What's the deal with Weezer?

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.

I often wonder just how much Matt Sharp leaving affected the band musically.

I've always been against the idea that it was Matt's departure which signalled some kind of shift. Always seemed like an easy strategy - Matt's there? Classic Weezer! No Matt? People not so pleased. Amplified by the fact he made a semi-popular album during his time with the band. If anything, In terms of lineup changes having an impact, I would say it was more likely to be significant when Mikey Welsh - Rivers' close pal from Boston and fan of The Replacements et al - was replaced by session musician Scott Shriner. I've heard people figure that Matt could have been a musical sounding board who kept Rivers in check, though as far as I know Matt and Pat weren't even that enthusiastic about the direction they took with Pinkerton.

nu-Weezer is such a fucking embarrassment even hearing one of their news songs once on the radio makes my skin crawl

x-post:

I've always been against the idea up to a point - it's not like Sharp was ever a songwriting presence in Weezer - but I still wonder if it would have ever made a difference to, say, the green LP if he hadn't left. Surely it would have done in some small way. I agree that it's all too easy to go "Matt's on it? Classic Weezer!" etc.

I think it was always going to be the anti-Pinkerton. It's not impossible to say if that wouldn't necessarily be those precise 10 songs had another body been in the bass role, but I think Matt had long since fulfilled his role. A big part of his departure appears to be over the very issue of loyalty/commitment at the end of the Pinkerton era, like him not being around to play on 'Tragic Girl'.

The performance of Buddy Holly at this show (the benefit concert to their deceased fan club presidents). What in the name of fuck is Matt Sharp doing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDuJozrnyrY&t=1971s

ain't liking that link. 32m ins 52 secs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDuJozrnyrY

oh wow, I didn't know a tape of the full show existed. I've only ever seen Rivers' solo performance of "Mykel and Carli," which is just devastating - this is a different angle than the video I saw, but there's one out there from the stage that pans to Mykel and Carli's parents crying watching Rivers play. also FYI this was Matt Sharp's last show with the band.

Matt Sharp embracing his inner frustrated frontman there.

it's not like Sharp was ever a songwriting presence in Weezer

really? i always figured he was contributing things to the arrangements and whatnot on the first two albums if not exactly writing entire songs. when you hear the first Rentals album it's pretty close to the Weezer sound. seems like he would have contributed a lot of high harmonies and stuff.

im still of the opinion Matt Sharp was the ultimately deciding factor but if you honestly think the green album is on the level of the first two albums (which is fucking insane) you won't be convinced otherwise.

I have no doubt that he chipped in with some ideas/his opinion regarding arrangements, but that's not writing the song.

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.

― more Allegro-like (Turrican), Tuesday, September 5, 2017 2:31 PM (four days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

to your point i agree 100% songwriting-wise, "Buddy Holly" and "Beverly Hills" are both silly dumb songs as written material. but the biggest change was musically, performance-wise, sound-wise, production-wise. from a dynamic and pan-emotional garage band to a heavily compressed radio act without the interesting arrangements. the first two albums had these soaring solos and instrumental sections where the band would break down and build up. not as easy to do with a new bass player when you are making your comeback and trying to learn all the old material for your tours.

imo this was Matt Sharp's main contribution, and it crept into other things, the videos ("Good Life"/"El Scorcho" being points of contention between him and Rivers, goofy vs. serious), the band image. the new bass player was a random LA musician where Matt Sharp was full of ideas. even if he didn't write songs he probably would have tried to veto the worst ideas or maybe come up w a bass line working w the drummer (who also went from crazily loose and inventive ("Tired of Sex") to very simple patterns) to perhaps give a song like "Hash Pipe" a new hook or something. most post-Pinkerton songs are pretty one note, only a hook or two, verse/chorus/verse, the unique intros/outros, the high harmonies, a lot of stuff is missing.

Rivers wrote the bass line for "Tired of Sex" and many, many other Weezer songs. Rivers wrote the songs and many of the parts. It was his idea to do barbershop-style harmonies and made the band take vocal lessons. I agree that Sharp's most significant contribution was as a filter w/r/t ideas & arrangements. That's not to say he was insignificant - he obviously had an impact - but the shellacking that Rivers and the band got for Pinkerton and its lyrics is the reason they shifted to a radio-friendly sound. Maybe that's why Sharp jumped ship. Rivers made a conscious attempt to avoid the humiliation of Pinkerton and write songs with extreme limitations and conceits. As evidenced by some of the later albums, it's not like they forgot how to shred, or write instrumental breaks. That shift was going to happen whether Sharp left or not.

Mikey was the best bassist anyway.

So much seems to be made of what Rivers took from Matt, but less so about how much it worked the other way round. I'm pretty sure Rivers was of the opinion that Matt rode his back to launch the Rentals. Rivers demos a analogue synth-driven concept album about space travel. Matt then records and releases Return Of The Rentals. Rivers scraps his project.

I'm quite certain the common notion that Matt was some kind of magical talisman of good taste in Weezer appeals massively to his not-inconsiderably-sized ego