Released March 29, 2005 Guero
(2005) Guerolito
(2005) Release date 29 March 2005 | Length 51:52 Artist Beck | |
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Recorded The Boat, Silverlake, CA
September 2003 – August 2004 Producer Beck Hansen, Dust Brothers, Tony Hoffer Label Insomniac/Interscope Records Genres Alternative rock, Indie rock, Alternative hip hop Nominations Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album Similar Beck albums, Indie rock albums | ||
Beck epro lyrics
Guero is the sixth official studio album and ninth overall by American musician Beck, released on March 29, 2005 through Interscope. It is seen by many as a return to the style of Odelay, mainly because this album, like Odelay, is produced with the Dust Brothers and Tony Hoffer. It also recalls Mutations in places with its Brazilian influences.
Contents
The album was promoted with three singles: "E-Pro" was the lead single, with "Girl" and "Hell Yes". 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 album and has sold 868,000 copies in the United States, as of July 2008. It has received positive reviews from critics.
Beck girl
Background
An unmixed and un-mastered version of Guero was leaked in January 2005, 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 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 bass 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 ware-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 "güero" throughout his childhood, lending the title of the album and the track "Qué Onda Guero" [sic]. (¿Qué onda, güero? is Mexican slang meaning "what's up, blond boy?" or "hey, white boy" or "where you going, blondie?". A literal translation is "what wave, whitey?" which is analogous in English to "what's happening?". 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 trailer for the film (500) Days of Summer, and episode 22 of season 4 of The Good Wife, as well as the 2006 video game Lumines II, and the video game Driver: San Francisco.
The song "Farewell Ride" was featured in FX trailers promoting the final season of The Shield.
The song "Broken Drum" is dedicated to Elliott Smith.
Artwork
The cover art was done by Canadian artist Marcel Dzama.
Reception
Guero received generally positive reviews from critics, holding a Metascore of 78 on Metacritic. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Track listing
The DVD contains:
- Audio visualization videos of the full album in 5.1 Dolby Digital and DVD-A
- Photos
- Two easter eggs for alternate "E-Pro" and "Black Tambourine" videos. They can be found in the "main menu" and the "speakers" menu, respectively.
Sample credits
"E-Pro"
"Missing"
"Black Tambourine"
"Earthquake Weather"
"Hell Yes"
"Go It Alone"
Personnel
Songs
1E-Pro3:22
2Qué onda güero3:29
3Girl3:30