Friday, November 21, 2008
Although we’ve discussed nearly all of them by this point, “Change The World” is another one of the stinkers from the Maladroit sessions (and, thankfully, one of the ones the band knew not to put on the record itself). In many ways it seems to be a kindred spirit of that album’s “Space Rock,” in […]
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
“The Weight” was written and recorded by The Band in 1968. It served as a modest debut hit, peaking at #63 on the US charts, but saw incremental success when covered by other artists. Jackie DeShannon took it to #55 that same year, Diana Ross & The Supremes collaborated with The Temptations to hit #46 […]
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Well, here’s one I never think about. That’s usually a bad sign when it comes to Early Album 5 songs — if I don’t remember one of the countless full-band demos Weezer was spewing on a weekly basis during this time and the Maladroit sessions just before it, I’ve probably forgotten it for a reason. On first […]
During the mid-90s, Robert Pollard — frontman of the then-infallible Guided By Voices — turned out incredible pop songs at an unprecedented rate. He was as an elementary schoolteacher when considerable indie rock fame found him on the brink of his 40s, and, as he released scores and scores of songs per year, he had some […]
“Clarinet Waltz” is a real anomaly in the Weezer canon. It stands in the COR as the 15th song Rivers Cuomo wrote in 1994, after a remarkable stretch that began with “Tired of Sex,” “Susanne,” “Waiting On You” and “Getchoo,” included the highly desired and as-yet-unreleased Cuomo cover of the Beach Boys’ classic “Surfer Girl,” and […]
Pinkerton is, for the most part, an album composed of bitter, incendiary rockers (“Tired Of Sex,” “Getchoo,” “Why Bother”) and sad, contemplative slowburns (near everything else, including perennial b-sides like “Waiting On You” and “Devotion”). To that general rule, two of the album’s ten tracks are exceptions: the upbeat “El Scorcho,” which celebrates the dizzying excitement of a […]
Friday, September 26, 2008
You are cool, you are hot And you know, what you’ve got You can have anyone When you call, they will come But I won’t be a name upon your list I have way too much pride to go for this ‘Cause I don’t want your lovin’ I don’t want your love I don’t want […]
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
This is one of the interstitial pieces from Songs From The Black Hole, a project previously discussed here in greater detail. Clocking in at around 44 seconds, it’s a short song more notable for its purpose in the rock opera’s story arc than it is for its musicality. Rivers Cuomo apparently found it integral to […]
Monday, September 22, 2008
What a disappointment the Red Album b-sides were. For the first time since The Green Album, fans were promised a series of outtakes and bonus cuts through a slew of singles and special deals. The Deluxe Edition graced us with four (excellent) extra tracks from the Red sessions; various iTunes pre-order and “buy full album” shenanigans were […]
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 […]