18 (WITH JOHNNY DEPP)

The latest Jeff Beck studio album -- the first since Loud Hailer (2016) -- is a collaboration with Johnny Depp (b. 1963), best known as one of the most succesful movie actors of his generation. Without knowing much of Depp's musical activities, I expected his contribution to be mainly that of a vocalist, but besides Beck obviously on lead guitars, Depp actually is the most prolific player of various instruments on this album. It's titled 18 because the creative process made the two feel young again.

Beck's distinctive electric guitar, which appears also on Roger Waters' Amused to Death (1992), gives the album's overall sound a slight resemblance to latter-day Pink Floyd here and there, but when it comes to song material, this is a widely varied set of 13 tracks. The serene instrumental opener 'Midnight Walker' composed by Davy Spillane could as well appear on a Floyd album. The first proper song 'The Death and resurrection Show' is an aggressively noisy industrial rock piece originally of Killing Joke -- not for my ears!

'Time' (Dennis Wilson / K. L. Wilson) feels badly overproduced at places, but the calm, slow tempo backbone of the song is pretty nice and Depp's singing is pleasant. 'Sad Mother[%*!#]in' Parade' is credited to Beck and Depp. It doesn't feature singing per se but spoken voice over the heavy-thumping, programmed soundscape. This far the album feels very perplexing in a negative way. 'Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)' is a Beach Boys song from their classic album Pet Sounds, and this atmospheric version relies mostly on Beck's wailing guitar and much less on vocals.

The album's other original new piece 'This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr' (Lamarr was an Austrian-born actress and scientific inventor) was written by Johnny Depp with Tommy Henriksen who plays the keyboards on it. A decent minor song. Funnily, against my above mentioned expectations on Depp's role, he seems to be pushing himself back as a vocalist, perhaps to underline his musician's role. For the song material from the 60's and 70's, in my opinion things get better for the album's latter half, even if the vocals do remain in a minor role. 'Caroline, No', another Pet Sounds perennial, has been turned into a poshy platform for Beck's guitar. 'Ooo Baby Baby' is a Smokey Robinson song and among the most gratifying tunes for vocal-oriented listeners. The rest of the song choices cover Marvin Gaye ('What's Going On' -- pretty good but far from the excellence of the original), Velvet Underground ('Venus in Furs'), King Curtis ('Let It Be Me'), Janis Ian ('Stars' -- a beautiful, serene highlight) and John Lennon ('Isolation' -- among the most faithful cover tunes here).

Jeff Beck fans can enjoy this album without fearing that some Hollywood star on vocals is trying to steal the spotlight. The song material and the way it's presented varies almost painfully at first but in the end offers a fairly pleasant if a bit overproduced set.

And for his last act before his untimely passing in January 2023, JEFF BECK through the world his oddest curveball yet by ending his career with a most unexpected collaboration with JOHNNY DEPP who has been one of the most successful actors of the last 30 years or so. I'm certainly not up on this guy's career but i had no idea how prolific he has been in the world of music having played with everyone from Aerosmith and Marilyn Manson to Red Hot Chili Peppers and Butthole Surfers. He also formed a supergroup called Hollywood Vampires with Alice Cooper and Joe Perry. Now how did i miss that one? I guess ole JEFF had to get in on the action.

Kindled by a friendship that was struck up as far back as 2016, BECK and DEPP came to the conclusion that they were compatible for a musical collaboration. The result took a few years to come to fruition but finally in 2022, the album simply titled 18 graced fans with an unexpected turn, that being not only a bizarre collaboration but also by the fact that this album would be BECK's final studio release emerging six months before his untimely passing. The album features 13 tracks that features mostly cover songs and a couple of DEPP penned originals. The duo of BECK and DEPP cover most of the instruments heard on this one. BECK plays guitars, bass and drums while DEPP, whom i did not know was a multi-instrumentalist handles lead vocals, guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. Ten session musicians join in.

What sounds like an absolute horrible idea in practice isn't all that bad actually although this won't be the album that keeps his legend alive in the history books for sure. With cover songs of artists that include Killing Joke, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, The Velvet Underground, The Everly Brothers and Janis Ian, you may initially think these guys have gone totally bonkers but the end result is an amazingly consistent album that although not one that will blow you away, comes off as a well-produced nice pleasant album that fits in quite well to the latter albums BECK has released in the 21st century. For DEPP, this album was not only a product of the COVID pandemic but also a distraction from the ugly defamation trial against ex-wife Amber Heard. While i'd expect this album to lean on the angry side, it's actually a light breezy album with uplifting pop songs crafted by thick atmospheric ambience and of course JEFF BECK's trademark bluesy guitar antics.

Actually the DEPP original 'Sad Mother-F.u.ckin Parade' does ring a tone of bitterness but for the most part this is an album that pays tribute to various artists of the past. While one of BECK's main criticisms is that he's always relied on cover songs to fill up album space, in truth he's actually done so honorably and adding his own stamp for better or for worse, mostly on the positive side. With the heavy atmospheric layers of synths and keys that smother the main guitar, bass and drum sections, 18 feels a bit over-produced but also makes it feel like the most psychedelic of any BECK album. As far as guitar playing is concerned, BECK doesn't offer anything to dazzle the audience but rather tastefully remains faithful to his classic signature playing style. At 78 years old he still retains his chops but this is a light and breezy album often on the mopey side therefore there are no true rockers that offer a chance to just get down and dirty.

When all is said and done i could think of worse ways for a superstar to check out of this world. While 18 will never rank high on best JEFF BECK albums of all time, there's something very nice about BECK checking out on his own terms and an album that was merely created to celebrate a friendship and a mutual love of music isn't a bad thing at all in today's dog eat dog world. Ultimately this is one i missed last year in the calendar year of 2022 but now that i've taken the time to listen to, re-listen to and review every single JEFF BECK studio album, i can't say that this is the worst he has cranked out over his long and fruitful career. Better than expected but ultimately not an essential JEFF BECK album by any means.