Guero by Beck

Guero, Beck's ninth album, arrived on Interscope in March 2005, and it's the sound of the restless magpie of alternative rock going back to the kitchen where he cooked up Odelay. He produced it with John King and Mike Simpson of the Dust Brothers, his partners on that 1996 record, with Tony Hoffer also at the controls, and the old chemistry is right there: loops, grooves, junk-shop noises and hooks all tumbling over each other.

The range is typically wide. "E-Pro" hits with a heavy, stomping riff that sticks like tar, "Girl" is a sunny, jangling pop song with something sly lurking under the brightness, "Hell Yes" is a jittery, robotic strut, and "Que Onda Guero" shuffles along in a loose, street-party haze. Elsewhere there are flashes of country twang and dancefloor bounce, and Beck flips between styles like a DJ with a crate of records and no rules.

Critics liked it, and so did everybody else: it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, still his highest-charting album, and by July 2008 it had sold more than 868,000 copies in the US. It also picked up a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Music Album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.