Jimmy Ray - Jimmy Ray (1998)

The blame (if such it be) for making genre-bending the order of the day in the late '90s can probably be laid at Beck's door. Look at Cornershop, OMC, Forest For The Trees, etc. By about 1997, it got to be that an artist couldn't simply be good at one thing, they had to formulate a hodepodge of styles that incorporated the whole of pop music's last thirty years in one postmodern package. Such is the case with Jimmy Ray.

Ten or even five years earlier, his matinee idol looks and bouncy, upbeat tunes would have made for a nice, safe pop-rock smash. As it is, Ray ends up assimilating hip-hop beats, techno production moves, rockabilly guitar licks, pop choruses and even the occasional reggae rhythm on his debut album. To his credit, he doesn't take himself too seriously, and the good humor evident in such cuts as "Way Low" and "Goin' To Vegas" serves him well in his quest for the Beck crown. It's a prize no one can ever achieve, but the efforts of those who try are plenty interesting anyhow.