Ty Listens to Beck's New Album "Colors"

Time to take a little break from sports and get back to other pop culture things for awhile. Today I want to review Beck's new album, "Colors". I have been waiting for this record since I saw Beck live over a year ago. He played a few of the songs live, teased the crowd that the record was coming soon, but much to mine and my brother's surprise, nothing came out for weeks. Weeks turned into months. Then Beck finally announced that the record was on hold due to some mixing and song choice stuff. So the wait continued. Finally, Beck announced that his record was going to come out on October 13th. I was still leery because this was a "Friday the 13th" day, but thankfully the record was released. I listened to it immediately, of course.

At first listen I was very happy with what I heard, but a tinge of disappointment hit me for some reason. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I had heard some people say that "Colors" was his funkiest record since "Midnite Vultures", but that was false praise. Maybe it is my unconditional love for "Midnite Vultures", and it will be nearly impossible for any Beck record to reach the love I have for that album, but I definitely do not think "Colors" is anywhere near "Midnite Vultures". So, the record was at an unfair disadvantage right off the bat. But, I kept listening. It is Beck, so I am not going to write it off after one listen. The more I listen to it, the more I begin to really enjoy it.

I think "Colors", while not "Midnite Vultures", is a nice change of pace from his last record, "Morning Phase". This is what Beck does. He changes the style/genre on every other album. He is incredibly versatile as a musician, and that is what I love about him. So, after getting over my comparison to "Midnite Vultures", and just taking "Colors" for what it is, a pop record, I have grown to like it more and more, as I said before. The record is fun. The songs blend seamlessly. Each song is more fun than the next. Beck and his band sound like they had a blast recording this record. With "Morning Phase" he went straight folk, and the songs were pretty sad, but with "Colors", it is all fun.

I love the first track, the title track, "Colors". It opens with a bang. It is a poppy blast of a song. I love to listen to it while I walk home from taking my son to school, or when I work out. In fact, this whole record is great for working out. The next four songs are very solid pop songs. "Seventh Heaven" is fun, with a great chorus. "I'm So Free" is one of the "slower" songs, but still pretty poppy and pretty good. I love the song "Dear Life". I love the piano. It is awesome. It ranks right up there with the all time great piano stuff Beck does. The song is the perfect running song too. "No Distraction" is a good change of pace. It is a bit more up tempo pop song. The next 2 songs are the "hits" from the record that he played live when I saw him. "Dreams" is a whimsical song that is so awesomely produced. The sounds and the instruments and the lyrics are just perfect. "Wow" is a hit. This is classic Beck. This is the funkiest, coolest and most like rap music song on the record. When he says, "jujitsu, coming at girl with a Lamborghini shitzu", I love it every time. We blast this song in my car. My son loves to sing the chorus. My daughter tells me, "it's our song daddy". Even my wife, who is a Beck skeptic, thinks "Wow" is great. This song is awesome. It is the best song on the record. The last 3 songs are a great way to close out a very good album. "Up All Night" is another fun, fast paced pop song. "Square One" is about as straight forward a song as one will ever get from Beck. It is actually kind of nice to hear him do a paint by the numbers pop song. The closer, "Fix Me" is truly wonderful. This song sounds like it could have been on "Morning Phase", but it is such a perfect fit to close out "Colors". Beck sings the song beautifully, and it is just a nice ending to a solid record.

Look, the wait made my anticipation go through the roof. That is unfair to a musician that constantly comes through no matter what. Beck has never put out a record that isn't well thought out and one that he hasn't worked incredibly hard on. You cannot say that about a lot of musicians that have reached his level of stardom. It was also unfair of whatever reviewer called it a modern day "Midnite Vultures". Nothing will ever be as good as that record. But, for what "Colors" is, a pop record, it is one of the better ones out there right now. This record proves how versatile Beck is, and how he still is making great music 20 plus years into an extraordinary career from one of the best/weirdest/most influential musicians of the 20th century. "Colors" only gets better the more you listen to it. That is the sign of a very good album. I highly recommend it to everyone that loves good music.  

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is just part of "silver foxes looking for romance in the chain-smoke Kansas flash dance ass pants."

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Beck Exceeds Already High Expectations in His St. Louis Live Show

The only thing missing is two turntables

This past Friday I had the pleasure of seeing Beck live at the Peabody Opera House in Saint Louis. Beck was on my personal "bucket list", or a "white whale" of sorts for me. He was a musician that I wanted to see before he quit doing live shows. So, when I found out he was coming to my hometown, I was going to find a way to go. My wife got myself and my brother tickets as an early birthday present. I was very enthused when she told me.

So the show came, and it was great. The opener wasn't so good, they were called CRX, and that is Julian Casablancas, of Strokes fame, new band. They sounded like a heavier, wannabe version of the Strokes. They only played for 30 minutes, which was the best thing about their set, the fact it was over so quick.

