Beck - Guero

Genre rock Publisher Interscope External Links Official Site Interscope

By the halfway mark of "Missing," the fourth song off of Beck's latest album Guero, I honestly felt that all of the advance disappointment that has piled up was just dead wrong. The weather in the Chicagoland area finally crept into spring temperatures of 66 degrees the day I first played this, and it seemed there would be no better soundtrack for this magical season than Guero. Alas, the album begins to sputter after "Missing," with only the occasional track salvaging the spirit of it's beginnings.

Sea Change may just be my favorite of Beck's albums once the artist's career has ended. And though I enjoyed Mr. Hansen's somber odes to breakups and forlorn love the most, that doesn't mean that I dismiss his funky side. Quite the contrary, my appreciation for 1996's Odelay only deepens over the years. Furthermore, I've finally come around to 1999's Midnite Vultures, and its white-boy love of the grooves of hip-hop producers The Neptunes and Timbaland.

But the mistake Beck makes on Guero is that he doesn't invest enough of his quirky personality into the proceedings. This is not an album of new visions and expressions. More accurately, it's a collection of new songs that mimic the Beck of the past. Predominantly, the album he falls back the hardest on is Odelay, but there are patches that bring to mind attitudes or sounds from his entire oeuvre'. "Emergency Exit" wouldn't sound out of place on Mellow Gold. While "Missing," and "Broken Drum" have that Sea Change vibe.

But there are two tracks that stand out as clear originals. "E-Pro," is a hard rocking number that features a pulverizing guitar and Bonhamesque drums. The track, co-written by Beck with the Beastie Boys (probably the best thing they've been associated with since their own "Sabotage"), is also generating a lot of heat on radio, becoming the second of his songs (the first, obviously, was "Loser") to hit number one on the modern rock charts.

The second track, simply titled "Girl," is all summertime breezes and Beach Boys retro gazing. Featuring an enticing chorus, and a simple dance beat, the song comes off as the theme song for a remake of Beach Blanket Bingo. If you enjoy driving with your cars' windows or top rolled down, then you need to have this song.

Guero is more of a stumble than a fall in the end thanks to punctuation mark songs such as "Hell Yes." And with the hit song "E-Pro," Beck doesn't need to worry about losing cultural relevance just yet. But if he continues to till his past instead of seeding for his future, he may find a dustbowl in place of a harvest.