Weezer Album Songs: The Top 10 Tracks from the Band's Discography

Following a hiatus after the release of Pinkerton, Weezer returned to critical and commercial prominence in May 2001 with the release of their third studio album, a second self-titled album, commonly referred to as The Green Album.[9] Peaking at number four on the Billboard 200, the album was certified platinum by the RIAA.[1][4] Three singles were released from the album: "Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun" and "Photograph", all of which reached the top 25 on the US Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[10] A year later, the band released their fourth studio album Maladroit to positive reviews.[11] The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the RIAA.[1][4] "Dope Nose" and "Keep Fishin'", the album's two singles, both reached the top 15 on the Alternative Songs chart.[10] In May 2005, the band released their fifth studio album, Make Believe. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics,[12] the album was a commercial success, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 and being certified platinum by the RIAA.[1][4] It spawned four singles, including the international hit "Beverly Hills", which became the band's first top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the top-selling download of 2005.[13][14]

Weezer formed in Los Angeles in 1992, and initially struggled to engage audiences, who were more interested in grunge. In November, they recorded a demo, The Kitchen Tape, which brought them to the attention of DGC owner Geffen Records. Urged to choose a producer instead of self-producing, Weezer selected Ocasek for his work with the Cars. Most of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City between August and September 1993. The group treated the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Guitarist Jason Cropper was fired during recording, as the band felt he was threatening their chemistry; he was replaced by Brian Bell.

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Weezer considered self-producing the album, but were pressured by Geffen to choose a producer. They decided on Ric Ocasek, who had played with the Cars.[8] Ocasek convinced the band to switch their guitar pickups from the neck to the bridge, resulting in a brighter sound.[8] Sharp and Cuomo imposed several rules on recording, banning reverb and insisting on all downstrokes on guitar.[9] According to engineer Chris Shaw, the "overriding concept" was to treat the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Weezer insisted that the guitars were mixed as loudly as those in Radiohead's 1992 song "Creep", burying some vocals.[9]

The album artwork, photographed by American glamour photographer Peter Gowland,[23][24] features Wilson, Cuomo, Sharp, and Bell standing in front of a plain, blue background.[25] Adobe Photoshop was used to digitally alter the cover. Cuomo stated that, while the band liked the photo, Sharp was not happy with the way his head looked. The Geffen Art Director used Photoshop to swap out the head with one from another shot.[26] The image was used prominently in the advertising of the album.[27] The cover received many comparisons to that of the Feelies' album Crazy Rhythms.[27]

On some vinyl pressings of the album, the cover does not crop off their feet. On the Deluxe Edition case the feet are presented on the back cover, and the band sold an official T-shirt with a shot of the band's feet after the deluxe edition release.[28]

Inside the album booklet, Cuomo pays tribute to his past metal influences with a photo taken in the group's garage on Amherst (this same garage would be featured in the "Say It Ain't So" music video). A poster of Judas Priest's album British Steel is featured on the left side of the photo, while on the right a Quiet Riot concert poster is displayed. The Deluxe Edition features additional photographs of the band and hand-written lyrics for each song.[29]

A "deluxe edition" of the album was released on March 23, 2004, including the original album and a second disc, Dusty Gems and Raw Nuggets, containing B-sides and rarities.[38] As of December 2007, the "deluxe edition" had sold 86,000 copies.[39] The second disc is also available separately.

The Blue Album received critical acclaim.[49] Rolling Stone praised the album in their year-end review, saying "Weezer's Rivers Cuomo is great at sketching vignettes (the Dungeons and Dragons games and Kiss posters that inspire the hapless daydreamer of 'In the Garage'), and with sweet inspiration like the waltz tempo of 'My Name Is Jonas' and the self-deprecating humor of lines like "I look just like Buddy Holly / And you're Mary Tyler Moore", his songs easily ingratiate."[50] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was less complimentary and awarded the album a "neither" rating.[51] The "Buddy Holly" video won four awards at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video.[52] In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it number 294 on its updated list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[53]

