Despite all
the smart-aleck lyrics, the nerdy image, the high-flying concepts, and even the
not-quite-punk posing, Weezer is truly about the music. Thumping bass, anthematic guitars, drums – this
is just solid rock with bass-driven rhythm that hooks the ear. “Only in
Dreams” is perhaps the song that best captures what I loved about the old
Weezer, and this album brings something similar. After listening to the new jolt of old Weezer
intently for a week, that’s what I keep coming back to – the music is just so
damned appealing, I could live off that bass and rhythm guitar.
Like me,
Robin pens
her satisfaction with the album’s new/old direction over at Deliberate
Obfuscation. We try not to talk much
about our impressions of the albums during the week, so it was fun to read how
much we both appreciated coming back to a group we had ignored during some
apparently rough patches.
This album
serves as a welcome back to a band that kind of disappeared for a while. They burst onto the scene back in 1994 with
the catchy and clever “Sweater Song” and came out with a few really good
albums, but, at least for me, they faded from consciousness. In researching this review, I see that they
came out with a few albums that appear to be aimed at a more commercial sound,
but they didn’t work.
I’m not a
professional music reviewer. Nobody pays
me to listen to albums that don’t work.
I’m also not such a huge fan of anyone that I will reflexively go out
and buy their next album if I don’t hear something good about it from a trusted
voice. So bad albums from good bands
pretty much don’t exist for me.
Despite my
inherent forgiveness borne of ignorance, Weezer starts off this album with
hand-wringing nightmares about guitars being dead, and the second song, “Back
to the Shack” is a full-out apology for straying from their audience and
promises to be “More hardcore/Rockin’ out like it’s ‘94”.
All this
would be as annoying as hell if it weren’t for the great, power-pop music. The guitars are ringing, the bass is thumping
out the direction, and shut up about the excuses and don’t bore me with the
explanations – just catch me up in the beat and all is forgiven. Even better than forgiven, it’s forgotten. Even better than forgotten, I never even
listened to your apparently misguided “Raditude” album, so we’re fine. What’s the next bass line?
If you’re
wanting to be a bit more intellectual than I am about this album, you will find
material to mine. Lead singer Rivers
Cuomo gives us a brief update on his life in “Back to the Shack”: “finally
settled down with my girl and I made up with my dad/I had to go and make a few
mistakes so I could find out who I am.”
Nice to know, River – how’s the weather?
“The British are Coming,” track 6, warns of yet another British
invasion, and promises to greet the “Punk ass redcoats” with force.
DaVinci, track 7, is more trademark
Weezer cleverness, finding Cuomo “at a loss for words” trying to describe his
mysterious girlfriend, whom he can’t find even on Ancestry.com:
Even Da Vinci couldn't paint you
Stephen Hawking can't explain you
Rosetta Stone could not translate
you
You have to give Cuomo credit – he is a clever lyricist.
For me,
though, the key is the music, and two of the last three tracks are
instrumentals that, to me, seem like a satisfying scratch to the “put up or
shut up” itch that Weezer triggered in its earlier promises to return to its
roots. Here, for your listening
pleasure, is the final track of the album, full of the guitar, bass and drums
that make me love Weezer.
Next up: 1989, by Taylor Swift
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