What's the deal with Weezer?

They make a good appearance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcC-yJKxuuY

i was gonna lay out my theory about Weezer2k here but then i realized i pretty much explained it in my rock singles list recently so i'm just gonna c&p that if it's not too gauche:

11. Weezer - "Perfect Situation" (2005)
#51 Hot 100, #1 Modern Rock
As I noted in the previous entry for “Troublemaker,” Weezer’s ‘00s singles output is way better than most give them credit for, but I think that’s partly their own fault. They have a tendency to drop big, stupid attention-grabbing lead singles (like “Hash Pipe,” “Dope Nose,” “Beverly Hills” and “Pork & Beans”) and then save their best and hookiest songs for the second or third single (“Island In The Sun,” “Keep Fishin’,” this and “Troublemaker”). That cycle finally started to break down last year with the great “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” preceded the awful “I’m Your Daddy,” but it’s too soon to tell what I think of the new one’s lead single, “Memories.” This was actually the 3rd single off Make Believe, on released after the truly horrible “We Are All On Drugs” when it became a fan favorite. Rivers Cuomo has always been a solid tunesmith who gets in his own way with idiotic lyrics, and here he lets a huge wordless chorus do all the talking, even if the verses are still full of hero/zero couplets and other drudgery.

Lol, whoa, finally heard the Coldplay cover. I think this is why Rivers doesn't try "earnest" anymore.

Rivers Cuomo has always been a solid tunesmith who gets in his own way with idiotic lyrics

I could see how a lot of people would agree with you, but 90's Weezer still sounds like so much more than solid tunes.. A certain energy was lost, not unlike what happened to Green Day.. Their run of singles in the 00's, while far from being the worst songs on the radio, were still a consistently frustrating letdown after such a solid run. Up until 2005, the "fun" songs sounded kinda forced, while the "weird" or "quirky" songs sounded too calculated.

The release of The Red Album signified their current "you ain't seen nothing yet" era in terms of how batshit crazy they really could get, as I recall "The Greatest Man" and "Dreamin'" sounding particularly awkward, as if their segments were pieced together with only minimal attempts at cohesion.. And one song which outright plagiarized "My Michelle" by Guns N' Roses. The pop culture references and bizarre jokes made so much sense on the 90's material, while now it just sounds like cutaway scenes on an episode of Family Guy.

as I recall "The Greatest Man" and "Dreamin'" sounding particularly awkward, as if their segments were pieced together with only minimal attempts at cohesion.

In Weezer's defense, that "pieced together" thing was pretty much the entire point of "The Greatest Man".

The pop culture references and bizarre jokes made so much sense on the 90's material, while now it just sounds like cutaway scenes on an episode of Family Guy.

I can see where you're are coming from, but I really don't see how different the two are. I mean, the Jorge Garcia and internet meme references aren't all that far off from him talking about Kitty Pryde and (relatively, at the time) obscure ECW wrestlers. I think you're letting your nostalgia for those early albums color your feelings about the pop culture references (i.e. "the references I 'GOT' we're cooler man"). I say this because, before I finally learned to embrace modern day Weezer, I felt pretty much that way - like Weezer had somehow like betrayed my rabid fandom of 1995-1998. Now I realize that was a pretty damn silly way to feel.

If I thought it were purely nostalgia, I wouldn't be so adamant about it.. But I just heard "Lullaby For Wayne" for the first time only 3 years ago, and it kinda blew my mind how good it was compared to anything they've released in the 00's. And I feel the same way about most of the songs on the 1st "Alone" compilation.

"Lullabye For Wayne" is sadly nowhere to be found on youtube or else I'd post it here..

Well, see, I was strictly talking about the pop culture references in his lyrics, not the quality of the music. Thats a whole different story. But I look at the two different decades of their existence as pretty much two completely different bands.

Weezer 1.0: a fantastic band that released two front-to-back classic albums and a slew of wonderful B-sides
Weezer 2.0: a spotty at best band that cranks out tons of material, but manages a couple great pop tunes each time around

Do I think any of the songs from the 2000s would fit anywhere on the first two albums? Of course not.

It's silly to feel "betrayed," but that's no reason to pretend Rivers hasn't gotten lazier. You didn't have to know about ECW (I sure didn't) or Kitty Pryde to be touched by "El Scorcho" or "In The Garage." They brought generational specifics to Beach Boys rewrites, but they weren't the selling points of them.

