Guero

For other uses, see Güero (disambiguation).

Untitled

Guero is the ninth (and sixth major-label) studio album by American alternative rock artist Beck, first released in March 2005 on Interscope Records. 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.

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 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 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, and the trailer for the film (500) Days of Summer.

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

The cover art was done by Canadian artist Marcel Dzama.

The song "Broken Drum" is dedicated to Elliott Smith.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Alternative Press
Entertainment Weekly	(A-)
The Guardian
Metacritic	(78%)
The Independent
The A.V. Club	(mixed)
Pitchfork Media	(6.6/10)
PopMatters	(7/10)
Robert Christgau
Rolling Stone
Yahoo! Music	(8/10)

Track listing

All songs written by Beck Hansen; additional writers in parentheses.

1. "E-Pro" (Dust Brothers, Beastie Boys) – 3:25
2. "Qué Onda Guero" (Dust Brothers) – 3:29
3. "Girl" (Dust Brothers) – 3:29
4. "Missing" (Dust Brothers, Marcos Vinicius de Moraes, Carlos Eduardo Lyra) – 4:43
5. "Black Tambourine" (Dust Brothers, Eugene Blacknell) – 2:46
6. "Earthquake Weather" (Dust Brothers, Mark Adams, Steve Washington, Daniel Webster, Mark Hicks) – 4:26
7. "Hell Yes" (Dust Brothers) – 3:17
8. "Broken Drum" – 4:29
9. "Scarecrow" (Dust Brothers) – 4:15
10. "Go It Alone" (Jack White, Dust Brothers) – 4:08
11. "Farewell Ride" – 4:18
12. "Rental Car" (Dust Brothers) – 3:05
13. "Emergency Exit" (Dust Brothers) – 4:02

Bonus tracks on limited edition DVD release

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

The DVD contains:

1. Audio visualization videos of the full album in 5.1 Dolby Digital and DVD-A
2. Photos
3. "E-Pro" and "Black Tambourine" hidden, ie not listed, video clips (to be found in the "main menu" and in the "speakers" menu above all options)

The album videos in the DVD have been continuously reported to present difficulties for playback. Nevertheless the freezing of the songs can be avoided by activating the subtitles track, which adds extra layers of visualisations.

Samples

E-Pro

• "So What'cha Want" by the Beastie Boys.

Missing

• "Voce e Eu" by Claus Ogerman & his Orchestra.

Black Tambourine

• "We Know We Gotta Live Together" by Eugene Blacknell [1] & The New Breed.

Earthquake Weather

• "What it Is" by The Temptations.
• "Coming Soon" and "Just Freak" by Slave.

Hell Yes

• "Far East Mississippi" by The Ohio Players.
• "Under the Influence of Love" by Love Unlimited.

Go It Alone

• "Outside Love" by Brethren.

Personnel

• Beck – vocals, guitars, bass guitars, additional sounds, percussion, slide guitar, 12-string guitar, clapping, stomping, 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
• Danny Kalb – engineer
• Petra Haden – vocals
• Tony Hoffer - Mixing
• Smokey Hormel – electric guitar
• Money Mark – organ
• Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass, guitar sounds
• Christina Ricci - voice saying "please enjoy" on "Hell Yes"
• Elliot Scheiner - Surround Mix (Deluxe Edition)
• Joey Waronker – drums
• Jack White – bass on "Go It Alone"

External links

• Guero at MusicBrainz (standard edition)
• Guero at MusicBrainz (limited edition)
• D-Fuse