Although most people have been finding the packaging for Beck's new album "innovative," "unique," or "whatever," the UK's Official Chart Company (OCC) has chosen to describe it as "unfair." The Information [TMT review] was released in the UK on Monday and features a blank cover which can then be customized using either one's own feces or an included sticker sheet. The album also includes a bonus DVD with remarkably unremarkable videos for every song. Presumably, these extras were included to give people another incentive to actually purchase the album, which is the kind of sensible marketing strategy that should get all money-grubbing, suit-wearing fatties excited.
Not so, in the land of the spotted dick. The OCC has ruled that Beck's new album is not eligible to be listed on any UK charts. The reason they give is that The Information has an "unfair advantage" due to its inclusion of bonus material. It has been speculated that the underlying reason for this ruling is that the OCC's Koosh basketball hoop broke and they needed to vent.
A valid point is indeed brought up, however, about Beck's new cover art. When I'm browsing through my local record shoppe, the first thing I notice about a CD is what's on the cover. Now, I might plausibly be reaching over for a stack of Oasis CDs when what will catch my eye and redirect my purchase but the CD with the completely blank cover. Now, that's just wrong. Time to play by the rules, Beck.
The OCC is currently planning a follow-up campaign to pull The Information off the shelves entirely, due to it containing an unreasonable number of "pleasing rhythms."