Guero

Infobox Album
Name = Guero
Type = studio
Artist = Beck


Released = March 29 2005
Recorded = September 2003 – nowrap|August 2004
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 49:58
Label = Interscope
Producer = Beck Hansen, Dust Brothers
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:1pzyxdjb5olj link]
*Alternative Press Rating|5|5
*"Entertainment Weekly" (A-) [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,1041473_4_0_,00.html 2005]
*"The Guardian" Rating|4|5 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/fridayreview/story/0,12102,1439858,00.html 2005]
*"The Independent" Rating|5|5 [http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article6735.ece 2005]
*"The A.V. Club" (mixed) [http://www.avclub.com/content/node/16173 2005]
*Pitchfork Media (6.6/10) [http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/15361-guero 2005]
*PopMatters (7/10) [http://www.popmatters.com/music/reviews/b/beck-guero.shtml 2005]
*Review-Christgau|hm3|album=12827
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/beck/albums/album/7207917/rid/7209508/ 2005]
*Yahoo! Music (8/10) [http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/050331/33/1xk16.html link]
Last album = "Sea Change"
(2002)
This album = "Guero"
(2005)
Next album = "Guerolito"
(2005)

"Guero" is the sixth major-label studio album by Beck, first released in March 2005. It debuted on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart at #2 (where it went gold), and in the UK at #15 (where it went silver). To date, this is Beck's highest charting CD. It is seen by many reviewers as a return to the style of "Odelay", his 1996 album, mainly because this album, like "Odelay", utilizes production duo the Dust Brothers. It also recalls "Mutations" in places with its Brazilian influences. "E-Pro" was the album's first single, with "Girl" as the follow-up. As of July 2008, "Guero" has sold 868,000 copies in the United States. [cite web|accessdate=2008-07-18|url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/ask_bb/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003829442|title=Ask Billboard|publisher=Billboard|date=2008-07-18]

Background

An unmixed and un-mastered version of "Guero" was leaked in January, under the title "Ubiquitous". The track listing differed slightly from the officially announced track listing of "Guero". The album was released simultaneously in three formats: a standard 13-track CD with none of the bonus tracks or remixes, Playstation Portable UMD, and a DVD/CD combo pack. The CD included all the below listed tracks while the DVD featured a 5.1 surround sound mix of the 13 album tracks along with abstract, multi-angle videos by visual artists D-Fuse as well as other videos and special features.

The track "E-Pro" was remixed by Paza Rahm and released on the "Hell Yes" EP as "Bad Cartridge". The EP was released on vinyl, as an iTunes Music Store download, and in CD format for college radio."E-Pro" was Beck's first number 1 since his debut single "Loser".

Jack White of The White Stripes plays the Guitar on "Go It Alone". Money Mark, solo artist and keyboardist for the Beastie Boys, plays the organ on "Earthquake Weather". Petra Haden, formerly of that dog and The Rentals, provides an intricate backing vocal track for "Rental Car". Christina Ricci provides the cameo voice in "Hell Yes".

"Güero" (pron. IPA ['wero] sounds like "Wher-roh" in English) is a Mexican slang term in Spanish for a pale-skinned or blonde-haired person. Beck cites having been referred to as a "guero" throughout his childhood, lending the title of the album and the track "Qué Onda Guero ["sic"] ".(In Mexican slang, "¿Qué onda güero?" means "what's up, blond boy?" or "hey, white boy". See List of Chicano Caló words and expressions)

Beck released an album of "Guero" remixes called "Guerolito" later in 2005.

The song "Black Tambourine" was featured in the David Lynch film "Inland Empire".

The song "Farewell Ride" was featured in FX trailers promoting the final season of The Shield.

Track listing

# "E-Pro" (Beck Hansen, Dust Brothers, Beastie Boys) – 3:22
# "Qué Onda Guero" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 3:29
# "Girl" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 3:30
# "Missing" (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Marcos Vinicius de Moraes, Carlos Eduardo Lyra) – 4:44
# "Black Tambourine" (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Eugene Blacknell) – 2:46
# "Earthquake Weather" (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Mark Adams, Steve Washington, Daniel Webster, Mark Hicks) – 4:26
# "Hell Yes" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 3:18
# "Broken Drum" (Hansen) – 4:31
# "Scarecrow" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 4:16
# "Go It Alone" (Hansen, Jack White, Dust Brothers) – 4:09
# "Farewell Ride" (Hansen) – 4:19
# "Rental Car" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 3:05
# "Emergency Exit" (Hansen, Dust Brothers) – 4:02

Bonus tracks on limited edition DVD release

#

"Send a Message to Her" (also a bonus track on the UK release, Australian release and Japanese tour edition) – 4:31
# "Chain Reaction" (also a bonus track on the UK release and Japanese tour edition) – 3:28
# "Clap Hands" (also a bonus track on Japanese tour edition) – 3:18
# "Girl" (Octet remix)
# "Broken Drum" (Boards of Canada remix)
# "Still Missing" (Röyksopp remix of "Missing")
# "Fax Machine Anthem" (Dizzee Rascal remix of "Hell Yes")

Personnel

*Beck – vocals, guitars, bass guitars, additional sounds, percussion, slide guitar, 12-string guitar, clapping, stomping, programming (music)
programming, tambourines, harmonica, vocoder, piano, celeste, drums, beats, keyboards, kalimba, strings arranger, art direction, design, producer, recording, mixing
*The Dust Brothers – beats, claps, producers, recording, mixing
*Paolo Díaz – "dude" (speaks in the background of "Qué Onda Guero")
*Charlie Capen – additional sounds
*David Campbell – strings arranger
*Roger Joseph Manning Jr. – clavinet
*Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass, guitar sounds
*Money Mark – organ
*Joey Waronker – drums
*Smokey Hormel – electric guitar
*Jack White – bass on "Go It Alone"
*Petra Haden – vocals
*Danny Kalb – engineer

Related links

*MusicBrainz album|id=c3619bbc-887b-4012-9024-0b7806333c4d|name=Guero (standard edition)
*MusicBrainz album|id=e62ac8b0-2c58-4e03-85bc-bd828c10e8a8|name=Guero (limited edition)
* [http://www.dfuse.com D-Fuse]

References