Friday, January 06, 2006
What the Hell Happened to Weezer?
Okay, I admit it. I like Weezer. Or rather, I liked them. What the hell happened to them? Their latest album, Make Believe, makes me believe in Satan, because on He could put out something this bad. This album is downright Bolton-esque.
I didn't always like Weezer. I remember the Sweater Song ("Undone") coming out in high school. I liked it. But not enough to buy the album. I was too busy buying INXS's Welcome to Wherever You Are, Soul Asylum's Grave Dancers Union and Spin Doctor's Pocketful of Kryptonite. (Excuse me for a second while I try to keep my dinner down.)
Before long, Weezer dropped off the map. I kept hearing good things about them courtesy of an email list I subscribed to, herein after referred to as "The Sugar List." (Yeah, it's loosely based on Bob Mould's band Sugar, but the actual topics varied. They included Bob's guitar set up, lyrics to his songs, how cool Husker Du was and various other non-Sugar items. Yes, I'm a dork.)
After college, I was working at a company that had internal Want Ads. I saw the first Weezer album for $5 and I thought, why not. I was blown away. It was amazing. "Undone" might have been my least favorite song on the whole album. It was solid from beginning to end.
Shortly thereafter, I saw Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, on the Want Ads. I had to take a stab at it. I was blown away yet again. The album was a complete 180 degree turn from the first album. Then to top it off, they turned another 180 degrees. And then another. And yet the French judge only gave them a 9.5. How about degree of difficulty, you stupid Frog! Let's see if we help you the next time Panzers are rolling through Paris. (I really need to stop smoking crack now that I have a kid. Sorry.)
Apparently, Weezer really did disappear. There were rumors that they moved to Nepal to knit sweaters for the shirpas. There were other rumors that some idiot was making up rumors on his blog. Either way, they took about 5 years off. Inconceivable!
When they returned in 2001, they did it in style though. First off, they named their album the same thing as the first album (Weezer). I found that rather amusing. It was almost as if they were saying that they had reinvented themselves. (Little did we know, that wouldn't happen for a few more years, when they somehow managed to reinvent crap.)
I rather enjoyed the new album. It was 10 songs that clocked in at under 30 minutes. The songs were poppy and danceable. In fact, I did much dancing in my room to this album after my roommates went to bed. That would no doubt explain my mad dance skills today. Weezer managed to sell out stadiums all around the country and were the biggest thing to hit alternative music since, um, something that happened in 2000. Wasn't that when Meatloaf released his new album? It doesn't matter.
(By the way, one of my favorite stories of all time happened at one of the Chicago shows. After the opening act, the Aragon Ballroom plays a cornucopia of music. As it turns out, they played Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" right before Weezer went on stage. So, when the cut Bon Jovi short so Weezer could reemerge in Chicago after 5 long years, the crowd booed. This story still pales in comparison to the Philly fans booing children who were hunting for easter eggs. But that's a story for another time.)
The next year, Weezer released Maladroit, which was okay. It had some good songs, but nothing all that special. Apparently, it was quite a taxing album to write because Weezer took another 3 years off. There were more rumors than I could possibly make up about what they were doing. They claimed they were working on the album. In fact, they even claimed to have finished it except for some editing before deciding it sucked. So they tossed the whole thing. I think somehow they threw away the wrong album. When they finally released Make Believe, the first thing I thought was that I should throw the album out.
There are a few standout songs, like "Bevery Hills" and "We Are All on Drugs." But the truth is that those songs wouldn't have made the cut on any of their prior albums. Part of me thinks that Weezer is pulling an AndyKaufman on us, playing a big practical joke. "Okay, we're going to keep putting out progressively shittier albums to see if the stupid public will keep buying them. When sales drop low enough, then we'll release all the good stuff we're storing away. I think we can keep this up for the rest of our careers. I just hope these horn-rimmed glasses that make me look cool last as long."
