Beck - Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime (2026)


This feels like Beck on autopilot — tasteful, careful, and ultimately non-essential. I don’t dislike it, but I also don’t feel much urgency to engage beyond a passive listen. The performances are fine, the song choices are respectable, and the mood is consistently mellow, but that’s also the problem: it never challenges me, surprises me, or asserts itself as a real artistic statement. As a compilation of covers and soundtrack leftovers, it plays more like background curation than an album that needs to exist.

Pros

  1. Polished, restrained performances – Beck knows how to inhabit a song without overplaying his hand.

  2. Strong source material – The original songs carry emotional weight almost by default.

  3. Cohesive late-night mood – It flows smoothly as a low-key, unobtrusive listen.

Cons

  1. Low artistic necessity – Feels more like an archival gesture than a meaningful release.

  2. Too safe, too reverent – Covers rarely transform the originals into something personal or risky.

  3. Minimal replay pull – Once the atmosphere is absorbed, there’s little reason to return.





Genre: Folk Rock
Country: US

Final Verdict: 50% (Forgettable Album)
Yearly Ranking: 85th / 85

Highlight: Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometime


Made me think of:
Elliott Smith
Ryan Adams
Sufjan Stevens

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