Beck / Colors — Review
If you don’t know Beck for “Loser”, you might know him for “Dreams” the first single that dropped from this album that also graced the FIFA 16 Soundtrack. If those aren’t familiar; he’s the guy who beat Beyonce’s Self Titled album at the 2015 Grammys that everyone was pissed about. Colors is his 13th studio album; riding off the credentials for a career that spans over two decades, “Morning Phase”’s critical acclaim and the hype achieved by “Dreams” and the cluster of singles and appearances he’s made over the past year.
For those aware of Beck’s monumental back-catalogue of albums, do not expect anything from Morning Phase. Don’t really expect anything he’s done before. Most of the charm and quirk of projects like “Odelay” and “Guero” have gone, as has the grit of “Mellow Gold”. What we have with this album is loud and rambunctious pop-rock. And don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with it, however, it’s far from what long-term fans of Beck will want and expect. New fans will be thrilled; the album is fun and vibrant, however, long-term fans like myself may feel this album feels a little like a Dad having a midlife crisis.
Thankfully, the strong points of this album do harken back to Beck’s roots. “Dear Life” is the closest thing long-term fans will associate with Beck’s sound. “Fix Me” feels like a spacey return to his pre-2014 work, and it is probably the most authentic song on the album. Personal favourites for me are “I’m So Free”, it’s so annoyingly catchy and infectious, it’s impossible to keep that song off repeat, even if the speak-singing of the pre-chorus seems unnatural and forced. It’s a good song. I’m sure it will appear on many pre-drinks playlists. “Colors” is also a strong opener; with the echoey vocals of the chorus, and the sweeping-turned-kaleidoscope instrumentals, however, they don’t feel like Beck, they feel like a Coldplay project.
The album mostly fails in the singles released in anticipation of its released. “Wow” is just not good. I’m going to say it. The slide-whistle-esque instrumentals and the barebones bass instrumental, needlessly decorated with weird sound effects, including growls of animals and keyboard samples, just aren’t really my cup of tea, neither are the spoken verses. It just sound’s like it’s trying too hard. “Up All Night” also has one of the weakest choruses I’ve heard; compensated for by the instrumentals, which all sound the same. And the re-work of “Dreams” is such a letdown. While it starts off fairly similar to the single version with the snazzy and sassy guitar; the vocals are weaker in this version. It just sounds like Beck cannot keep up with himself who wrote this two years ago, and therefore added on the reverb to compensate. I don’t think those who were introduced to Beck through Dreams will be too pleased about this rework either, not just me. Luckily for all involved, on Spotify, the original version of Dreams is still on the album for us to enjoy and remember the good old days. Even if it’s just to remember when the lyrics to “Dreams” were “Stop fucking with my dreams”. Those were the days.
Overall the album is sonically cohesive, however, Beck has followed up his Grammy Award-winning efforts with something that features some of his worst work on it. It’s certainly no Grammy Award contender. And not everything has to be worthy of a Grammy to be likeable and good. But some of the efforts on this album fall short of the potential we expect of Beck. Don’t get me wrong, some of the songs here are so much fun to listen to. The album explodes with life, however, it’s just elaborately confusing to believe it’s come from Beck.
It’s OK.
Originally published at thatemskid.blogspot.com on October 13, 2017.
