I can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that 2005 is nearly 20 years ago. That was the first thought I had when I started prepping for my latest installment of the Decades series, wherein I look back on my own favorite albums from a particular year as well as highly-regarded albums I missed at the time.

When I make it into the 2000s, as I will the next few weeks with 2005, I start to think in terms of recent releases. But 19 years ago isn’t all that recent. My life was so different when I listened to these albums for the first time, yet it seems like hardly any time has passed.

With those wistful thought behind me, let me get to the business at hand. I’ll start by counting down my ten favorite albums of 2005.

#10 – Guero – Beck

Beck’s ninth studio album came three years after 2002’s gorgeously somber Sea Change, one of the all-time great heartbreak albums.

This time out he re-teamed with producers The Dust Brothers, who helmed his 1996 breakout Odelay, to deliver an album closer in sound and spirit to the alternative rock/hip-hop approach of that classic.

Guero does have a mischievous streak, and it’s a fun listen, but there are traces of melancholy threaded into the party atmosphere. Today’s song, for example, is a tribute to Beck’s friend Elliott Smith, who took his life in 2003.

Few artists can tackle so many different styles so effectively, and Guero is a fine example of that versatility.

I’ve had Beck on my deep dive list for awhile now, and revisiting this album made me think I should bump him to the top.