So why is Beck’s Colors on this best 1,000 albums ever thing?
I’ve seen Beck live in concert twice to date and highly recommend it if you get the chance.
The first time was back in 1999 for the Midnite Vultures tour (#278 of best 1,000 albums ever), and more recently I caught the Colors tour in 2017.
That latter concert was held at a breathtakingly beautiful outdoor venue outside of Seattle, Washington on a picturesque summer evening. It was the perfect way to take in Beck – along with a group of friends who had all moved to Seattle recently, as I had – and an album that is as sunshiny, upbeat, and celebratory as his bummer/breakup albums Sea Change (#259) and Morning Phase (#788) are gorgeously melancholy.
When sitting down to write this piece, it also occurred to me that Beck has been with me – in that sense of artists and entertainers who enhance our lives in some small yet important way – for most of my adult life.
It’s been fascinating to watch Beck continue to evolve and creatively mutate (see: Mutations, #217) over his long career, and I’ve greatly anticipated every release he’s put out since “Loser” launched him into the national spotlight back in 1994.
So to state the obvious, I’m a massive Beck fan, and Colors includes two of the best songs he’s ever produced.
“Dreams” is the perfect culmination of all the upbeat, danceable music that Beck has released over decades, and as a bonus it’s outrageously catchy. It’s slinky and subtle and textured, as is the Colors album as a whole. Here’s more on the album and “Dreams,” from Wikipedia:
Beck described the recording process to music publication NME, saying, “for the first year, we were experimenting and there was a lot of trial and error. I was touring constantly while making it, so I was attempting to bring some of that energy back to the studio, which isn’t always the easiest thing to do. ‘Dreams’ was one of the early songs to come along and make me think the idea had legs.”
“Dear Life” is easily one of my favorite songs that’s come out over the last decade. I enjoy thinking about the strands of The Beatles and Elton John and Ben Folds that Beck pulls from on this one, but more than anything I deeply love belting out the chorus (pro tip: it’s become a karaoke go-to song for me).
And then there’s just something about the line dear life, I’m holding on that I find deeply relatable in its almost limitless interpretations.
“I’m Free” is Beck in rock/funk/dance-y mode. It’s pure fun, and a blast at that.
“No Distraction” calls back to the best upbeat Police numbers.
And “Fix Me” is a gentle, pretty come down song near the end of Colors.
Pop culture stuff that has something to do with Beck’s Colors
I’ll throw around statements like “Beck is insanely talented” and while that’s true, it’s a little bit of a generalization.
So let’s get more specific.
For example, Beck occasionally assembles a group of musicians for something they call Record Club. The idea is that the group gathers and records cover songs of one entire album that they select. They do this all in a single day, and what’s more, every song is a wildly unique spin on the original.
Not every song completely “works,” but that’s almost the point, right? The ones that do hit right are just absolute smashers.
Example: I’m forever deeply and madly in love with this Record Club cover of INXS’ “Need You Tonight” (as part of recording covers of the entirety of the classic Kick, of course). It’s chilled down yet exciting and bursting with life; it’s sexy as hell, really.
And what’s really cool here too is that Beck is just one of many players on this one – he’s credited on keyboard/synthesizer (as Beck Hansen, along with Aaron Hemphill). But it’s chiefly Annie Clark from St. Vincent on vocals (with some help from Angus Andrew) that steals the show on this one.
Here’s the playlist available for the Record Club session for INXS’ Kick.
Some stats & info about Beck – Colors
- What kind of musical stylings does this album represent? Dance Music, Alternative Pop, Rock Music, Pop Music
- Rolling Stone’s greatest 500 albums ranking – not ranked!
- All Music’s rating – 3.5 out of 5 stars
- When was Colors released? 2017
- My ranking, the one you’re reading right now – #112 out of 1,000
Beck’s Colors on Spotify
A lyrical snippet from Beck’s Colors that’s evocative of the album in some way, maybe
When nothing’s right just close your eyes, close your eyes and you’re gone.
What does the “best 1,000 albums ever” mean and why are you doing this?
Yeah, I know it’s audacious, a little crazy (okay, maybe a lot cray cray), bordering on criminal nerdery.
But here’s what it’s NOT: a definitive list of the Greatest Albums of All-Time. This is 100% my own personal super biased, incredibly subjective review of what my top 1,000 albums are, ranked in painstaking order over the course of doing research for nearly a year, Rob from High Fidelity style. Find out more about why I embarked on a best 1,000 albums ever project.