Beck = ???

Beck
Guero
Geffen Records

Like Monty Python’s Spanish Inquisition, Beck’s chief weapons have been surprise and fear. Each of his albums is either a recreation or a 180-degree turn from the previous. He’s shown himself to be an urban hipster, an earnest folkie, a pretender to the crown of George Clinton and, for a mercifully brief period, Jewel’s twin brother.

It’s been a long and strange trip, indeed. Fans who were hoping for some clarification on who Beck actually is will be disappointed, because Guero is a paradox of an album. It’s very entertaining, but not something you’d throw on at a party. It’s insanely complex in some areas and childishly simple in others.

Maybe Beck is really as musically schizophrenic as Guero suggests. You have the groove-heavy tracks, the homages to folk and psychedelia, a hint of punk and a dash of dance music.

It’s just too much for the mind to bear, actually, which is why the album sounds better when broken up into smaller, easier-to-digest chunks. In smaller doses, one can appreciate the individuality and eccentricity of each track, rather than trying to assimilate a wide-ranging, ambitious album.

If it’s possible to write a greatest hits album of all-new material, Guero would be a prototype. Everything Beck can easily pull off, he does. If you’ve heard Odelay, Midnite Vultures or any of his previous works, you’ve heard the tunes on this disc before.

“E-Pro” and “Hell Yes” are instant Beck classics that show he hasn’t put away his old Prince records just yet. And the rest of the cuts follow the same lovable Paisley Park-meets-Ani sound, except the ones that sound like the White Stripes, or the Beach Boys on crystal meth, or John Lennon on PCP.

Like Monty Python, though, you have to enjoy the initial joke to enjoy the entire thing and if Beck hasn’t impressed you in the past, this album won’t change your mind.

If you like Beck, you already own this album. But if you’re on the fence, give it a listen. It’s either his greatest all-time album or his worst. After a dozen spins, I still can’t determine which. Maybe that’s not a bad thing, but it certainly is frustrating.