IT’S ALMOST BEEN 25 YEARS SINCE 1994, the year when alt rock
Bastards” is a hilariously blunt lyrical stab at Weezer’s ever nostalgic fan-
outfit Weezer broke onto the scene to inject the dying grunge era of rock
base; the song is catchy, energetic, and its folksy melodies are a very in-
with a roaring, nerdy lifeblood. The rise to prominence that lead vocalist
teresting direction for the power pop group. “Too Many Thoughts In My
Rivers Cuomo and his band mates received upon releasing their self
Head” features some highly pitched King Gizzard-esque guitar lines, and
titled debut (now dubbed the Blue Album) was rapid, and not for noth-
feature some of the more poignant lines on the record in regards to the
ing; the band’s witty sense of humor, amazingly catchy songwriting, and
almost excessive amount of information the internet holds for so many
crunchy guitar stroked were the blueprint to be followed by many a band
people today. The beat is solid, the writing is technically and emotionally
eager to display their angst in a pop sensible way. Weezer is no doubt
great, and is just a great tune all around. True, the preceding “I’m Just
one of the most controversial bands in today’s music landscape as well:
Being Honest” is a generic mid- tempo pop rock tune, but it seems as
their first two albums (Blue and Pinkerton) are hailed as alt-rock classics,
though the album picked up some steam...only to run into the downright
while their mid 2000’s output has been met with some of the most neg-
awful “The Prince Who Wanted Everything”. The track’s formulaic riffs
ative feedback ever seen in the industry. While the 2010’s were seen as
and drums, lyrical disrespect to the late Prince, and awful ad libs make
a revival period for that classic Weezer sound and quality, the band has
for one of the worst rock centered tracks on the album.
recently been in a more experimental phase of their career...for better or worse. Frontman Rivers Cuomo is an absolute troll on his social media,
If you can’t tell by now, the album is a bit all over the place.
the band released an entire album of nothing but cheesy- yet-decent 80’s covers, and are going into this latest album of theirs with a more cynical
Weezer hasn’t exactly angered me on this record. There were a few mo-
edge than ever before. While the output on this front is very interesting
ments of interesting experimentation and good songwriting, especially
as a direction for the band, the Black Album ends up being mediocre
on the stellar, bliss loaded piano ballad “High as a Kite”, but there were
because of its tepid production and lack of quality songs.
also more duds than are really acceptable. The album is okay, and overall better than some of Weezer’s absolute trashiest, but it isn’t exactly wow-
The Black Album is immediately different as soon as it hits the ground
ing anyone. While the instrumental and lyrical middle finger to Weezer
with its lead single and opener, “Can’t Knock the Hustle”. As a song
fans was an interesting concept, Rivers Cuomo and his band didn’t back
itself, it’s surprisingly good as a full on stab at Spanish infused pop; the
it up with a consistently good project. The good tracks are worth a listen
drums here are tightly woven into the funky groove established by the
and download, and the bad tracks are worth a skip. Perhaps that’s why so
track’s quickly strummed guitars and Cuomo’s snarky lashing at his review
many people are begging for a traditional Weezer album again.
writing critics. The horns on the memorable hook are a nice touch, and exemplify the more varied sound that Weezer goes for on the record.
Thank God Cuomo said they’re going back to guitars on the next record.
The Black Album features everything from distorted guitar and synths on the throttling closer “California Snow”, to a relaxed island groove on “Byzantine”, the latter of which has a surprisingly nice vibe alongside a writer’s credit from Laura Jane Grace. While the production here is a bit more kaleidoscopic for Weezer’s standards, the songs here are also varied in quality. “Living in L.A” sounds like a rip-off of an average Maroon 5, complete with muted vocals and a lack of bass to assist the decent acoustics and hook. “Piece of Cake” is downright awful in every sense of the word; the millennial “doo doo doos” were a tired trope years ago, the squeaky clean guitar lines and handclaps have no backbone, and the lovesick lyrics are extremely baffling coming from a middle aged man like Rivers. These tracks are also hard deviations from the album’s core theme of snarkiness and self-sufficiency, so without a great core to the songwriting or instrumental, they’re entirely skippable. Thankfully, despite the low points in the middle of the album, a few tracks on The Black Album are standouts for the right reasons. “Zombie
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