Album Reviews |

Weezer

Weezer 7 ( 1994 )
My Name Is Jonas / No One Else / The World Has Turned And Left Me Here / Buddy Holly / Undone - the sweater song / Surf Wax America / Say It Aint So / In The Garage / Holiday / Only In Dreams

A forty one minute long pop album. Fuzzy grungy distorted guitars but always retaining a grasp of melody. The sound of the guitars can get wearying over the course of the album as a whole. It would have been nice to have a few more different sounds, guitar wise. 'My Name Is Jonas' is so good however you don't mind too much. It certainly does display a winning way with melody. The vocals are undistinguished but suit the style of music. Harmony parts are present to add to the occasion and this does help. This album's main selling point was and remains 'Buddy Holly'. A single with a 'Happy Days' video. You've seen it? So have I. So has everyone! This one song....well....it's a pop song. Plain and simple. Nothing more, nothing less. The guitars fuzz and distort away and the melodies shine through. I like the little 'whoa hoo' vocal parts. I don't love the song, I do like it though. It becomes simply irritating after a few listens. I've heard the song hundreds of times now. It's on MTV seemingly every ten minutes. Maybe I’m just unlucky? No fair - I hear Weezer fans cry! It's not Weezers fault of course they wrote an incredibly catchy song, married it to a great video and watched their career take off. That sounds like a good thing doesn't it!? Let's just say I have mixed opinions AND emotions concerning this song and leave it that that.

We have another single with 'Undone - The Sweater Song'. The lyrics are cute. Sort of. The musical track is unimaginative to say the least though the actual melodies are fine. 'Surf Wax America' is a highlight for me. Starts well with a little jangly guitar sound. Beach Boys type surfin lyrics. 'We're going surfin.....'. I like it :) 'Say It Aint So' varies the sound and mood of the whole album quite dramatically and is all the more alluring because of it. Nicely relaxing. Harmonica opens 'In The Garage' before that famous Weezer guitar sound kicks in and spoils everything. Sorry, I’m being harsh again! I know I know...... The thing is. I'll come clean here. I really HATED 'Buddy Holly' and swore myself against Weezer for life. So, of course, here I am listening to the thing and being won over by the melodies. Yes, I would have liked the sound of the guitars more varied. That continual fuzz on the guitars does get irritating. The album isn't ambitious, just a nice collection of melodies married to intelligent lyrics.

