Midnite Vultures is the fourth major-label studio album by Beck, released in November 1999. Though similar to most of Beck's previous albums in its exploration of widely varying musical styles, Midnite Vultures didn't achieve the same blockbuster success as his breakthrough, Odelay though it was well-received by his fans and critics and continues to receive wide acclaim. It reached #34 in the U.S.—where it went gold—and also hit #19 in the UK. During recording, Beck teamed up with legendary DMC champion and turntablist DJ Swamp whose own musical bend was heavily influential in the hip hop elements of the record.
The album was praised by most critics. Some like Rolling Stone, NME and Pitchfork Media praised the album with 4-star reviews (8.5/10 on Pitchfork). It was awarded the rare status of 'Universal Acclaim' by MetaCritic with a score of 83/100 but in 2006 was named the 50th 'Worst Album Ever' by music magazine Q.
Midnite Vultures was nominated in 2000 for Best Album at the 43rd GRAMMY Awards.
Several songs were inspired by very prominent 80s acts; "Debra" was inspired by Prince's hit "Raspberry Beret", while "Get Real Paid" quotes directly from Kraftwerk's Computer World album.
The first 500,000 copies came in a digipak.
Working titles for the album included Zatyricon and I Can Smell the V.D. in the Club Tonight, the latter from a spoken line on "Milk & Honey".
