I've known, too, and I personally don't care. It doesn't seem to interfere with the music at all. Plus, my understanding is that Beck is basically a Scientologist in name only, i.e. isn't really practicing it. Kinda like those folks who only attend church on Christmas and Easter No matter what the case is, I know that Beck prefers not to discuss his relationship with Scientology. I thought I read that he was forced into it as a child by his father (correct me if I'm wrong?), so maybe he is stuck in it and just hates it.extremechick said:I've known for awhile now he was a Scientologist. Yeah, it's a weird religion, but aren't they all?
Anyway, on the happier things...
Mutations is my personal favorite by him. It has so many of my favorite Beck tunes: "Lazy Flies," "We Live Again," "Tropicalia," and "Static" are all GREAT songs. I also have a bit of sentimental attachment to it, because it was one of the first Beck CDs I'd ever heard.
After that I think my order goes: Sea Change, The Information, Odelay, and then Guero. I haven't heard stuff from his other albums. Actually, I have heard some of Modern Guilt but I haven't listened to it enough to make any judgment on it yet.
I can't wait for him to make a follow-up (of sorts) to what he started on Mutations and Sea Change. I think those two albums really showcase Beck The Artist rather than Beck The Party Guy. I also love the production work by Nigel Godrich on The Information. For those of you that don't know, Nigel Godrich does the production for nearly all of Radiohead's albums and he does a fantastic job.
I also think it would be cool if Beck did an album with Dave Friedmann (producer of The Flaming Lips' albums The Soft Bulletin through their latest, At War With The Mystics, as well as being a member and producer of the band Mercury Rev). Both The Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev have a lot of psychedelic stuff going on in their music, and I think that with Friedmann at the helm, Beck would be enabled to do some really cool things. Plus, it would be a neat direction through some of the greatest producers of our time: from Godrich to Dangermouse (Modern Guilt) to Friedmann. That would make for one hell of a trilogy!