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Readers Comments No1Yanks23@aol.com This is one of the best albums ever man. Sure Buddy Holly isn't a highlight here, but it's a great song, just like the rest. Everyone knows how much I love Weezer, so I'll stop talking. Trevor Evans-Young Paradoxx75@msn.com i'm not the biggest weezer fan in the world, but i would give this album a 9. not ambitious? just because you have an album that doesn't do something 'unpredictable' does not mean it isn't ambitious. weezer achived something great on this album, a bunch of feel good, high quality songs, with good points. the last song on here is not that great though, i'll give ye that. sometimes easy listening songs with great morals are all you need in an album, though. - Doxxman Geek USA g33kusa@hotmail.com umm, you were either drunk or high when you wrote ththat weezer review. the blue album is THE BEST weezer album. i think most of your review belongs to the green album, or that crappy new maladroit one. The vocals are undistinguished but suit the style of music." what the hell? name another band that sounds like that.. "Harmonica opens 'In The Garage' before that famous Weezer guitar sound kicks in and spoils everything." actually, one of the best parts of weezer is/was its simplicity. sure, i like love and charish complicated music (eg. the smashing pumpkins), but weezer once had the ability to use catchy rifs and empty space to its advantage. Jason Motell JMOTELL@stny.rr.com A seven!?!?! This is a little harsh. I don't care if you swore off the band--a 7!!! TLC got an 8. TLC! Yes "Creep" and "Waterfall" are good, but that's basically it. This Weezer album is far better musically, lyrically and overall. Pablo Honey gets a 1/2 point higher than this album! I love Radiohead, but Pablo Honey is no where near as melodic, as charming, or as unique as this album. I admit that I don't own any other Weezer CD, and am not really a fan, but this album is funny, catchy beyond belief, and one of the best pure pop albums of the 80s, 90s or 00s. At the least, an 8. Jerome jewuda@gmx.de This is a very good album. Of course there's nothing new or revolutionary, just a rock band that plays ten catchy pop songs. My favourites are "No One Else", "In The Garage" and "My Name Is Jonas". And I really like the "In The Garage" lyrics. Overall I'd give it an 8. But the second album "Pinkerton" is their masterpiece Glenn MITCHELL glenn@mitchell1818.fsnet.co.uk Hey you haveing a joke This album is so consistent witch is the one of the most important factors of an album right and life I spose but this album was great. The lyrics a great ‘Rivers’ has the best voice in this type of music I mean ‘only in dreams’ did that not take you away some where and did not ‘In the garage’ make you think of that place where you can feel safe your special something. OH maybe im going over the top NO it’s a master piece god please listen again particularly the world has turned and left me here they are the best thing to come from the nineties I mean 7 is good mark but I think a 10 is in order here. P.S. when you goona review the other weezer albums I mean you reviewed 3 Robbie Williams albums who sucks and you hate him soo go buy WEEZER boy please. Erin Shinigami156@aol.com I hate buddy holly, and yet love this album. take another look at only in dreams. the guitar solo is so awesome and say it ain't so is an amazing song. sorry, guess i'm just a happy weezer fan. pinkerton was a better album. Leo Maguire England OK so this album is not revolutionary in any sense but I think its worthy of an 8 no matter what your grading system is. It doesn't work at low volumes, the only way to listen to it is cranked up high. What makes this album is the simple effective chord progressions, the great harmonies and the occasional arpeggios. Its one of those albums that while almost childlike in places always seems well crafted and Rivers Cuomo is talented in this sense. Sometimes it's simplicity makes for better music than say, self-indulgent intellectual wank-fests (not that that sort of music doesn't also have its time and place).

Historical site notice, this review chronologically was the third written for this page, with 'The Green Album' being the 2nd. Thanks.

Weezer seemed to fall off the face of the planet with this, their 2nd album release. Rather than merely repeating the same thing that made them popular in the first place, they take a different route. This was unavoidable, River Cuomo was having some period of trouble at the time, and following this album, ending up putting the band on semi-permanent hiatus. A cliche follows but it happens to be true, his pain was our gain. Having something to actually write about helped Weezer hugely in this case, although lack of record label support prevented this album being appreciated at the time of release. The band themselves even seemed unsure of the relative merits of the material. We do have some almost shockingly honest admissions from the frontman, sexual fantasies with 'Across The Sea' ( I wonder what clothes you wear to school, I wonder how you decorate your room, I wonder how you touch yourself and curse myself for being across the sea. ) and an honest approach to discussing relationships and such fantasies. 'Pink Triangle' offers us the lines Everyone's a little queer/ why can't she be a little straight?. Weezer went through a 'growing up' process at the same time as a lot of their audience, and such a thing can be a powerful hook. Turning away from youthful frolics to going through the mating and dating game, which is generally a period in a persons life where pain and loss is experienced. The good and bad, the fantasies and events inbetween, Weezer document such experiences here. The music both more extreme and more subtle at the same time than the occasionally lightweight fuzz bounce of the bands debut. Lyrically, it's an impressive journey with River in some kind of dark place and ending the album with an acoustic lament I'm sorry, i'm sorry and into silence we go. Literally with the case of Weezer, they didn't release anything for another five years.

