Thursday, November 6, 2014

Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright In The End LP

Untitled

Republic (2014)

I have to admit, never in a million years did I ever think I would end up buying or reviewing a new Weezer album on this website.  Sure I have written about fancy versions of their first two albums, they are two of my all time favorites, but I have flat out hated everything they have released since then.  I'm not even one of those Green Album apologists.  Just because it's a little better than the others doesn't mean that it isn't awful.  And it is truly, truly awful. Go listen to "Hash Pipe." I dare you.

Time and time again a new Weezer album has come out and someone said "Oh, it's their best since Pinkerton."  I'd give it a listen online and come to the same conclusion.  Weezer and Jimmy Eat world must be in some sort of contest to see who can write the most awful and embarrassing record.  Weezer typically was the winner.

When Everything Will Be Alright In The End was ramping up to be released, I heard the same scuttlebutt I always hear, it's the best since Pinkerton.  As usual, I fell for it and gave it a listen online.  You know what?  This record is legitimately the best thing Weezer has done since Pinkerton.  Not only that, I actually like it.  Quite a bit - to the point where I spent money on buying a copy on vinyl.  Who would have thought?

Now, if you're of the mindset, you can absolutely pick this record apart and find several annoying things.  All of the 2nd track "Back To The Shack" is terrible with really awful lyrics.  There's this weird riff breakdown that pops up on "Cleopatra" where the band inexplicably starts counting by fives ("Five ten fifteen twenty...") that almost kills the whole song.  The whistling on "DaVinci" is kind of annoying and the 3-song "Futurescope Trilogy" that closes out the album is a little self indulgent.  Being that Weezer has been making me so mad for so many years, I could be hyper critical of this record and not allow myself to like it.  But I don't see why I'd do that.

From start to finish, Everything Will Be Alright In The End is a fun Weezer record. Is it comparable to Pinkerton or Blue? Of course not.  But I think many of the songs are just as good as the B-sides from that golden era.  If this had come out instead of the Green album, I would have been a little let down, but still perfectly happy with a new third Weezer record.  Plain and simple, I just like listening to it.  The songs are good for the most part, I find that the hooks are constantly getting stuck in my head and I feel like I can just ignore the last 15 years of terrible records.  I hope this album does well enough for Weezer to encourage Rivers to keep writing songs like this.  If he keeps writing them, I'll keep buying them.

Weezer - "Ain't Got Nobody":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbLsgH-yn5c

Weezer - "Eulogy For A Rock Band":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du8ayiNj42g

1 comment:

  1. I need to give this a full listen. I am so indifferent to Weezer at this point that I have nothing to lose. I'm not even sure if I heard the awfulness of their last 10 albums. Same goes for Jimmy Eat World.

    How do you go from releasing albums like Static Prevails and Pinkerton to pure shit?

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