It was one of those lazy Saturday afternoons. I was cruising down the 5 on my way to San Diego with some buddies for a little R&R. We were listening to KROQ and heard the announcement, "Next you will hear for the first time anywhere the new single from Weezer's unreleased red album, 'Pork and Beans,'" I almost wet myself. After actually hearing the song, I almost wet myself again.
How can I describe the feeling? It was like running into an old friend that you haven't seen in 10 years, and picking up right where you both left off. Without words, you forgive each other for not keeping in touch. You overlook how you both have changed; how you look older, fatter. Maybe also a little crazier, but less "my-crazy-college-buddy", and more "unsettling-are-you-ok?" crazy.
Sometime over the next few weeks I found myself growing ever more impatient waiting for the release date of this album. Its not like Weezer hasn't had album releases in the past, and frankly some of their latest work never made it into my 'favorites' playlist at home. But I'll admit, I have been nervously listening to (blue) and Pinkerton almost every day for months.
It makes me feel like I'm a little emo kid all over again.
I finally picked up a copy of the album this week. I won't try to make an excuse for how long I waited after the official release date to finally pick up a copy. I froze. Or call it nervous hesitance; I wanted it, yet I was scared to have it.
The first time I listened to it straight through just to make sure I got the full effect of the album as a whole. Then I listened to it again with a critical mind, analyzing and critiquing each song by itself, comparing it to it's sibling tracks and past Weezer experiences.
Then I listened to it again. And again. I'm still listening to it. And I will probably hit play once again.
How do I describe it?
The first word that comes to mind is schizophrenic. But that really sounds more harsh than I intend. Chaotic? Still too much.
Good. Yes, I think I can start by saying, after listening to it multiple times, despite all of my other critical observations about this album, I can say that it is good.
But at the same time I feel the need to explain myself, to add the disclaimer, "It is good, but..."
It is good, but what else exactly is it?
I think if you want to get a good head for this album, you need only listen to the single, "Pork and Beans". Rivers Cuomo writes,
I don't give a hoot
About what you think
No I don't care
I don't care [...]
I think I was hoping for another (blue), another Pinkerton. But is it even possible for the same circumstances to exist that made geeky teenagers like me want to stand up on the roof tops, pump our fists and scream, over 15 years ago? OK, wait, that's what we would like to say we did. We actually wanted to find a quiet corner to crank our headphones up and let our souls sink down into the soothing-emo-goodness.
Even if Weezer could somehow repeat the creative genius that went into their earliest work, the end result would have to be something entirely different again. And maybe Weezer is ready for that change before the rest of the world might be.
This album is a tribute to Weezer, by Weezer, made up of individual contributions from the band members. Each song is a different voice, and each song when looked at alone may seem to clash with the next. "The Greatest Man that Ever Lived" even seems to clash with itself. But throughout the cacophony, even lending from it, a theme is built: despite how much we the public may love or hate them, Weezer is going to make the music that they want to make, and screw the consequences (and the critics).
I like the album. I may eventually adjust to the changes that make Weezer sound like the older, adult version of them, and learn to love it as the older, adult me.
So I'll close with this question to ponder: whether you love or dislike the red album, is it because it is a step closer to their original roots, or because it is (and must be) something new and different?
{i}"If you don't like it, you can shove it. But you don't like it; you LOVE it."
-- Rivers Cuomo, {/i}"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", Weezer (the red album)
"I am a leaf on the wind; watch how I soar." |
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