18

by Jeff Beck, Johnny Depp

Overview

It's called 18 because the creative process fueling their 2022 duet album made Jeff Beck and Johnny Depp feel young again. Of course, they could feel like their younger selves because they're spending the great majority of their time playing oldies but goodies, digging out warhorses by the Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, the Everly Brothers, the Velvet Underground, and John Lennon to form the bulk of their 13-track album. Such a description suggests 18 might sound like pro forma karaoke, but check another one of the couple's covers: "The Death and Resurrection Show," a George W. Bush-era tune by industrial icons Killing Joke. It certainly seems unlikely that British Invasion blues stalwart Beck pushed for its inclusion, so that can be chalked up to Depp, as can the general dour tenor of the album. Allegedly, the recording of 18 helped the pair to blow off some pandemic-related tension -- naturally, the Lennon song they chose to cover is "Isolation" -- but instead of feeling like an outpouring of joyous connection, it's a bunch of griping. Depp contributes to the sour tone by murmuring his way through the neo-industrial "Sad Motherfuckin' Parade" and attempting to conjure the ghost of David Bowie on "This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr" in a fashion that winds up sounding like latter-day Pink Floyd. Much of 18 sounds a bit like Floyd after Roger Waters left, where there are wide-open vistas that allow the guitar solos to shine. Beck often sounds liquid and lyrical, a counter to the stumbling glower of Depp, who seems to be stuck in a growl even when he shoots for a falsetto on Robinson's "Ooo Baby Baby." Tonally, Beck and Depp don't quite mesh -- Beck's guitar wants to soar, Depp stays earthbound -- and instead of generating something rife with tension or an outright failure, the results are just leaden and dull. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	07/15/2022
Label:	Rhino
UPC:	0603497847143

Tracks

1. Midnight Walker
2. Death and Resurrection Show
3. Time
4. Sad Motherfuckin' Parade
5. Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)
6. This Is a Song for Miss Hedy Lamarr
7. Caroline, No
8. Ooo Baby Baby
9. What's Going On
10. Venus in Furs
11. Let It Be Me
12. Stars
13. Isolation

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Johnny Depp   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Vocals,Keyboards,Percussion,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Baritone),Vocals (Background)
Jeff Beck   Primary Artist,Bass,Drums,Guitar,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Acoustic)
Tommy Henriksen   Keyboards,Co-Producer,Vocals (Background)
Robert Edward Bradley   Bass,Co-Producer,Guitar (Rhythm),Vocals (Background)
James Pearson   Keyboards
Jason Rebello   Piano
Pino Palladino   Bass
Ben Thomas   Keyboards,Co-Producer
Vanessa Freebairn-Smith   Cello
Olivia Safe   Vocals
Robert Adam Stevenson   Piano,Keyboards,Co-Producer
Rhonda Smith   Bass
Vinnie Colaiuta   Drums

Technical Credits

Davy Spillane   Composer
Tommy Henriksen   Arranger,Composer,Engineer,Programming
Karen Lamm-Wilson   Composer
Fiona Cruickshank   Engineer
Pierre Delanoe   Composer
Robert Edward Bradley   Mixing,Engineer,Programming
Andy Gill   Composer
Ben Findlay   Engineer,Programming
Geordie Walker   Composer
Janis Ian   Composer
Jaz Coleman   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Lou Reed   Composer
Jeff Beck   Composer
Johnny Depp   Composer,Programming
Dennis Wilson   Composer
Warren "Pete" Moore   Composer
Ben Thomas   Engineer,Programming
Tony Asher   Composer
Martin Glover   Composer
Robert Adam Stevenson   Mixing,Arranger,Engineer,Programming
Marvin Gaye   Composer,Lyricist
Renaldo Benson   Composer,Lyricist
Al Cleveland   Composer,Lyricist
Alan Branch   Engineer
Manny Curtis   Composer
Brian Wilson   Arranger,Composer
Gilbert Becaud   Composer
William Robinson   Composer