The many faces of Beck

So one reason I've decided to start this site is to help others keep up with the current music scene when popular culture (mainly, Clear Channel-controlled radio) makes it quite impossible (or at least time-consuming) to do so. As such, I guess it's somewhat ironic that my first post will be on one of the more recognized faces of modern music: Beck Hansen, also known simply as Beck. Beck's new album, Guero (Interscope), has already hit number two on the Billboard album charts, so he certainly doesn't need me to plug his disc. However, in talking with friends and reading reviews, I feel that the album is being misrepresented, so I thought I would offer my two cents on Mr. Hansen’s latest full-length.

So how is the album being misrepresented? Well, for starters, many are touting Guero as the long-awaited follow-up to Beck’s most commercially successful album, 1994’s Odelay (DGC). Yes, it’s true that the album was produced by the Dust Brothers, who also produced Odelay. And it’s true that this is the first Beck album without a prominent live band since Odelay. However, I believe that most comparisons to Odelay are superficial. If anything, the album reflects a little of every style Beck has entertained. Sure, the album’s opening track and first single, “E-Pro,” is quite Odelay-ish, but it’s also co-written by the Beastie Boys, so what do you expect? (It’s also one of the more mediocre tracks on the album, in my opinion, despite its obvious radio-friendliness.) However, it also features “Missing,” with its calypso beat that would fit nicely into his roots and bossa infused 1998 effort Mutations (DGC), “Earthquake Weather,” which evokes his vocal stylings on 2002’s Sea Change (Geffen), and the electr0-funk of “Hell Yes,” which stands with anything he did on 1999’s Midnite Vultures (DGC). Now I might be biased, since Odelay is actually my least-favorite Beck album (though I do like it), but I think comparing Guero to Odelay is simply lazy.

Now a more accurate criticism of Guero would be that it’s simply Beck punching it in; that it’s formulaic and uninspired. However, I still don’t agree with this assessment. I think people who find this fault in Beck’s album have to keep two things in mind. First, Beck has addressed many genres throughout his career; unless he tries speed metal or punk, he will have to revisit genres already touched upon in earlier albums. However, that doesn’t make an album necessarily formulaic. After all, if that were the case, then most bands would be considered formulaic from their second album on (after all, wasn’t “Won’t Get Fooled Again” just “My Generation” without the stuttering?). On the contrary, I think Beck should be commended on making a cohesive album incorporating so many different sounds.

The second basis for this opinion, with which I would disagree, is that Beck’s offerings on his new album, in echoing songs past, are thus uninspired. Again, I think this assessment is inaccurate. I’ve read many reviews that equate songs on Guero with songs from Beck’s back catalogue, and often times the comparisons ring hollow. Yes, “Missing” features a Brazilian beat similar to Mutations’ “Tropicalia,” but that doesn’t mean he just said, “Hey, ‘Tropicalia’ was good; I’ll use the same beat and write another song like that!” That seems to be the basis for many people’s criticisms that Beck was just going through the steps.

So what’s the real reason for these criticisms? Personally, I think the problem is that, for me, the album loses steam in the second half, and that’s what lingers when you’re done listening to the disc. Perhaps latter dirges like “Farewell Ride” and “Emergency Exit” could be labeled uninspired, but, ironically, they sound the least like anything Beck has done so far. The tracks seem to combine the melancholy of Sea Change with the electronic sound of Odelay, and the results don’t work for me. But, if anything, they represent a new sound for Beck, and so any perceived failure can’t be blamed on Beck’s lack of innovation.

Overall, however, I think the first half of the album is well worth $15. “Qué Onda Guero” and “Girl” (I believe the second single off the album) are back-to-back tracks that are as enjoyable, and, dare I say it, inspired, as anything Beck has recorded in the past. Beck is one of those rare acts that seems to attract both critical acclaim and commercial success. While not perfect, Guero demonstrates how he has been able to walk that fine line for over a decade.