'Tired Of Sex' is an immediately impressive opener for me, the arrangement and playing more developed than the occasionally fuzzy mush that was 'The Blue Album'. 'Getchoo' hits very hard musically and contains an actual proper, persuasive guitar solo, to boot. 'Why Bother' is my personal favourite actual tune on the album, everything comes together as well as it ever has on any Weezer song. The lyrics have a point and purpose, the music is purposeful too and arranged and put together intelligently. For two minutes and eight seconds, Weezer send genuine chills down my arms, not in a scared way, rather a 'hey this is magical stuff' way. This album grows with repeated listens in the way all the best music does. Occasionally it does seem slightly too much putting down diary entries to music, but they generally keep that out of the problem equation, the songs are so well put together and there isn't a bad one here. The final rating? Well, 8 and a half from me is an excellent rating, I can't quite give it more than that and deem it a classic. All I can to say to close is that it's a damn shame the band more or less brokeup at this stage, because they were just starting to get somewhere. When they did comeback, they switched directions and lost something in the translation. Ah well, that's life. That's all there is.

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Readers Comments Danny danny@leftoffthedial.com hey did lose something. That something would seem to be Matt Sharp (if you ask me) who fell out with Rivers during this album. He claims a large influence on "Pinkerton" before he left the band. I can enjoy the "Green album" but not at all in the way I enjoy their first two discs. Matt Sharp was the only one in the band that I think that could butt heads with Rivers and keep him on task. Afterwards Rivers started asking kid fans on the internet for feedback on his demos?!? The dude's a nutcase, and he needed Matt's well-grounded influence. I like both Rentals albums far more than the post "Pinkerton" discs. Steve steve@overlee.com Glad you finally reviewed this album. I agree with most of your reviews and even though I think this review should be a little bit higher, 8.5 isn't bad either. Strange that you chose Why Bother as your favourite song, I thought it was the weakest on the album. The solos alone in "Falling for You", "Good Life" and "Pink Triangle" are damn sweet and often give me goosebumps. Overall it's a fantastic album, and if you ever decide to revisit the Blue Album, listen to "Only In Dreams" one more time.

Thirty minutes worth of music five years after your previous album? Everybody still only remembers that 'Buddy Holly' song, apart from your hardcore fanbase? You've had a tough time, line-up changes, etc, etc. Your second album was panned? I suspect the first one would have been were it not for 'Buddy Holly' becoming a hit song. You see, that's just my speculation. Weezer were never innovative or clever, they just wrote songs you could hum along with. Yet, Weezer commit a crime that I despise amongst bands, whomever those bands might happen to be. The crime is thus, the 'mush' sound. This mush sound means you can't tell any instrument apart from each other. Everything just swims into a particular and single noise, above which the singer provides a vocal melody more or less in tune with the lead guitar. You can't actually hear the lead guitar, it just merges with the bass and drums. Zero separation. A lot of bands fall foul of this crime, and have done for quite a few years now. Plus, Weezer are so american it hurts, so very american college rock. They wouldn't have even got signed were they a UK band. Why? Well, because in the UK? Let's say Weezer were from Bolton, or Hull. You see what I'm getting at here? If you are an American reader, possibly not. I'm just trying to point out a few cultural differences, and believe it or not, cultural differences play a far bigger part in this old music world of ours than anybody has ever led you to believe. Cultural differences are always hugely played down. Nobody wants to attract any controversy, after all, do they? To the Americans, artists can always be 'too british'. To the British, apparently no artist can ever be too American, because half of the population seemingly want to flee this country anyway. Who gives a shit? Well, yes. Bands can be 'too american' the same way in the US, bands can be 'too british'. A cultural divide exists, despite a shared language. We are, contrary to popular ( bush and blair ) belief, actually two entirely different countries after all.

