The Turning Gate

Beck / Guero review

When Beck first hit the scene with Mellow Gold in the mid-nineties, it was an album unlike anything else out there. “Alternative” was the hot buzz word at the time, and record companies were indiscriminate with its use. But when they applied it to Beck, they applied it to one of the very few artists who truly were alternative.

Beck’s music blended genres into something bizarre and compelling. It defied the mainstream, and yet is was embraced by the mainstream. That was 1994. Eleven years later, Beck shows that he hasn’t lost it — whatever it was that made Mellow Gold so damn cool back then. His latest, Guero, is arguably his best yet.

Other reviewers have drawn comparisons between Guero, Mellow Gold and Odelay, but I don’t think that’s very fair. Mellow Gold wasn’t nearly so cohesive as this latest release, and was a much more grating album by comparison — riddled as it was with explicit lyrics, shrieking guitars, screaming, distortion and other grated noises. It was an amazing record, but not nearly so musical as Guero.

As for Odelay, let’s just say that I subscribe to the camp that felt the album was incredibly overrated, and we’ll just leave it at that.

The thing that Guero has in common with these releases is that it’s one of Beck’s upbeat, fun albums. From there, leave all comparisons at the door and prepare to be impressed.

Where Beck mastered the downer on the brilliant Sea Change, he now turns the dial to the opposite extreme, mastering the upper with Guero. If Beck only ever released these two albums, as different from each other as men from women, he’d still be a phenom. But enough with comparisons!

“E-Pro” was a no-brainer for the album’s first single, and kicks things off right as the album’s first track. There’s no introduction, no ambient fade-in. Guero opens with “E-Pro”‘s sonic assault — the phat riffing of that funky guitar. Commence head-bopping, foot-stomping, ass-shaking. This shit rocks.

The album’s next two tracks, “Que Onda Guero” and “Girl”, could easily be future singles. The former finely displays Beck’s unique take on hip-hop; the latter is pure pop song.

From rock to hip-hop to pop, the opening tracks couldn’t be more different from each other, and yet they fit together perfectly, wildly diverse siblings and the perfect beginning to what is, from front to finish, an incredibly well-realized album. Honestly, the first three songs would make it a worthy purchase on their own.

But the album continues to grow and expand through the lush string arrangements and almost South American styled guitar of “Missing”, the gentle groove of “Black Tambourine”, the laid back sing-along chorus of “Earthquake Weather”, the quiet beauty of “Broken Drum”, and on and on and on …

The album stands as a testament to Beck’s musical maturity. In Guero he has made his finest showing. As diverse as the songs may be, not one is out of place. The album maintains fidelity all the way through; the songs flow one into another naturally. It’s a marvelous blend of rhythm and melody, doled out in perfect portions.

One never knows what to expect from Beck from album to album, or even from one song to another. But what we can be assured of is that wherever he may take his music, he will continue to innovate, continue to grow as a musician, continue to defy definition and categorization, and continue to be brilliantly unpredictable.

Do I like Guero? No. I love it. And between this and Sea Change, Beck is arguably one of the most original and ingenius musicians of our time.

Guero is pure gold, and there’s nothing mellow about it. Head still bopping, feet still tapping, ass still shaking … can’t … stop … moving …

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