You Had It Coming

1	Earthquake 3:18
2	Roy's Toy 3:35
3	Dirty Mind 3:50
4	Rollin' & Tumblin' 3:12
5	Nadia 3:50
6	Loose Cannon 5:17
7	Rosebud 3:44
8	Left Hook 4:22
9	Blackbird 1:27
10	Suspension 3:20

Barnes & Noble

Although he's never achieved the kind of success bestowed upon old bandmates like Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, this ever-adventurous rock legend has always figured at the top of the list when guitarists are asked to name their personal icons. Jeff Beck is one of rock's great iconoclasts, equally capable of crafting intricate compositions and kicking out the jams on pure adrenaline -- two approaches he blends dexterously on this sizzling disc. While he never totally abandons his blues roots -- a cover of the traditional "Rollin' and Tumblin'," featuring the vocal wail of London-bred Imogen Heap, may be the most immediate thing on the disc -- You Had It Coming is decidedly forward-looking. Making wise, efficient use of technology, Beck deploys rhythm loops and electronic accessories without letting the toys take over, as borne out by the fuzzed-out boogie of "Earthquake." Typically mercurial in terms of playing with offbeat tunings and madly shifting time signatures, songs like the pulsing "Roy's Toy" and "Nadia" (a dazzling, modal piece written by Indian film composer Nitin Sawhney) never let the listener sit back and relax. But sometimes the edge of your seat is the best place to perch. David Sprague

All Music Guide

Jeff Beck returns two years after the ten-years-in-the-making Who Else?, and You Had It Coming isn't surprising just for its rapidity, but for its music. From the moment the electronicized, post-rave beats of "Earthquake" kick off the record, it's clear that Beck isn't content to stay in place -- he's trying to adapt to the modern world. To a certain extent, this isn't an entirely new phenomenon, since each of his records is clearly, inextricably of its time, from the crunching metal of Truth through the breezy jazz fusion of Blow By Blow to the modernized album rock of Guitar Shop. This is just another side of that, as Beck works with electronic music, both noisy and new age introspective. It's a bit clever, actually, since Beck's playing has always been otherworldly, dipping, bending, and sounding like anything other than a normal guitar. The problem is, when he's surrounded by lockstep, processed beats and gurgling synths, his guitar doesn't leap to the forefront and capture attention the way it does on his best recordings. Still, there's something to be said for the effort, because even if it doesn't sound like a Beck record, it isn't a bad record, and it's certainly a helluva lot more successful than Clapton's similar forays into these waters. Besides, knowing that he knocked this out so quickly makes it a little endearing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine