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Rivers Becomes a Team Player on New CD |
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Written by MATTHEW LAMBERT
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Sunday, 08 June 2008 |
Three years after the release of the commercially successful, yet critically mixed album Make Believe, alternative rockers Weezer have returned to the scene with their third self-titled album. Like the Blue and Green albums, the band seems to want to tap into that familiar graphic background to grab our attention.
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Weezer
|  Entertainment
Art
"Weezer (Red album)"
(Epic)
Released February 12, 2008
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The previous two self-titled records seem to symbolize a change in musical direction. Like the thoroughly enjoyable Blue Album; which introduced us to their happy, geek-rock tunes during the time of the grunge movement or the critically successful Green Album; a return to that happy, pop rock feel after 1996’s Pinkerton, The Red Album tries to take a step in another direction.
The record, produced by Rick Rubin and Jacknife Lee, certainly mixes things up with Scott Shiner, Brian Bell and Patrick Wilson providing lead vocals on several tracks. The guys also pool together writing material, switch up instruments, combine several different musical genres ( southern rap for example) and add synth, sirens and drum machines throughout the album. At around 42 minutes for the ten-track album ( 62 minutes on the 14-track U.S deluxe version) Weezer try to cram a lot of things in a tight package.
While Rivers Cuomo takes a backseat vocally on tracks like “Thought I Knew” ( vocals and writing by Brian Bell) “Cold Dark World” ( Shiner on vocals) and “Automatic" ( Wilson on lead vocals) he brings his familiar writing style to several tracks. “Heart Songs” is a ballad reflecting Cuomo’s influences ranging from Nirvana to John Lennon and its overlapping vocals and catchy riffs make it one of the best songs on the album. “Everybody Get Dangerous” funky sound seems like something out of a Chili Peppers album…quick, loud, spastic and fun. Things get interesting with “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived,” an epic which includes ten breakdowns over the course of six minutes. While at first it seemed cluttered, The Greatest‘ combinations of synth, choir, rap, sirens and pop, punk melodies grow on you. The multiple breakdowns are reminiscent of Green Day’s “Jesus of Suburbia,” while it seemed like too much at first, I found myself looking forward to each part. “Pork and Beans” returns us to a familiar sound like something out of the Blue Album era…power pop, sing-a-long lyrics and general goofiness. The album closes with “The Angel And The One,” which is apparently the favorite track amongst the band. At nearly six minutes, it’s the longest track of the album and Weezer succeeds in making it a great closer.
Overall the record has its hits and misses. While Bell, Shiner and Wilson did decent work on their tracks, It just didn’t feel right on this album. You could really divide this album in half…five of the tracks are great ( 2,3,4,5,10) and the others are just okay. This album falls somewhere below the two other self-titled albums and Pinkerton but slightly above Make Believe and Maladroit. Its best work reminds us of classic Weezer while more experimental tracks just sound too different to get into. Yes, bands grow and try new musical styles, but it doesn’t always work here. Nevertheless, I would recommend giving the album a listen and downloading the best tracks.
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