Published on May 12, 2005
First off, Guero is not the “return to form, comeback” album
that fair-weather Beck fans and ignorant critics claim.
Midnight Vultures and especially
Sea Change and
Mutations were more than adequate releases from the
folkster-turn ironic alternative icon – turn morose confessional
singer/songwriter. Like The Beastie Boys, Beck has made a career
out of reinventing himself with each album. But
Guero represents Beck’s first album that sounds like “a
typical Beck album,” much like
Ill Communication represented The Beastie Boys first “stay
the course” album.
Guero started a stream of releases from some of the top
commercial and critical defining artists of the ’90s within a
two-month of time (followed by Garbage, Weezer, Nine Inch Nails and
the Dave Matthews Band). With
Guero, Beck re-recruited the services of the Dust Brothers,
the same producers who made Beck’s most commercial defining
release,
Odelay. And like that album,
Guero is filled with pop culture imagery (Burger King
crowns), shoutouts in Spanish and inventive samplings.
What’s missing is the obvious “What the hell was that?” feelings
you got listening to
Odelay and
Mutations for the first time. Like The Beastie Boys, one of
the problems of releasing such diverse records (almost belonging in
different genres with each release) is that when the artist
releases something that sounds like their previous work, they get
criticized for treading water. Once you get past the fact that Beck
breaks little ground with
Guero, you can actually start enjoying the album for its own
merits.
The album starts off weakly with “E-Pro.” The song represents
the first of a flurry of “nah nah nah” choruses that Beck drops.
The second track, “Que Onda Guero,” has lyrics that seem to be too
hip for their own good: “Here comes the vegetable man in the
vegetable van / With the horn that’s honking like a mariachi
band.”
Things don’t look too good, but thankfully, Beck starts to
embrace his weirdness with the strumming, breezy “Girl.” It’s the
first song that the listener will find it hard to push out of their
head. And it’s definitely the catchiest song involving necrophilia
in years. “Black Tambourine” keeps the momentum going — fusing
folksy lyrical delivery and guitar riffs that aren’t quite country,
not quite rock and roll and not quite hip-hop.
Guero starts and ends weakly, making it one of the few
albums where the middle section is its strongest element. After a
few listens, it still doesn’t have the “instant classic” ring of
Sea Change (fans of
Mutations and
Sea Change can rejoice — producer Nigel Godrich, who worked
on both albums, is rumored to be the producer for Beck’s next
work). Sadly, what
Guero needs most is time.
Mutations,
Odelay and
Sea Change are so beloved, it may take a few years before
Guero finds its audience. Until then, it may not be album of
the year, but
Guero is the perfect soundtrack to enjoy a humid, late
spring day with a margarita.