Weezer (Red Album)
Early word on the sixth album from Weezer--and their third self-titled record, although fans, sensibly, are referring to it as "The Red Album"--is that this is their experimental record. Luckily, Rivers Cuomo isn?t interested in penning his own jazz odyssey; for him, experimental is just finding cunning ways to nuance Weezer?s stock-in-trade--crunchy, candy-sweet guitars and vocal harmonies--with new pop tricks. The sardonic lyric of "Pork and Beans" hints at a new direction: "Timabaland knows the way to reach the top of the charts," Cuomo sings, "maybe if I work with him I can perfect the art". Actually, Timbaland?s not on board, but producer Jacknife Lee brings a variety of drum machines and electronics, and Weezer rise to the challenge with some generally inspired messing around. "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Theme)" sees Cuomo adopt a gangsta rap slur over screaming sirens, while elsewhere, the other three Weezer members take a turn at the microphone. But it?s Cuomo?s songs that are the winners--notably "Heart Songs", a tribute to the songs that "never feel wrong" that swoops from melodic schmaltz to grunge scuzz with a deft invocation of Nirvana. Skip to the bonus tracks, meanwhile, for a great cover of "The Weight" that takes The Band?s original and drenches it in chundering guitars. --Louis Pattison
Weezer (Red Album) Accessories
 Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends
Narrow Stairs
Modern Guilt
Consolers Of The Lonely
Weezer
Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace [Explicit]
Evil Urges
Accelerate (Bonus Tracks)
Death Magnetic
Stop Drop And Roll!!!
Weezer (Red Album) Reviews
There are covers of other songs, such as "The Weight". This album is so far from what Weezer used to be. Rivers has a couple raps. That's ridiculous.
I don't know what it was that made them think they needed to change. And then they have others, like "Automatic" and "Thought I knew" that don't even sound like Weezer songs. Weezer should stay Weezer. Parts of "Pig" sound suspiciously like they're straight out of Bohemian Rhapsody. They've went off the deep end.
I like four songs out of the 16 on the album: Pork & Beans, King, Troublemaker, and Everybody Get Dangerous.
But, Weezer have released several albums up to this point, some of them excellent, some not, and the initial interest is starting to wear off. I'm not so interested in them just because of what they look, and sound like, and it's getting to the point where they actually need to write a good batch of songs to keep my interest. Saying Blue Album is Weezer's best and Maladroit is their worst, Red Album is right in the middle.
It's great fun. If Weezer wants to keep interesting they need to go somewhere else. There are some good songs, a bunch of ok ones, and a few I don't care for.
Now, if you want some similar sounding (but better) music, check out Rivers Cuomo's "Alone" album, it far surpasses this latest Weezer effort. It's just another typical Weezer album.but that's why it's not that great. I've always been interested in Weezer, I mean, a bunch of nerdy white guys singing songs about being nerds, and love.
Besides, how many other big bands out there do you know that can pretty much guarantee at least five great songs per album. For me, that's a good thinga sign that this band is really looking to push itself forward and is absorbing influences from all over the musical map. So, let's put the hyperbole down and take the Red Album for what it is: a tentative step forward that should have enough really excellent tunes to satisfy most fans but is neither a return to mid-90s form nor a dip in the gutter. However, that comes with a price: some of the experiments just aren't going to work (see "Heart Songs" and "Cold Dark World" as prime examples).
From a Weezer perspective, this is a very weird, and presumably transitional, album full of both hits and misses. Yeah, but then what on God's green Earth is Blue Album classic "My Name is Jonas" about, and is really there anything here as silly as "Surf Wax America". Whether you like them or not, each Weezer album was very self-contained; this album is all over the place. The most important thing is that the band seems positively invigorated on this album compared to Make Believe, which is not terrible but really feels like it was churned out by a Weezer computer. Unlike their previous albums there is no overarching feel to the record. Given the schizophrenic character of the Red Album, I can definitely understand why this album is getting heaped with both golden praise and vicious scorn, but I think neither are particularly deserved. Are the lyrics kinda dumb.
Additionally, Rivers clearly has his tongue firmly in cheek through many of these songs: "Everybody Get Dangerous" is really quite funny if you listen to the words. Definitely give it a try, just be prepared to edit that playlist a bit. The band just sounds like it's having fun on "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived", and "Pork and Beans" might be the best song they've put out since Pinkerton (face it, the guitar on the chorus hits like a sledgehammer compared to any other pop song I've heard in ages). Let's face it, you can tell a Pinkerton song or Green Album song just by the sound of it, and the same goes for every other Weezer disc.
Weezer have been together for over 15 years, and I applaud the democratic approach to songwriting. Here's to hoping they have another classic in them, something the fans have been craving since the pop/rock gem "Green" album was released. Sadly, only the Brian Bell penned "Thought I Knew" works. It's the choices like these that can make or break an album. We have the familiar pop/rock craft from Rivers & company, only this time it is more experimental and not as straight ahead. We have Brian Bell, Pat Wilson, and Scott Shriner taking lead vocals on three of the ten tracks on Red.
The colored albums are more similiar to each other than any of the bands other releases. The album closes with "Angel and the One" which happens to be a fitting closer. "Everybody Get Dangerous" is just silly and juvenile, now that may be the point, but seriously how old is the band now. Well, with "The Greatest Man that ever Lived" it shows experimentation can go a long way, on other tracks it is more of a strike than a homerun. It seems at this point, the well has been tapped dry.
It sounds like it could be a scenery setting song in any Farrely Brothers Movie, give it a listen and you will know what I mean. The band does hint at past glories with the excellent "Troublemaker", "Pork and Beans", and "Dreamin". I'm not sure what else Weezer can do with future albums, if they decide to do so. It is another year and the influential band known as Weezer releases another color coded album, this time we have red. Is that a good thing though.
Do they really need to squeeze this track on this otherwise good album.
It features songs like "Troublemaker" and "Everybody Get Dangerous" along with a rendition of EMF's "Unbelievable" (which we all remember, unfortunately). It's been since 2005's Make Believe that we've gotten music from the LA faves Weezer and now they return with another self-titled release this one referred to as The Red Album. So again this album brings back the great sound of Weezer that was lost for a while but now has returned. So after Make Believe it seemed the band was dying down and due to comments made by the band and singer Rivers Cuomo in interviews, I wasn't sure if they were going to remain together or go off with their own side projects like they've done in the past, but now they come forth with The Red Album. We had the Blue Album and The Green Album in the past which I loved and underground alternative rock fans loved as well. I love the energy of this album because it brings back the fun and quirky nerdi-ness that got you to fall in love with Weezer in the early 1990's. I especially love the first single "Pork and Beans" because it is classic Weezer.
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