A few things you should know about my relationship with Weezer;
a) Back around the early noughties, they were pretty much all I listened to. Around the time The Green Album came out in 2001, I would play all three Weezer albums (by that point) once a day on the office stereo. My workmates were both amused and perplexed.
b) I haven’t “believed” in a Weezer album since the release of Maladriot in 2002. When I heard ‘Beverly Hills’ a few years later (which I was appalled by, especially the video), I knew they were in trouble, creatively speaking. A few tracks off ‘The Red Album’ were okay and one song off of ‘Hurley’ was passable but Raditude was terrible. My heart of hearts sensed that the magic was gone and, quite possibly, might not be coming back.
c) I met Rivers Cuomo once backstage at the Reading Festival in 2002. He was about half my height and wouldn’t look me in the eyes while shaking my hand. He was also wearing a three-piece suit.
Now we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s get down to business: the new Weezer album is their best in 13 years. It’s not as good as The Blue Album or Pinkerton but it is as good as, if not better than, The Green Album (which some people hate but which I think is just a great, meaty slice of pop-rock). It’s the sound of a band making a last-ditch attempt to stop its own downward spiral and just about succeeding. This is a record which embraces and recalls Weezer’s past but also does its best to try things which they’ve never attempted before. And if you’re reading all of this with no prior knowledge of the band and their oeuvre past ‘Buddy Holly‘, then this is a great rock album which you will, most likely, really enjoy listening to.
Some of you will be familiar with ultra-catchy single ‘Back To The Shack‘, the second song on the album and also the least interesting. When I heard it I feared the band were simply going through the motions, but then I listened to the album. I’d almost be willing to pay the £7.99 on iTunes for the opening track alone, ‘Ain’t Got Nobody‘, an absolute stomper which harkens back to the Beach-Boys-Gone-Grunge sound which the band does so well. Rivers Cuomo is positively singing his heart out as he confronts loneliness, disillusionment and uncertainty all over again. It’s like a track off of Pinkerton with saucier production (courtesy of Rick Ocasek, Weezer’s spiritual godfather and very own Mr Fix-it). The track is alive and engorged and sets the tone perfectly for what’s to follow.
EWBAITE pretty much does everything right. Addictive melodies that go round and round in your head? Check. Crunchy guitars? Check. Singalong choruses? Check. Bits that sound like Queen? Check and mate. A very deliberate effort has been made to make an album that functions as not just a collection of hit songs but also a fluid, cohesive experience that you can listen to in a single sitting. There is a clearly defined beginning, middle and end. The few sonic experiments that the album contains are quirky without seeming grating and just when you think the band are going somewhere uncomfortable, they guide themselves back towards something that feels right. None of the songs on this album suck, a fact which Weezer seem to be as excited about as the listener.
One of the stand-out moments on the entire album is ‘Foolish Father’, an empathic plea for familial forgiveness which builds to an emotional climax as a choir of young, uplifting voices sing the album’s title over and over. It’s one of the most heartfelt, reassuring moments committed to record that I’ve ever heard and has me on the verge of tears every time I listen to it. Who would have possibly thought any Weezer album after Pinkerton was capable after eliciting such a response?
The album finishes with an ambitious three-part suite of stadium-grade operatic rock. It’s a gamble, but it pays off, and as the final chords are left ringing in your ears, the overall feeling is one of triumph. After years in the wilderness, Weezer have found themselves again and made a record they can be proud of. They did it, they pulled it off. And the next thing you feel is relief.
The new Weezer album won’t change the world or reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t need to. In some parts, it’s amazing. In other parts, less so, but at all times it’s good. It’s really good, and in a world riven with heartbreak, dashed hopes and misery, sometimes good can actually be great. Everything WILL be alright in the end, and this album is proof.
Welcome back boys, we’ve missed you.
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