Anybody else had a listen yet? I just got my hands on a copy yesterday, and I’m totally digging it. Rivers sounds very happy, which is unheard of on an album, and I think he pulls it off beautifully.
A quick rundown of things that stuck out to me:
“Heart Songs” is a really fabulous track. I liked it quite a bit on first listen, but it continues to grow on me. Rivers likes a lot of different kinds of music, and they’ve all shaped who he became as a musician. I think this song sums it up perfectly.
“Cold Dark Place” is sexy as hell. The beat makes me want to do Very Bad Things, and the message of the song is great as well.
“The Angel and the One” is on par, IMHO, with “Butterfly” in its beauty and sadness. The key difference here is that it ends on a happy note. I bawled all the way through it. (Side note: Did Rivers find God? This song sure sounds like it.)
“The Weight” is a phenomenal cover. I’m usually totally opposed to covers of classic rock songs, but Weezer pulled it off without a hitch.
So these are just a few random thoughts I had about the album. Anyone else wanna jump in for a real discussion?
I have it in my Amazon list to buy one of these days. All I’ve heard so far is “Pork and Beans,” which I love—it arrived just in time for summer. Great video, too, if you haven’t seen it yet.
It is boring as hell. It is a cookie cutter album from top to bottom with only the slightest moments of originality. The album is like a soulless parody of what a Weezer should be. It all the more pathetic because we know Cuomo can make music that is fun and original―Blue Album, Pinkerton, Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo, and few of the singles off the post-Pinkerton albums. But there is nothing of interest on this album.
A Weezer album without humor is awful. And a Weezer album where the humor seems to be let’s see if people will eat up this shit is even worse.
Hmmm, interesting analyis. I find it intriguing that you say Red is devoid of humor, considering that it contains such tongue-in-cheek fare as “Get Dangerous,” “Troublemaker,” and “Pork & Beans”. Not to mention a guy who loves his angel in a brotherly way, until she decides she wants romance, in which case he’ll sex her. I thought the album was great, myself.
Kid_A please tell me the bit about the lyrics was a woosh! Weezer have always had cheesy lyrics, on all of their albums; it’s half the fun!
This is like the third music hatin’ post in a row that I’ve made, so I hate to sound like a snob, but I can’t help it: this is the worst thing I’ve heard in a couple of years. I know it’s the cool thing to hate Weezer these days, and honestly I’ve found a way to enjoy every Weezer album (Make Believe was a challenge, but I at least liked a few songs), but this is just drivel.
The lyrics are bad enough that they’re practically insulting to the audience. It’s suggested in the AV Club review that Cumomo is intentionally making lyrics this terrible, because he clearly is good enough that he has to know what he’s writing here. Is he making fun of his audience? I don’t know, but if he is I have no idea who the joke is for.
I am not saying it devoid of humor (“Make Believe” was devoid of humor); I am saying it is worse than devoid of humor by making a joke out of insulting the audience by making soulless parody of an album.
Compare “The Blue Album,” “Pinkerton,” and “Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo” against “Maladroit,” “Make Believe,” and “The Red Album.” Can you honestly say that “Maladroit,” “Make Believe,” and “The Red Album” are even so-so?
It’s almost impossible for me to compare Weezer albums against each other, as they are all different. Blue was indie, Green is pop, Pinkerton was deep and raw, Maladroit was heavy, and Make Believe was…whatever it was. (FTR, I don’t hate MB at all, I just don’t know what category to put it into.)
So with musical styles out of the equation, what does that leave us with? Lyrics? Heh, they are all pretty bad if you go on lyrics alone. Besides, it feels wrong somehow to pass judgement on a band based solely on lyrics.
Also, I had no idea that it was cool to hate Weezer. Good thing I could care less about being cool, eh?
Well, we are agreed that Pinkerton and the Blue album were much better. We are never getting another Undone or Say It Ain’t So. But that is often how it is with bands, as they get older. We won’t get an album like Definitely Maybe, Rage Against the Machine, Ten, etc. Doesn’t mean I have to dislike what they make now.
I think there is a big difference between the downward trajectory of Weezer and most bands. For what I have read in interviews, Cuomo was really hurt by the response to “Pinkerton,” and as it result he seems unwilling to really try on Weezer albums. All the fun is produced out of them, and they just end up as ironic takes on different ideas.
The Green Album = an ironic Blue Album
Maladroit = Weezer goes heavy/plays metal
Make Believe = Weezer as a superficial pop band
The Red Album = how make shit will our fans eat
And this is at the same time that Cuomo puts out “Alone” which is a really good album that is a lot of fun.
I thought it sucked. The only song with the driving, poppy Weezer sound is Pork 'n Beans. And it’s overplayed even here. Most of the rest of the album is crap. There are a few hints of previous brilliance, but for the most part it is a farce. YMMV.
BTW: I pretty much hated everything after Pinkerton, but keep hoping that they’ll get good again.
Not a whoosh…while the lyrics have always been sort of cheesy, I feel that with the earlier lyrics (Blue and Pinkerton) there was a purpose behind them, that there was a deeper meaning. And with Green and Maladroit the lyrics were just as cheesy but they were tolerable. I haven’t gotten that vibe off of anything on the last two albums; i.e. Pork and Beans or We Are All On Drugs.
Weezer was my second favourite band for the longest time…I’ve seen them live five times. I’m not some random hater who’s hating for the sake of it. This isn’t the same band and this isn’t the same Rivers but I keep holding out hope that they’ll figure it out again.
I don’t really like it. This is sad for me because Weezer is my favorite band (which apparently makes me uncool). I realize that the Blue Album and Pinkerton probably can’t be matched, but can’t we at least get another Green Album? At least that was fun and had stuff I could listen to (still can; it’s a good summer listening album). I even enjoyed Make Believe once I got used to it. I don’t know, maybe I need to try a little more with the new one too. I just feel like I shouldn’t have to try that hard to like an album, you know?
Oh, and Rivers needs to lose the porn star 'stash. It’s gross.
The reason it’s cool to hate Weezer is because Weezer has gotten dramatically worse with every passing album. It’s just just some arbitrary hipster agreement.