Guero

The title is Mexican Spanish for blond. Beck told ABC's Nightline it was a word he heard growing up in a mostly Chicano part of Los Angeles, and Que Onda Guero is slang for what up, whitey. Beck made it after about 18 months of touring following the September 11 attacks, with the birth of his child approaching. More than 15 songs were considered. Broken Drum is dedicated to Elliott Smith. It was due on 26 October 2004 but was delayed by artwork, mixing and videos, and an unfinished version leaked in January 2005 under the title Ubiquitous. The cover art is by Marcel Dzama. It appeared on CD, on PSP UMD and as a deluxe CD and DVD with bonus tracks that include Send a Message to Her, Chain Reaction, Clap Hands and remixes. The remix album Guerolito followed in December 2005.

Jack White played bass on Go It Alone, Money Mark played organ on Earthquake Weather, Petra Haden sang backing vocals on Rental Car, and Christina Ricci has a spoken part on Hell Yes. David Campbell wrote strings for Missing and Emergency Exit.

The Dust Brothers used high-tech means to get a lo-fi sound. After recording a sonically perfect take in a Hollywood studio, they ran it through an Echoplex and a transistor radio. Christina Ricci was in the studio when Hell Yes was cut and was chosen after Beck and the Dust Brothers had spent weeks auditioning sushi waitresses. She is credited as Kurisuti-na. In early 2005 Beck put out the Hell Yes EP on iTunes on 1 February 2005 with remixes by 8-Bit and Paza, and five songs were featured in an episode of The O.C. on 10 March. Guerolito reworked the album track by track, with remixes by Boards of Canada, Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys and John King. Black Tambourine later appeared in David Lynch's Inland Empire and in the trailer for (500) Days of Summer, and Farewell Ride in trailers for the last season of The Shield.

Release and reception

It debuted at number 2 in the United States with 162,000 copies, and also reached number 2 in Canada, 15 in the United Kingdom and 14 in Australia. It was certified gold in June 2005 and had sold 868,000 in the United States by July 2008. Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield gave it four stars and said it was the first record since Odelay on which Beck mixes up the medicine. The Independent gave it five out of five, NME 8 out of 10, and Metacritic scores it 78. Pitchfork's Rob Mitchum scored it 6.6 and called it rote and calculated. It is on the 1001 Albums list. Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called it Beck's most inviting work in years, and The Independent's Andy Gill picked out Missing. On Metacritic it holds a score of 78 from 39 critics. The Guardian ranked Que Onda Guero ninth, Missing 17th and Broken Drum 19th among Beck's songs.