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Beck
Guero
(Interscope)
The Music Box's #5 album of 2005
First Appeared in The Music Box, March 2005, Volume 12, #3
Written by John Metzger
Upon releasing Mellow Gold in 1994, Beck immediately was
coronated as
something greater than he was by a swarm of rock critics and music fans. Hailed
as the new Bob Dylan, folk rock’s answer to hip hop, and countless other
meaningless titles, he could have become overwhelmed by the attention, folded up
his tent, and gone home; or he could have regurgitated the contents of his
successful debut until everyone wished he had skipped town. Instead, he did what
any other savvy, self-assured songwriter would do: he met his applauding
audience on its terms by swiping a sample from Them’s rendition of Dylan’s
famous kiss-off It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, and he prominently featured
it on Jack-Ass, one of the finest tracks from his proper sophomore effort
Odelay. Since then, he’s been impossible to pigeonhole, simply because he
so frenetically has darted from one place to the next, shifting direction rather
dramatically with each subsequent release by alternating in his own Neil Young-ian
fashion between party anthems and pensive musings. Mutations was a
seductively subdued samba that served primarily as a spotlight for his rapidly
developing songwriting prowess; Midnite Vultures rummaged through an
array of funky grooves in a manner that slyly drew comparisons between the
excesses of the cocaine and "dot com" eras; and Sea Change, delved with a
newfound focus, into the emotional wreckage of a relationship that had
dissolved.
It only makes sense, then, that on his most recent effort Guero, Beck
would return, once again, to exploring the kaleidoscopic swirl of funk and hip
hop-laced rock, and in a sense, he does. Reunited with the Dust Brothers, who
previously collaborated with him on both Odelay and Midnite Vultures,
Beck begins his sixth major label outing with the one-two punch of E-Pro
and Que Onda Guero, and at first glance, the pulsating beats, jubilantly
elastic rhythms, and the junkyard collage of sonic reverberations seem both
familiar and expected. Yet, as Guero progresses, it’s clear that he has
other things on his mind. Girl’s warm, sunny, Beach Boys-inspired
arrangement masks the song’s chilling lyrics, which relay the ritualistic
obsession of a serial killer’s thoughts; the heartache of Missing is
submerged within a mesmerizing Brazilian pop groove; the bittersweet Broken
Drum, with its ambient drone, falls somewhere between Syd Barrett and Up-era
R.E.M.; Farewell Ride’s contemplation of mortality sounds like an old
spiritual as sung by a modern day Jim Morrison; and Rental Car is born as
a blast of ’60s-era garage rock, but at its midpoint, it ventures into someplace
delightfully strange and different.
In other words, Guero is not at all identical to Beck’s prior outings,
yet it also is quite like them. That may seem like an unusual paradox, but his
most recent song cycle essentially is a fusion of everything that he has ever
concocted. The difference between this and his previous endeavors is that as he has
matured, he has gained some much needed direction. Not only have his lyrics
grown more poignant and personal, but his post-modern pop experimentation also
has lost its gimmicky qualities. As a result, Beck now sounds less like he’s
dressing himself in an array of different costumes just to see how they fit, and
more like he simply is being his eclectically-inclined self. The result is as
magnificent as the most stunning patchwork quilt, and without a doubt, Guero
is the sound of an artist in full command of his talent. 
Guero is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
For Canadian orders, please
Click Here!
For UK orders, please
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Guero [Limited Edition CD/DVD Set] is available
from Amazon.com. To order, Click Here!
Ratings
1 Star: Pitiful
2 Stars: Listenable
3 Stars: Respectable
4 Stars: Excellent
5 Stars: Can't Live Without It!!
Copyright © 2005
The Music Box
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