Beck
Colors
The man Beck Hansen is an enigma. The only thing you can predict about him is that he’ll do something completely unpredictable. His catalog is consistently all over the place in a way that there’s something for everyone if they explore it. Myself, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Beck for being the first artist to expose me to good music. With Odelay, he taught me that if you put in the work, music can open new doors. It might also help you impress a girl or two.
In many ways, Colors was an important album for Beck and a very ballsy move. Remember, his previous album Morning Phase was the Grammy winner for album of the year, and Beck, never one to play by conventions, followed it up with Colors, the almost complete opposite. Morning Phase was a calm and deep acoustic album, while colors is a flashy and upbeat dance party album. Now THAT takes guts. And, although many say that Colors didn’t get the attention it deserves, I think they’re confusing that with “didn’t win a Grammy for best album.” I’ll remind those people that Colors was a top 10 album upon its release and won a Grammy for best Alternative album and best Engineering. And that last one especially stands out, because the sound of Colors is BIG. Probably bigger than anything Beck has ever done.
Musically, Colors is full of bangers, the kind we haven’t heard since Midnite Vultures. Here, they are louder and more accessible. Can anyone deny the airy lightness of Dreams, the focus and relentlessness of No Distraction, or the existential cry for help of Dear Life? There’s also that introspective and ballady Beck we all know and love in Fix Me. It’s all here and right in your face.
An album this cool needs to be enjoyed on vinyl to really be appreciated. And what a package this is with a gorgeous and colorfully simplistic red vinyl. This is just one of the many packagings the album received with various other colors, gatefolds, and multiple LPs available. On vinyl, this record belongs on the dancefloor.
With Colors, Beck shows once again that this tiger has and will continue to change its stripes. It stands out as a unique effort in his catalog, and even though some fans might not get it, that’s OK. It’s a style reimaged by a curious and gifted mind.