I'll reveal something here right now, in this review. Bob Dylan is liked in countries that don't speak english, loved in fact, despite the misconception that anybody could only ever love him for his lyrics. Not true, his music and the emotion behind the music and the vocals hold sway. My favourite band, one of the most American bands imaginable, are The Beach Boys. They are huge in Japan, China, everywhere in fact. The emotion in the music and the vocals and the way such emotions are presented, something intangible, hold sway. So, Weezer sound very American? Well, they do, but it wouldn't be a problem were anything actually going on here. Too many songs are just lowest common denominator, no inventive melodies and a sound heard so many times before by bands not actually as good as weezer are capable of being, yet weezer appear to me to be incredibly lazy with their music. One or two moments arrive, 'Island In The Sun' is very well crafted, 'Hash Pipe' rides along finely with its bass groove. Yet, so little else here stands out. Nothing is bad, yet everything else just isn't memorable.

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Readers Comments Danny danny@leftoffthedial.com Hey Adrian, nice review on Weezer. Ha, I hope people don't slam you with comments! I agree they can be quite over-rated, but as a minor American fan, i'll just say this. In the 90s, they were the only significantly popular rock band that played Pop music in the US in an understated fashion. Every other band on the radio acted so self-important. Bands like the Smoking Popes did Weezer better than Weezer, but Weezer somehow broke mainstream, and thus they changed the way hordes of Americans looked at rock music. I think that's why so many US listeners are wild weezer fans, you never forget the bands that open new doors for you. Steve steve@overlee.com A 5/10 is a good rating for this album. I, however, loved Weezer's first two albums and believe they hadn't written 1 bad song until this album. I'm a huge beach boys fan, like yourself, and I think you really need to give Pinkerton an honest chance if you love melody and harmony. It is their Pet Sounds (Maybe I shouldn't have said that), it's a great concept album, beautiful melodies and arrangements. Rivers has enourmous creativity, it's just not shown on this album nor their followup - Maladroit. Give Pinkerton a chance though, give it a few listens, I'd love to hear your review on it. JPK jpking@debevoise.com Another poor review on Weezer from you. You seem to be using Weezer reviews as vehicles for personal views on larger trends which may or may not be occuring in the music industry. Weezer are not innovative in the instruments they use, nor in the sound they produce -- it has been done before, true. But they hit harmonies, and write melodies and hooks as well as anyone out there at the moment. Frankly, it takes genius to be simple with a song and to make it work. In any event, I would argue that Rivers' voice and guitar work is different if not unique. Go and listen to "Tired of Sex" and "Across the Sea" on Pinkerton, "Crab" off the Green Album, "Slave" off Maladroit and "Say it Ain't So" off the Blue Album to name a few and you will hear rarely heard heartfelt songs, backed by simple, yet sufficient, structure, anthemic melodies and catchy riffs. A powerful combination in any era. Let's face it: you initially heard Buddy Holly in a negative frame of mind and it got overly po! pular and you took a stance and have not been able to reconcile them since. Nick, hockey_eh_24@hotmail.com Hey. I for the most part with the two Weezer reviews you have aldready done. I may have given the Blue album an 8, although I can understand that's probably because I'm a big fan of theirs. I would suggest giving Pinkerton a try. It may take a few whirls (or in my case a few months)before the melodic brilliance of the album sets in. I found it to be kind of a strange, awkward, diamond in the rough, after it sat on my shelf for months. Give it a chance. I'd like to see what you think. LIONESS roly@burnett.net.au Only a 5! That's mean! I agree that some of the songs are boring but don't you dare slam 'Island in the Sun' 'cause that is a great song! Chris chrisfret2004@yahoo.co.uk I was surprised to say the least to read your reviews of Weezer, especially this one!!Sure they have that kind of American 'emo' sound going on, but they're so far away from those fake, tuneless, watered down,manufactured 'emo' fuckwits who dominate the charts today. They invented this music for fucksake!It's abit like slagging off The Beatles just because they invented pop music and pop music has since degenerated into terminal dross!The melodies on this are first class, regardless of the musical style. Rivers is a talented writer - anyone who can write 'Island in the Sun', 'Photograph', 'Simple Pages' and 'Glorious Day' must have considerable talent!The only weak song is the last one. 9.5/10 Aaron amagram@nyc.rr.com i just wanted to let you know that you have a great site... you have a way with exuding these honest, non-biased opinions that are a far cry from the typical prejudiced reviews out there. anyhow, in reference to weezer's "green album", to me the album exemplifies one end of a particular rock album theory... there are the kind of albums that try to combine all their influences into a musical "stew" of sorts, and there are those that focus their craft on that ONE "sound"... and the "green album" is that kind of album, to an extreme. they did end up recording 3 or 4 times the amount of material on this album, but cut it down to what they saw as the best 28 minutes... and it all goes for that non-separated-everything-in-unison sound... even all the guitar solos mimic the vocal lines!...this is true of pretty much every single song on the album: it strives to epitomize the "sound" of weezer, stripped to its barest essentials...which i guess was an important goal for t! he band, seeing as they were out of the public eye for five years.... "pinkerton", on the other hand, definitely threw many other elements into the picture, especially emotion. so all in all, the "green album" ends up being the kind of album that people either love or hate: if you like the sound, then you most likely like the entire album. if not, then there's nothing really of value here. i guess you could call this the ac/dc theory? i don't know... anyhow, i think its a good record and it achieves exactly what the band and ric ocasek strived for. i mean, its obvious that the band had plenty of technical skill when you listen to their "maladroit" album, so you can understand that they truly were going for something here...there is an intense amount of craft on display. im not saying you have to like the album because of this... just that its the kind of album that clicks with you instantly if you are into that sound.

