Brains)
23. Que Onda Guero (Guero)
24. Profanity Prayers (Modern Guilt)
25. Blue Moon (Morning Phase)
26. Burro (Stray Blues)
27. Hollywood Freaks (Midnight Vultures)
28. Ramona (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World)
29. Guess I’m Doing Fine (Sea Change)
30. Sunday Morning (Velvet Underground + Nico)
31. Electric Music and the Summer People (Mutations)
32. Cellphone’s Dead (The Information)
33. Tropicalia (Mutations)
34. E-Pro (Guero)
35. Strange Apparition (The Information)
36. Heaven’s Ladder (Beck’s Song Reader)
37. I Won’t Be Long (Single)
38. Walls (Modern Guilt)
39. Earthquake Weather (Guero)
40. Sissyneck (Odelay)
41. This Is My Crew (Sexx Laws)
42. Inside Out (The Information)
43. Go It Alone (Guero)
44. Beercan (Mellow Gold)
45. Mexico (Rare On Air)
46. Hotwax (Odelay)
47. Diamond Bullocks (Mutations)
48. Heaven Can Wait (IRM)
49. Waking Light (Morning Phase)
50. Looking For A Sign (Jeff Who Lives At Home)
51. The New Pollution (Odelay)
52. New Round (The Information)
53. Nobody’s Fault But My Own (Mutations)
54. Missing (Guero)
55. Nausea (The Information)
56. Blackbird Chain (Morning Phase)
57. Black Tambourine (Guero)
58. Corvette Bummer (Loser)
59. Readymade (Odelay)
60. Send A Message To Her (Guero Japanese)
61. Asshole (One Foot In The Grave)
62. Salt In The Wound (Sexx Laws)
63. Pay No Mind Snoozer (Mellow Gold)
64. Paper Tiger (Sea Change)
65. I Just Started Hating Some People Today (Single)
66. The Information (The Information)
67. Scarecrow (Guero)
68. Youthless (Modern Guilt)
69. Milk & Honey (Midnight Vultures)
70. Halo of Gold (Stray Blues)
71. Femme Fatale (Velvet Underground + Nico)
72. Cold Brains (Mutations)
73. Orphans (Modern Guilt)
74. Heart Is A Drum (Morning Phase)
75. Get Real Paid (Midnight Vultures)
76. Hell Yes (Guero)
77. I’ll Be Your Mirror (Velvet Underground + Nico)
78. Rowboat (Stereopathetic Soulmanure)
79. Novacane (Odelay)
80. Dark Star (The Information)
81. Fuckin’ With My Head (Mellow Gold)
82. Beautiful Way (Midnight Vultures)
83. True Love Will Find You In The End (The Late Great Daniel Johnston)
84. Bonfire Blondes (Gamma Ray)
85. Gold Chains (Odelay Deluxe)
86. Modesto (Sterpathetic Soulmanure)
87. Elevator Music (The Information)
88. Sleeping Bag (One Foot In The Grave)
89. Diamond Dogs(Moulin Rouge)
90. Sunday Son (Sea Change)
91. Deadweight (A Life Less Ordinary)
92. All In Your Mind (Sea Change)
93. Brother (Stray Blues)
94. Ship In A Bottle (Sea Change Japanese)
95. Peaches and Cream (Midnight Vultures)
96. Leopard-Skin Pill-box Hat (War Child Heroes)
97. Fume (Loser)
98. Vampire Voltage No. 6 (Chemtrails)
99. Soul Suckin’ Jerk (Mellow Gold)
100. Inferno (Odelay Deluxe)
101. Feather in Your Cap (Stray Blues)
102. Bad Blood (True Blood Volume 2)
103. Sisters of Mercy (Songs of Leonard Cohen)
104. Don’t Let It Go (Morning Phase)
105. Lampshade (A Western Harvest Field By Moonlight)
106. Movie Theme (The Information)
107. Little Hands (Oar)
108. Half And Half (Youthless)
109. Mattress (One Foot In the Grave)
110. No Complaints (The Information)
111. The Horrible Fanfare/Landslide/Exoskeleton (The Information)