Weezer: Weezer (Red Album) (2008)

Honestly, I like Weezer’s new album, dubbed The Red Album, more than I should.

But, most of the album is uncompromisingly bland. From the generic riffs of “Everybody Get Dangerous” and “Dreamin’” to the embarrassingly silly tough man voice on “Cold Dark World,” Rivers, Brian, Pat and Scott sound as if they are trying to make the worst album of all time. I honestly laughed the first time I listened to “Heart Songs,” Cuomo’s name-dropping ode to all that inspired him.

And yet, I cannot help myself; I keep listening to The Red Album. The lead single “Pork And Beans” eventually won me over with the hilarious music video and forcefully catchy riff. And for all of the inane lyrics and forced universalities that Cuomo has been shoving on us since The Green Album, “Troublemaker” offers one line that rings as true as anything on Pinkerton, “And I will learn by studying the lessons in my dreams.” Hell even “Heart Songs” started to get to me after awhile. Damn that melody.

However, the biggest praise I can give Cuomo and the boys here is for the song “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn).” Nearing six minutes long and over ten bazillion different style changes within that six minutes, Weezer finally fulfills the grandiosity that was first promised on “Undone (The Sweater Song).” It is so utterly ridiculous and the rap breakdown near the end is actually funny with Cuomo preaching,

“Somebody said all the worlds is stage,
And each of us is a player.
That’s what I’ve been tryin to tell you.
In Act 1 I was struggling to survive.
Nobody wanted my action dead or alive.
Act 2, I hit the big time.
And bodies be all up on my behind.
And I can’t help myself because I was born to shine.
And if you don’t like it, you can shove it.
But you don’t like it, you love it.
So I’ll be up here in a rage,
’Til they bring the curtain down on the stage.”

So bad, it’s good. I don’t know if Cuomo is taking a piss out of all us or if he is actually being serious. My intuition says the latter, but I guess it really doesn’t matter at this point.

I guess I should apologize, but hell, Weezer’s Red Album is something I find myself enjoying more and more with each listen and I guess that really speaks for itself more than anything else.

Video for "Pork And Beans"


Mp3:
Weezer-“The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)”

Link:
Weezer.com

YouTube Video of the Week: "Pork And Beans" and "Violet Hill" Videos

Speaking of Postmodernism...

I would say I am a big fan of music videos, but lately I haven't seen any that have really impressed me terribly especially from the mainstream artists, but this week I have seen two pretty awesome videos that have restored my faith in the music video format.



First up is Weezer's "Pork And Beans." It's a song that I was sort of meh about yet slowly it became catchier and catchier. With this new video doing the pastiche thing by incorporating a bunch the YouTube "classic" characters interacting with Rivers and the gang I couldn't help but smile. It's funny because YouTube has created a whole new level of celebrity and this video for "Pork And Beans" is by no means the first video to capture this phenomenon, but it does it with enough charm and sincerity.



Secondly, and more hilariously and more seriously, is the alternate video for Coldplay's new single "Violet Hill." Why this is the "alternate" video is beyond me. Recycling a bunch of clips of old leaders, current leaders and maybe soon to be leaders and other footage of war and politics the video recontextualizes these images for darkly humorous purposes. It's an incredibly moving video really and was left stunned the first time I saw it.

Both videos make those songs even better then when I first heard them and it gives me hope for the music video, and they have re-inspired me to take a shot at doing my own once more.

Links:
Weezer.com
Coldplay.com

Weezer's New Album Title Not A Joke

Pitchfork has reported that indeed Weezer's new album coming out on June 17th, 2008 will be called Weezer. The cover will be red continuing the occasional scheme of theirs. So prepare yourselves for the Red Album. I for one am excited. I really dug Make Believe, but I've read all sorts of cool things about this new album including other members singing songs, instrument switch-ups, synths and more. It was produced by Rick Rubin as well. Rolling Stone reported that the first single is going to be called "Pork And Beans," but that may have been the actual fake part of the April Fools joke? We'll see.

Links:
Original article on Pitchfork
Weezer site