It’s this freedom that as an artist Beck has built his career on and Colors proves he’s alive and kicking with it. He may not have two turn tables and a microphone but he’s certainly not lost the edge.
As both a quintessential entry into his catalog and a striking entry into mainstream popular culture, Colors once again cements Beck as a clever, ever-dynamic and enduring artist.
As his first upbeat album in nearly a decade, Colors proves that Beck is still one of rock’s most intrepid inventors.
Colors is a varied and blissful pop album that finds joy in our times, and Beck expectedly makes it interesting and vibrant to experience. He has decided to make something optimistic in the midst of so much unrest, and it succeeds in bringing a celebratory presence to a world that need it.
If you've missed Beck the musical collage artist, Colors is the one that should bring you back.
Colors is solid—Beck doesn’t make bad records, whatever mode he’s in—and it flirts with greatness, but he’s at his best when he decides to either get loose or get serious, less so when he drives straight down the center.
Unlike earlier Beck albums, Colors doesn't feel like a Whitman's Sampler, as he and Kurstin worked overtime to make sure this all sounds sleek and unified. While that might mean Colors doesn't offer the depth and intrigue of most Beck albums, it does mean it's a fun confection. It's a record that's designed to be nothing but a good time, and that indeed is all that it is.
Colors is a breezy, tightly composed party-starter of a record that doesn't demand much of the listener, but gives back generously.
Colors is Beck’s most plainly listenable record in years, and it doesn’t sound like a pallid rehash of any other Beck album, which is a plus. It’s genuinely hard to tell what it’s aiming for ... but its just under 40 minutes go by more briskly than anything else he’s ever made, and you’ll look up about half the time to see what a track is called.
Beck has been working on Colors since 2013, and by the sounds of a recent interview, spent a lot of time trying to get the balance of “not retro and not modern” just so. He more or less nailed that bit, but what’s lacking from his Big Happy Pop Record is some kind of strong emotion that could elevate these songs above the “well crafted but innocuous” camp—something more than an idea.
Beck is inclined to try out his sampling of assorted genres with plenty of whimsy, but it certainly doesn’t do much to quiet those who protested against his Grammy-winning upset, either.
Given Beck’s ability to redraw rock’s boundaries, Colors is depressingly short of real surprises, its energy a poor substitute for drama or ideas.
On Colors, Beck at times sounds like he’s chasing after styles and sounds that have led others to commercial success, instead of forging his own distinctive way forward and leaving us all to follow in his wake.
By no means is this an average album. In fact, there is nothing moderate about it at all: Colors is extreme, featuring some of the best and worst songs that Beck has ever written.
Despite the incessant theme of freedom on Colors, Beck’s idiosyncrasies seem constrained by a desire for maximum accessibility.
Whether Colors will be a success within the pop world it is clearly aimed at remains to be seen, but one suspects even pop fans will see through this for it appears to be: an album documenting a mid-life crisis.
Colors is like diet Beck. It’s the Beck record no one listening to Odelay in ’96 would ever have believed existed. It’s the lemonade stand on the too hot day and the ice melts reducing the potency of the product.
The problem with Colors is that where once he innovated, Beck now seems to be imitating the slew of fizzing faceless pop clogging the airwaves buried under a mesh of corporate production.
The version of pop foregrounded on Colors is status-quo male pop with occasional musical tweaks and turns, but with an overarching affect of moderate joy. Nothing about Colors substantially provides evidence of disruption or exploration.
The ultimate argument against Scientology - it's like Beck has had a personality transplant.
youre probably wondering why i scored this higher than morning phase and that's because at least some of the songs here are the funniest shit ever
like bro.. "Wow"? i was crying
most of this album does suck but at least I wasn't borderline sleeping throughout the whole thing
Dreams is still a hood classic tho
I’ve never heard an album that can capture a specific feeling in all 10 (No Dreams Colors Mix) songs perfectly. It is truly a love/hate tragic/happy album.
1 | Colors 4:21 | 83 |
2 | Seventh Heaven 5:00 | 71 |
3 | I'm So Free 4:08 | 73 |
4 | Dear Life 3:44 | 81 |
5 | No Distraction 4:32 | 69 |
6 | Dreams 4:57 | 86 |
7 | Wow 3:42 | 52 |
8 | Up All Night 3:10 | 79 |
9 | Square One 2:55 | 69 |
10 | Fix Me 3:13 | 73 |
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