Death To False Metal 6 ( 2010 )
Turning Up The Radio / I Don't Want Your Loving / Blowin' My Stack / Losing My Mind / Everyone / I'm a Robot / Trampoline / Odd Couple / Autopilot / Unbreak My Heart

'Death To False Metal'? That'll be you then. Ah well, 'Death To False Metal' isn't really a new album at all, drawing as it does on songs dating back to 'Pinkerton'. What is the latest news with these guys anyway, I never was a fan. Ah, this is a contractual obligation to Geffen records, that once mighty powerhouse of the record industry. Anyway, thirty-two minutes of material here including a Toni Braxton cover. The album plays like an album, the rag-bag status of the material never a detraction upon the fairly reasonable enjoyment to be had - the first two songs both power-pop moments that would light up many a teen-comedy-romance flick. A couple of forgettable tracks then 'Everyone', a song for Weezer detractors to get mightily annoyed by. This is false metal, power-pop bordering on hard-rock with the usual Weezer 'mashed potatoes' sound that surely went out of fashion fifteen years ago? At least you can hear the drummer on 'I'm A Robot', sadly the song itself is B-Side material at the very best. Weezer, ah, you guys just keep plugging away don't you? How about re-releasing 'Buddy Holly', everyone loves that tune, yeah?

Rock music is great yeah? How about shambling incompetent muscians recording inventive, lo-fi indie that actually somehow manages to be magical? Weezer are the former, Pavement were the latter and I know which I prefer. Weezer always managed to be competent and deeply uninspiring - well, unless they went a bit mad in which case they could produce a decent album. Madness isn't something i'd wish on anybody though so why the hell are Weezer now just churning out album after album? Nothing here is terribly awful, 'Everyone' apart yet without driving in the LA sunshine with the windows down and a pretty blonde by your side Weezer just don't feel right. I live in England, it often rains. Weezer rarely feel right to me, perhaps it's cultural? Moving on, 'Auto-Pilot' hints at an exciting and never fully realised electro direction Weezer should persue more and the Toni Braxton cover? Would it really surprise you if I said they've turned it into a big sonic mush, a flattened mattress, a spoilt dietitian, a warts and all stone covered in moss, a trip to the library, a broken pair of headphones, a failed talent show audition, a top-hat in a launderette. Well, you get my sloping drift.

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