Grade: B+ | Genre: Rock Summary: Re-teaming with The Dust Brothers, Beck didn't set out to make Odelay part deux, but to reintroduce us to Beck Hanson...the "Loser" that made good and who gave us a "Devil's Haricut." "It's a Latin-tinged tribute to his humble beginnings in East L.A." (Pitchfork)

Ah, the sweet smell of Spring is near. The gray is fading and green is starting to show through signaling a fresh start ... a new beginning.

The time is ripe for the coolest white boy*, Beck, to return to his true form with his new album, Guero. It's been far too long since we've cranked the b-boy beats to 11 and what better way of rushing us towards the summer than Mr. Hanson's own brand of "junkyard funk?"

Beck's beautifully somber Sea Change accompanied us into the Fall of 2002 giving us a vacation from our vacation. It was a time to breathe and to reflect on ourselves and the universe around us. Now's the time for "Guero" to shake us from our meditation and to bring back the party beats.

The album's first track/single, "E-Pro" kicks the door open with the first line of the album proclaiming, "See me comin' to town with my soul." He charts our paths through Guero without really letting us know what direction he's going. All we can do is follow and take in all the interesting sites and sounds along the way.

However, it's not all a party. "Missing" sounds like a Chris Cornell love letter to the one that got away but yet is always around. It's the painful reminders of lost love that Beck agonizes over, and we feel for his neurotic panting.

On "Chain Reaction," Beck steps out of the box, turns around and crushes it. He then glues the pieces together into a new shape and happily steps back in to finish showing us what he's been up to with tracks like "Go It Alone" and "Nazarene."

As you listen to more and more of Guero, you can see that Beck is all over the map. Decipher what you can because Beck is a complex dude, and you're lucky if you can make sense of what he's saying.

Re-teaming with The Dust Brothers, Beck didn't set out to make Odelay part deux, but to reintroduce us to Beck Hanson...the "Loser" that made good and who gave us a "Devil's Haricut." "It's a Latin-tinged tribute to his humble beginnings in East L.A." (Pitchfork)

Guero isn't earth shattering, and it doesn't accomplish anything new. It's Beck's awakening from hibernation, and we're glad to have him back.

Additional Note: Though the album has already made the rounds online, the official CD release promises a "bounty of reasons to purchase the real deal. Due March 29 via Interscope, 'Guero' will be released as a standard CD, a double-disc package with two videos and a 5.1 audio mix and a third edition featuring four remixes." (Billboard)

* Guero is Spanish slang meaning "White Boy."

For more music critiques by this reviewer, please visit PM Media Review.