The Blue Album has become one of the most highly regarded albums of the 1990s, as well as of all time, appearing on many "Best-of" lists. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 294 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[54] It was previously ranked at 297 in 2003, and 299 in 2012.[17][55] In 2002, the readers of Rolling Stone ranked the album the 21st greatest of all time.[56] Blender named the Blue Album among the "500 CDs You Must Own", calling the album "Absolute geek-rock, out and proud."[22] Non-U.S. publications have acclaimed the album as well: New Zealand's The Movement placed it at number 39 on a list of "The 101 Best Albums of the 90s",[57] and Visions of Germany ranked it number 32 on a list of "The Most Important Albums of the 90s."[58] In November 2011, the Blue Album was ranked number three on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with Bad Religion's Stranger than Fiction and The Offspring's Smash in first and second place respectively.[59] The album also peaked at number 25 on Guitar World's "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.[60]

Reviews of the album when its deluxe edition was released have reflected its rise in stature continuing to be positive. In 2004, PopMatters gave the album a very positive review, saying "I'd go so far to declare the 'Blue Album' one of the greatest records of the last 20 years."[61] And Rolling Stone reiterated their original positive review by further describing it as "big, vibrant pop-rock that would inspire thousands of emo kids".[21] Blogcritics gave the album 10/10 and described it as "one of the most important debut albums of the last ten years".[62]

An album so substantial the band misguidedly attempted to tap into its resonance through cover graphics a mere two releases later. In 1994, 70s rock had come to mean either a bastardized version of Led Zeppelin or a bullshit reconstruction of punk rock. As guitar nerds, Weezer sought influence there but found true inspiration in forgotten bubblegum power-pop like Cheap Trick, Raspberries, 20/20, and The Quick. Most impressively, Rivers Cuomo rescued the thrilling guitar solo from finger-tapping metal and disregarding grunge/punk. A decade later air-guitaring to the album feels far less embarrassing than singing along. With the help of Spike Jonze, Weezer kept joy alive in arena rock, making the critical repositioning of Weezer as some emo touchstone even more absentminded. They called themselves Weezer, knowingly, for chrissakes.[63]

NME credited the album as a formative influence on melodic emo.[64] AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 5/5, writing: "Although the group wears its influences on its sleeve, Weezer pulls it together in a strikingly original fashion, thanks to Cuomo's urgent melodicism, a fondness for heavy, heavy guitars, a sly sense of humor, and damaged vulnerability, all driven home at a maximum volume."[40]

On Everything Will Be All Right in the End, Cuomo appeared to swear off future attempts at mass consumption, declaring "I'm not a Happy Meal." Less than two years after that defiant statement, he's embracing the Golden Arches, so to speak. Longtime producer/Cars frontman Ric Ocasek is out, replaced by Jake Sinclair, an industry influencer who's manned the boards for Taylor Swift and 5 Seconds of Summer (he also helped them record the dreaded Raditude). Unsurprisingly, Sinclair's sonics rely heavily on prominent, over-dubbed vocals and mechanical percussion. The album's co-writers include Alex Goose (best known for soundtracking a Sperrys commercial) and Redlight, a British DJ. There's even a reunion with Semisonic frontman-turned-Grammy-winning-songsmith Dan Wilson on the limp opening track "California Kids." White's personnel and production frequently renders it indistinguishable from the milquetoast beach-pop blaring from the speakers of the half-empty Hollister at your local mall. "Wind in Our Sail" and "(Girl We Got A) Good Thing" derive their momentum from peppy keyboard plunks, rather than sawtoothed guitars. Apart from a criminally short, Thin Lizzy-esque solo on the latter track, Cuomo's joyful riffing barely gets a note in edgewise.

The White album also boasts the most batshit lyrical word bank of any Weezer album to date, and bear in mind that the last record had songs about Paul Revere and the resurrection of ancient Egyptian monarchs. Cuomo's everything-stays-in approach to lyric writing dictates that no allusion or image be left behind, however obscure or absurd it may seem to the average listener. Hence, we've got shout-outs to Charles Darwin, male pregnancy, Dante's Inferno, tiger shark extinction, composer Burt Bacharach, and opioid-induced constipation, just to name a few. This approach suits the quirkier numbers, like "King of the World," a punchy love letter from Cuomo to his wife Kyoko, loaded with intimate references to her childhood and even her fear of airplanes ("We could ride a Greyhound all the way to the Galapagos," he offers.) 2ff7e9595c