Well, I'm onto them. And I'm here to spread the word to all 3 of my readers. Together, we can band together and stop their evilness. Then maybe we can get another self-titled album that'll get me dancing alone in my room late at night. Because that's exactly what the world needs.
I didn't always like Weezer. I remember the Sweater Song ("Undone") coming out in high school. I liked it. But not enough to buy the album. I was too busy buying INXS's Welcome to Wherever You Are, Soul Asylum's Grave Dancers Union and Spin Doctor's Pocketful of Kryptonite. (Excuse me for a second while I try to keep my dinner down.)
Before long, Weezer dropped off the map. I kept hearing good things about them courtesy of an email list I subscribed to, herein after referred to as "The Sugar List." (Yeah, it's loosely based on Bob Mould's band Sugar, but the actual topics varied. They included Bob's guitar set up, lyrics to his songs, how cool Husker Du was and various other non-Sugar items. Yes, I'm a dork.)
After college, I was working at a company that had internal Want Ads. I saw the first Weezer album for $5 and I thought, why not. I was blown away. It was amazing. "Undone" might have been my least favorite song on the whole album. It was solid from beginning to end.
Shortly thereafter, I saw Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, on the Want Ads. I had to take a stab at it. I was blown away yet again. The album was a complete 180 degree turn from the first album. Then to top it off, they turned another 180 degrees. And then another. And yet the French judge only gave them a 9.5. How about degree of difficulty, you stupid Frog! Let's see if we help you the next time Panzers are rolling through Paris. (I really need to stop smoking crack now that I have a kid. Sorry.)
Apparently, Weezer really did disappear. There were rumors that they moved to Nepal to knit sweaters for the shirpas. There were other rumors that some idiot was making up rumors on his blog. Either way, they took about 5 years off. Inconceivable!
When they returned in 2001, they did it in style though. First off, they named their album the same thing as the first album (Weezer). I found that rather amusing. It was almost as if they were saying that they had reinvented themselves. (Little did we know, that wouldn't happen for a few more years, when they somehow managed to reinvent crap.)
I rather enjoyed the new album. It was 10 songs that clocked in at under 30 minutes. The songs were poppy and danceable. In fact, I did much dancing in my room to this album after my roommates went to bed. That would no doubt explain my mad dance skills today. Weezer managed to sell out stadiums all around the country and were the biggest thing to hit alternative music since, um, something that happened in 2000. Wasn't that when Meatloaf released his new album? It doesn't matter.
(By the way, one of my favorite stories of all time happened at one of the Chicago shows. After the opening act, the Aragon Ballroom plays a cornucopia of music. As it turns out, they played Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" right before Weezer went on stage. So, when the cut Bon Jovi short so Weezer could reemerge in Chicago after 5 long years, the crowd booed. This story still pales in comparison to the Philly fans booing children who were hunting for easter eggs. But that's a story for another time.)
The next year, Weezer released Maladroit, which was okay. It had some good songs, but nothing all that special. Apparently, it was quite a taxing album to write because Weezer took another 3 years off. There were more rumors than I could possibly make up about what they were doing. They claimed they were working on the album. In fact, they even claimed to have finished it except for some editing before deciding it sucked. So they tossed the whole thing. I think somehow they threw away the wrong album. When they finally released Make Believe, the first thing I thought was that I should throw the album out.
There are a few standout songs, like "Bevery Hills" and "We Are All on Drugs." But the truth is that those songs wouldn't have made the cut on any of their prior albums. Part of me thinks that Weezer is pulling an AndyKaufman on us, playing a big practical joke. "Okay, we're going to keep putting out progressively shittier albums to see if the stupid public will keep buying them. When sales drop low enough, then we'll release all the good stuff we're storing away. I think we can keep this up for the rest of our careers. I just hope these horn-rimmed glasses that make me look cool last as long."
Well, I'm onto them. And I'm here to spread the word to all 3 of my readers. Together, we can band together and stop their evilness. Then maybe we can get another self-titled album that'll get me dancing alone in my room late at night. Because that's exactly what the world needs.
