Wednesday, September 17, 2008
“Thought I Knew” is one of three songs off 2008’s Red Album to feature someone other than Rivers Cuomo on lead vocals. Those unfamiliar with the band’s history won’t appreciate just how surprising it was to hear that bit of news in the months before the album’s release. It hadn’t been since 1994’s Blue Album that […]
Monday, September 15, 2008
In general rock crit parlance, “space rock” refers to a subgenre innovated by bands like Pink Floyd in the 1970s, then revived and updated a couple decades later by the likes of Spacemen 3 and Failure (particulary on the latter’s masterpiece, Fantastic Planet). In Weezer parlance, however, “Space Rock” refers to probably the worst song off of Weezer’s […]
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Imagine my surprise when, in researching the previous post, I found out that Rivers Cuomo called “Beverly Hills” and “Falling For You” – two diametrically opposed pop songs – his two proudest musical achievements. Then imagine my surprise when, after “Beverly Hills,” the very next song to come up in the TVS randomizer was…”Falling For You.” Cuomo […]
Monday, September 8, 2008
It had been three years since anyone heard from Weezer. After 2001’s The Green Album and the following year’s Maladroit, both of which most die-hards had initially despised, the Early Album 5 demos were aborted, and for three years, virtually nothing seemed to be happening with the band at all. “Beverly Hills” was the single that ended the drought. As […]
At the time of its 2005 release, “Peace” was perhaps the most thematically thoughtful song Weezer had put on an album in the near-decade since Pinkerton. A lot of that has to do with Cuomo’s refrain — “I need to find some peace” — which refers to Cuomo’s then-nascent experiences with Vispasanna meditation. The acoustic guitar in the verse seems to represent […]
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Like Hamlet is a young man’s play, Pinkerton is a young man’s album. Surely anyone can appreciate either (and at any age), but there’s a very hormonal, angsty, testosterone-motivated facet to both (at their respective cores, even), and at least in Pinkerton‘s case, that the vast majority of its acolytes are male and discovered it during their teens is […]
The great “In The Garage” is a rare entry in the all-too-shortlist of Weezer songs with harmonica, which also includes the esteemed likes of “Mykel & Carli,” “Pig,” “Wanda (You’re My Only Love),” “My Name Is Jonas” and “Freak Me Out” (one of these is not quite like the others). The mouth organ riff that begins […]
Ask any of Weezer’s die-hard fans about “My Best Friend” and you’ll hear the sound of disdain. A survey of the comments on its SongMeanings entry, however, reveals plenty of love. “This song is wonderful,” remarks jack_the_brat. “this song always reminds me of 1 of my friends, shes not actually my best friend but i bloody wish […]
Speaking of Homie, Rivers Cuomo introduced “Think About You” from the same show they played “Hot Tub” by comparing the opening riff to the Sesame Street theme song. The audience laughed, Fred Eltringham counted off the song, and indeed the opening chord progression bore a striking resemblance — but it wouldn’t be the last time […]
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Pinkerton is the closest Weezer has ever come to a bona fide concept album, but I still think Blue has a kind of continuity to it. Between songs like “In The Garage” and “Only In Dreams,” there’s a common theme of the outcast nerd archetype (leading to the fake genre many claim Weezer birthed: “geek rock”), in spite […]