Modern Guilt is the eighth studio album by American musician Beck. It was released on July 8, 2008. The album fulfills Beck's recording contract with Interscope Records. Outside of North America, the record was released by XL Recordings (see 2008 in music).

Modern Guilt features two contributions by Cat Power and was produced by Beck and Danger Mouse.

A vinyl edition of the album, including download codes for 320-kbit/s MP3s direct from the master vinyl, was released on July 22, 2008.

Reception

The album entered both the Billboard 200 and the Canadian Albums Chart at number four, and gave Beck his first ever Top 10 placing on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number nine. The album has also been Beck's best charting album in Australia, reaching 13. It sold 84,000 copies in its first week. Although successful, this does not match the first week sales of The Information, which were 99,000.

The album received generally positive reviews upon release, earning a rating of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic. Filter said of the album "Beck is somehow more aware while puffing out his waves of broken poetry as opposed to the casual seed-spitting he has been known to turn to," and Allmusic said that it was "an effective dosage of 21st century paranoia. Some negative reviews, such as Popmatters, said that the album "lacks the unique resonating timbres one is accustomed to with Beck, and The Guardian called it "a vanity project".

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Beck and produced by Danger Mouse

1. "Orphans" (featuring Cat Power) – 3:17
2. "Gamma Ray" – 2:58
3. "Chemtrails" – 4:42
4. "Modern Guilt" – 3:16
5. "Youthless" – 3:01
6. "Walls" (featuring Cat Power) – 2:24
7. "Replica" – 3:27
8. "Soul of a Man" – 2:38
9. "Profanity Prayers" – 3:45
10. "Volcano" – 4:27

References

External links

• http://www.modernguilt.com