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'''''Pinkerton''''' is the second album by the American alternative rock band [[Weezer]], released on [[September 24]], [[1996]]. [[Rivers Cuomo]], the band's lead singer and guitarist, wrote all of its songs after a painful leg surgery; as a result, they were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that he would not have to move too much to play them. | '''''Pinkerton''''' is the second album by the American alternative rock band [[Weezer]], released on [[September 24]], [[1996]]. [[Rivers Cuomo]], the band's lead singer and guitarist, wrote all of its songs after a painful leg surgery; as a result, they were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that he would not have to move too much to play them. | ||
''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera [[ | ''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', and the album plays as a concept album based loosely around the opera. Like the Puccini opera, the album includes other references to Japan, Japanese people, and Japanese culture from the perspective of an outsider who considers Japan fragile and sensual. It was originally planned as ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'', which Cuomo deemed a "space opera." The initial concept was scrapped, but the band incorporated several of the songs into ''Pinkerton''. The artwork on the album's cover is [[Kambara yoru no yuki]] ("Night Snow at Kambara"), a print by Japanese ukiyo-e artist [[Hiroshige]]. | ||
The album was seen as a departure from the band's original power pop sound for a much darker and more abrasive sound. Upon its release in 1996, the album was considered a critical and commercial failure. However, ''Pinkerton'' has risen in stature to become one of the most highly-regarded albums of the 1990s, receiving much critical acclaim and is considered one of the most important [[emo]] albums of the nineties having introduced the genre to a wider and more mainstream audience. The album was certified gold in [[2001]] and platinum in [[2016]]. As of September [[2016]], ''Pinkerton'' has amassed U.S. sales of over 1,000,000. It was the last Weezer album to feature bassist [[Matt Sharp]]. | The album was seen as a departure from the band's original power pop sound for a much darker and more abrasive sound. Upon its release in 1996, the album was considered a critical and commercial failure. However, ''Pinkerton'' has risen in stature to become one of the most highly-regarded albums of the 1990s, receiving much critical acclaim and is considered one of the most important [[emo]] albums of the nineties having introduced the genre to a wider and more mainstream audience. The album was certified gold in [[2001]] and platinum in [[2016]]. As of September [[2016]], ''Pinkerton'' has amassed U.S. sales of over 1,000,000. It was the last Weezer album to feature bassist [[Matt Sharp]]. | ||
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==Themes== | ==Themes== | ||
''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera ''[[ | ''Pinkerton'' is named after the character B.F. Pinkerton from Puccini's opera ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', and the album plays as a concept album based loosely around the opera. Like the Puccini opera, the album includes references to Japan, its people, and their culture from the perspective of an outsider who considers Japan fragile but sensual. The album's lyrical themes infuse the Japanese allusions with its first-person narrator's romantic disappointments and sexual frustration, the latter at times visceral and graphic. Due to the cohesion of the narrative themes, the album plays as a concept album about sexual longing and lost love, and because of its first-person voice, many consider Cuomo's songs autobiographical - something he has all but confirmed. Cuomo has stated that "the ten songs are sequenced in the order in which I wrote them (with two minor exceptions). So as a whole, the album kind of tells the story of my struggle with my inner Pinkerton." | ||
===Artwork=== | ===Artwork=== | ||
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[[Image:Map of Weezerland.JPG|100px|thumb|left|The Pinkerton map]] | [[Image:Map of Weezerland.JPG|100px|thumb|left|The Pinkerton map]] | ||
Behind the album's CD tray is a map with the title "Isol Della Farfalla e Penisola Di Cane." which is Italian for "Island of the Butterfly and Peninsula of Dog." Also on the map are a ship named U.S.S. Pinkerton and "Mykel and Carli Island," an allusion to Weezer's fan club founders, as well as more references to | Behind the album's CD tray is a map with the title "Isol Della Farfalla e Penisola Di Cane." which is Italian for "Island of the Butterfly and Peninsula of Dog." Also on the map are a ship named U.S.S. Pinkerton and "Mykel and Carli Island," an allusion to Weezer's fan club founders, as well as more references to ''Madama Butterfly'' (Don Giovanni, Sharpless, Cio Cio San Island). In a [[2005]] appearance on [[The Howard Stern Show]], Rivers Cuomo said that the names listed on the map are those who influenced him during the writing and recording of the album, with Howard Stern being one of those influences. Other names include [[Yngwie Malmsteen]], [[Brian Wilson]], [[Lou Barlow]], [[Joe Matt]], [[Camille Paglia]] and [[Ace Frehley]].<br><Br><br> | ||
==Release== | ==Release== | ||