Then, after about a 20 minute break, to set up everything, Beck and his band took the stage. Beck came out on fire. He seemed pumped to be doing a show. He was very energetic from the get go. I think it helped that it was a Friday night. There is something about the beginning of the weekend that gives everyone a little extra pep in their step. And Beck was no exception. He opened the show with "Devil's Haircut". A classic right out of the gate. I loved it. The band was great all night, and it started with the shows opener. After that, Beck proceeded to play 20 songs that ran through almost his entire catalog. After "Devil's Haircut", we got some great gems like, "Black Tambourine", "Loser", "New Pollution" and "Que Ondo Guero". Each song sounded great. "Black Tambourine" was just as bouncy and poppy as I hoped it would be. He turned "Loser" into a funkier song than it ever seemed possible. "New Pollution" was straight up. It sounded like it was the original recording in the studio. He started "Que Ondo Guero" by stating that, when he was a young kid this is what the Spanish people would say to him all the time, and then Beck and the band played the song incredibly. So far, so great.

After these first 5 classics, he added other such great tunes like "Think I'm in Love/I Feel Love", "Soul of a Man", "Mixed Bizzness" and "Go it Alone". "Think I'm in Love" was awesome, and the fact that he added a little cover of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" at the end made the song that much better. That's the great thing about live shows, the unpredictability of what covers the band might do. This was a great choice. "Soul of a Man", which is probably my personal favorite Beck song, was great. It had that great distorted guitar, and Beck and his lead guitarist traded 2 awesome solos. It was a thing of beauty. We then got some funk with "Mixed Bizzness". "Soul of a Man" may be my favorite song, but "Midnite Vultures" is my favorite Beck album, and "Mixed Bizzness" is a classic. The band sounded great, and it was a great, funky change of pace.

To follow that up with the somber, yet upbeat "Go It Alone" surprisingly worked to perfection. This was a great way to go into the next portion of his show, which I call the "acoustic/moody" portion of the show. He played "Paper Tiger", "Lost Cause", "Heart is a Drum", "Wave" and "Blue Moon" all in a row. Now, I know it sounds like I may have disliked this part, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I thought it was a great time to slow down, and build up to the end of a show. "Paper Tiger" was great, and I liked that he used electric guitars for the live show, as opposed to the acoustic he used on the record. It sounded great. "Lost Cause" was phenomenal. Again, he used an electric guitar, but the song had the same somber mood that it always had. This is a great Beck song, and it was great to hear live.

Then he went into his "Morning Phase" portion, this being his big Grammy winning record, and played three songs in a row from the record. I got a bit nervous that he was going to play some of the weirder, slower songs,  but he only picked one of those, that single one being "Wave", which I really like. The other 2 from that record were the more upbeat in music on the record, being "Heart of a Drum" and "Blue Moon". This time he busted out the acoustic guitar, and it was the perfect choice. This slower portion was very good, and as I said, a very good change of pace and build up to the end of the show.

After the "acoustic/moody" portion, Beck played his 2 new singles, "Dreams" and "Wow". "Dreams" was a great throwback Beck song. It sounded like something that could have easily been on "Mutations". It was a bit more poppy, but it still had that folksy/acoustic feel to it. "Wow" is a hit. That song is incredible. I hope his entire new album follows the sound of "Wow". The song is uniquely Beck.

I loved everything, including the show that went on behind the band on stage. "Wow" was the absolute highlight of the night. He then finished out his set with "Girl", "Sexx Laws" and "E-Pro". "Girl" was awesome. It sounded great and Beck's vocals were awesome. We got some more funk with "Sexx Laws". We also got to see some of Beck's famous dance moves and he implored the crowd to show him some of their sexy moves. It was great. "E-Pro" was a great rocker to end his set with. The band crushed the song, and Beck had an awesome solo. It was tremendous.

The band did come out and they did one encore song, but it was an epic song, with 4 short covers in the middle. First off, the band started to play the opening riffs to "Debra", but instead of that, they went into "Where It's At", another mega hit. It sounded awesome. Then, in the middle of the song, Beck decided to introduce his whole band, and this is where the short covers came into play. He introduced his bass player first, and he played a few bars of "Good Times". It was very cool. Next up, the guitar player played and sang a bit of "China Girl". Again, it was awesome. The keyboard player was next, and he played a few lines from "Pocket Calculator" which were awesome. Then, the drummer, and for that fact, the whole band chimed in and they did some lines from "1999". It was stupendous. Who can cover Prince better than Beck? No one. They then went back into "Where It's At", and ended it with a bang.

This show was everything I hoped for, but it was so, so much more. This was one of the better live shows that I have ever seen. Thank you so much Beck for all the great music that you have made, and continue to make. I had such a great time at this show. Beck is an absolute legend. Everyone must see him live.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Are you playing live in St. Louis, tell us and Ty will come to your show. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.