Using "In The Garage" as an example, I think the "Kitty Pride" and Kiss references were helpful in painting a lyrical picture, as opposed to the lyrics of that godawful song where he sings about Kurt Cobain and whatever other musicians were mentioned...

Similarly, and maybe this IS nostalgia, but mentioning Green Day in "El Scorcho" I think also makes sense in the same way as "In The Garage," since it helps to get his point across.. Whereas the more recent references sound like they're just trying to get people's attention, like "one big 4chan meme."

I think you're picking the wrong example there by calling up "Heart Songs" though, since the entire point of that song is to call up nostalgia.

"Calling up" nostalgia and vomiting on it are two very different things..

I remember finding the Green Day ref forced back when "Scorcho" came out, but there were a kajillion other lines and hooks in that song to love that it didn't wreck it or anything.

The point of "In The Garage" is to call up nostalgia too, as are a lot of songs on the Blue Album. He just did it a hell of a lot more artfully than "there was a baby on it, it was naked on it and it broke my chains" or whatever

da croupier OTM, I was just trying to make the point that his references aren't really different now, he just uses them WAY less effectively.

yeah old weezer fans tend swing so hard at nu-rivers they crack at qualities he's always had, but they're doing it because the new shit sucks egregiously and the old stuff was really great.

Dude wants to raise $10 million to get Weezer to break up:

http://www.themusicnetwork.com/music-news/artists/2010/10/06/punter-wants-to-pay-weezer-10-million-to-break-up/

Don't get this, considering he was never a fan in the first place. Hurley is a pretty decent return to form as well....by which I mean, it's no worse than Maladroit.

I get it. You don't have to be a fan to be a well-meaning observer. Everything he points out is true. The first two albums (which were Matt Sharp-inclusive) were landmarks, and everything they've released in the era since then has all the sincerity of a whoopie cushion. Wise people quit hoping for a return to form four albums ago, but there are still some people who get their hopes up only to have them dashed every single time.

Rivers Cuomo actually seems like a vindictive son of a bitch at this point. But he's also a fame whore, and if he thinks he can keep his name out there by agreeing to break up Weezer for good for a large sum of money, he'll do it. Interested to see this play out.

first two albums (which were Matt Sharp-inclusive) were landmarks, and everything they've released in the era since then has all the sincerity of a whoopie cushion.

Bullshit. The Green Album is the pinnacle of their artistic achievement. Blue is mostly a novelty record and the entirety of Pinkerton sounds like a B-side.

I love it when people get all riled up about Weezer not being "sincere" anymore. I love Pinkerton too, but c'mon.

Weezer sucks. Those first two records were insufferable and you all know it.

Weezer should just be assassinated without hesitation.

Weezer sucks. Those first two records were insufferable and you all know it.

^^^this

Matt Sharp wrote about as much music for Weezer as my gran

And for that he deserves credit.

Weezer sucks. Those first two records were insufferable and you all know it.

A compelling argument. When i travel back in time to my 16-year-old self playing air guitar to "Say It Ain't So" while making Doom II levels, this will definitely win me over to your position.

Wow...the cover for their upcoming rarities comp is even more absurd than Hurley. Don't think they'll ever top this one:

http://pitchfork.com/news/40359-weezer-ready-rarities-comp-ideath-to-false-metali/

Whoops, here it is:

http://i841.photobucket.com/albums/zz334/tim_othy1/falsemetal.jpg

is that Ginuwine?

Scarily and certainly yes, it is : http://www.amazon.com/Death-False-Metal-Weezer/dp/B0042YY3WG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1286835729&sr=1-1

No it's Weezer, silly.

Does anyone love anyone as much as I love you? 1:32 PM Oct 5th via web Retweeted by 100+ people

RiversCuomo
Rivers Cuomo

hahahahahahahahaha
http://www.theweezercruise.com/

^^^^^ one of my best friends and his wife are on the Weezer Cruise

amazing

Raditude is actually a better record than both Make Believe and 50% of the red LP.

Even though it has about four good songs on it, there's something about The Red album which is just so urgggggh for me. If Rivers' idea of 'experimentation' is to sound like New Kids On The Block (Heart Songs), RHCP (Everybody Get Dangerous), Crazytown (Cold Dark World), then I'd prefer he just sticks to the formula. Make Believe is deeply flawed - some horrible lyrics, sterile production - but I'd argue that melodically, it can be very strong at times (The Other Way, The Damage In Your Heart, Haunt You Every Day).

