Weezer: Weezer (The Red Album) Review

I've been racking my brain for the last few days working to find out why the newest Weezer album sounds like it does. Their newest self titled album which I will refer to as The Red Album is a major departure musically from their past catalog. Here Weezer attempts to integrate the oddest of genres, most notably, rap. While Rivers Cuomo has never been known for writing eloquent lyrics, he truly outdoes himself with some of the worst lyrics that I have ever heard, and while it may seem they are so bad they were meant to be comical, they fall short of even achieving that end.

There are moments in the album where the Weezer of old is musically present, but far too often they are pressing for some kind of innovative sound. For instance on "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)", they give us an asinine rap intro that would even make Weird Al fans cringe. "Everybody Get Dangerous" sounds as if it came from a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band with Rivers using vocal techniques identical to that of Anthony Kiedis. Of course none of this suits their style. The power pop of old is absent for the majority of the album.

There are however a number of bright moments such as the single "Pork and Beans". It sounds like the Weezer which we have all become accustomed to with a hook as strong as any of their past songs. "Dreamin'" has a great bouncing rhythm and sounds like it could have been pulled straight from a Blue Album or Pinkerton recording session. The closing song follows the typical Weezer fashion with its melodramatic feel and at least leaves us thinking positive after a grueling journey. Other members also get their chance at songwriting and while it isn't necessarily a strong point on the album, it does hold its own.

Now I'm not one to dedicate a chunk of a review to lyrics but this album has such hideously bad lyrics that I almost feel embarrassed to listen to this album in any fashion other than through headphones. Instead of elaborating on how bad they are I'll just post a few of the greatest moments from three different songs, "You try to play cool / Like you just don’t care /But soon I’ll be playin’ in your Underwear." "When I was younger / I used to go and tip cows for fun, yeah / Actually I didn't do that / 'Cos I didn't want the cow to be sad / But some of my friends did." "I’m a troublemaker / Never been a faker /Doing things my own way /And never giving up. / I’m a troublemaker /Not a double taker".

As I said earlier, I've been trying to rationalize why this album has fallen so short of the rest of their work. Weezer has yet to release a sub par album until The Red Album, and now they have fallen off the edge. My original theory is that they intentionally released a bad album in response to their unease with Geffen records who inspired "Pork and Beans" for their request of more commercial music. While this probably is not likely, I am trying to hold some hope, because even the artwork is horrific.

Grade: C-