I wish I could say that Raditude was kinda cool in a misguided way, but it really doesn't quite work. Kudos to Rivers for flying completely in the face of what his hardcore fans wanted at the time, though.

Weezer (Blue) = Pinkerton >>> Maladroit > Weezer (Green) > Everything Will Be Alright In The End = Weezer (White) > Hurley > Raditude > Weezer (Red) > Make Believe

My god, do I blow hot and cold with this band, though. Some days their best stuff really hits the spot, other days I can't think of a more irritating band. I certainly can't think of a band with a more annoying fanbase.

Blue
White (can't believe this was as enjoyable as it was)
Pinkerton (the lyrics are mostly unbearable or this would be higher)
Green
Everything Will Be Alright In The End
Red
Maladroit
Raditude
Make Believe
Hurley
Death to False Metal

but i feel silly for even having thought about this for a few minutes

Alone III: The Pinkerton Years is the best Weezer related thing

Not very encouraged by the direction the new album appears to be heading. It's like Rivers now feels he's earned enough goodwill from the last two albums to resume his quest to be the powerpop Maroon 5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBqFoyXXs3E

i love & like a handful of millennial Weezer songs, but my man lost it after he started writing with spreadsheets. intellectual exercises and calculation only get you so far. my favorite of the post-Pinkerton records is definitely The Red Album, for whatever reason I like the silly songs the most ("Heartsongs" rules), the Quaker song, even the fan service-y lead single "Pork & Beans." The White Album was cool but too little too late imo, but maybe I'm just not in the mood for another new Weezer album. good guitar tones & a handful of sick songs ("LA Girlz" is really the one) doesn't cut it. i'd rather listen to the Alone series.

The back half of the red LP sucks.

What I think happened was a massive crisis of confidence in his ability to deliver the goods, hence the spreadsheet, the "pop music analysis" phase, asking his own fans for advice (which is always the most stupid idea in the world, particularly if your fanbase is notably one of the most irritating and obnoxious in the world) and working with endless co-writers...

yeah. Pinkerton & the reaction to it poisoned him. obviously was incredibly traumatic, so much so that he retired the band for 3-4 years.

because the guy can still write good music - but he rarely sounds like he gives a shit, or that he's going out on a limb & taking risks

Thing is, he (and Weezer) have taken quite a great deal of "risks" over the last 17 years, they just haven't been the kind of "risks" their fans have embraced because most of 'em are either stuck in the '90s or want Weezer to be a perfectly preserved version of their '90s selves. Sure, it hasn't helped matters that Cuomo has written some incredibly shitty songs in the last 17 years, but there's some good stuff in there too, and not all of it is "typical" Weezer.

yeah i agree, "Heartsongs" fits that mold for sure. but each album is weighed down by contrivances & an emotional distance & too many intellectual songwriting exercises. i'm not stuck in the 90s, the first Weezer song I ever heard was "Hash Pipe." The White Album sorta reminded me of SP's Oceania in a way - both were very fan service-y in their revisiting of specific guitar tones & straight down the middle songs & structures. there's good stuff in there, but ultimately it's too plastic to really sink into.

Honestly, the last couple of albums didn't really remind me of their '90s stuff any more than parts of, say, Hurley did.

The "emotional distance" thing always crops up but there's plenty of songs that Weezer have put out over the last 17 years that have been quite personal, just not personal in the way Weezer fans want them to be personal. They want the lyrics to be on-the-nose and the production to be raw, like Pinkerton because in their minds this is more "real" than lyrics that are less obviously personal and a studio sheen.

Also, this band have always been, for want of a better word, stupid. 'My Name Is Jonas' and 'Surf Wax America' are as silly as anything Weezer put out after 2000.

lol true. i think more than anything, going away for 5 years after Pinkerton was the worst thing for the band & their future & legacy. they've always been kind of chained to those first two records.

It seems that a lot of the sound of The White Album was down to producer / old-skool fan Jake Sinclair working hard to bring back certain elements to their sound which have been believed to be lost in more recent times, something which in interviews Rivers appeared to entertain more than embrace. There was some quote where he said something like "I let Jake win on The White Album, but I'm going to win more on the new one". It seems Butch Walker has been brought back for the first time since Raditude.