Weezer (The Green Album) Stereogum record review: Difference between revisions
Weezer (The Green Album) Stereogum record review (view source)
Revision as of 07:31, 30 March 2023
, 30 March 2023fixed footnote errors
(Created page with "{{Green Album infobox reviews}} {{Box rating 2|Weezer (The Green Album)|Nate Rogers|Stereogum|May 14, 2021}} After the release of ''Pinkerton...") |
(fixed footnote errors) |
||
| Line 23: | Line 23: | ||
It seemed like “The Green Album” was designed to satisfy the exact wrong type of listener, if there is such a thing, and it did indeed satisfy plenty, debuting on the Billboard 200 at #4. Critically, as well, the album was more well received than you’d probably think, possibly due to a certain degree of guilt on the press’ part for the crucifixion of ''Pinkerton''. (''Rolling Stone'' literally [[Pinkerton Rolling Stone record review - 2004|re-reviewed ''Pinkerton'' in 2004]] to give it a perfect score.) In a market in which pop-punk was continuing to shove its way into the mainstream conversation — also on the charts at the time were Sum 41, American Hi-Fi, and the Josie & The Pussycats soundtrack — Weezer was suddenly king, and Cuomo more or less officially (and pretty legitimately) decreed to be Gen X’s answer to [[Brian Wilson]]. (That title comes with as much talent as it does dysfunction.) | It seemed like “The Green Album” was designed to satisfy the exact wrong type of listener, if there is such a thing, and it did indeed satisfy plenty, debuting on the Billboard 200 at #4. Critically, as well, the album was more well received than you’d probably think, possibly due to a certain degree of guilt on the press’ part for the crucifixion of ''Pinkerton''. (''Rolling Stone'' literally [[Pinkerton Rolling Stone record review - 2004|re-reviewed ''Pinkerton'' in 2004]] to give it a perfect score.) In a market in which pop-punk was continuing to shove its way into the mainstream conversation — also on the charts at the time were Sum 41, American Hi-Fi, and the Josie & The Pussycats soundtrack — Weezer was suddenly king, and Cuomo more or less officially (and pretty legitimately) decreed to be Gen X’s answer to [[Brian Wilson]]. (That title comes with as much talent as it does dysfunction.) | ||
But the superfan disgust with “The Green Album” was real, its black sheep status so severe that, in a [[2016]] interview with ABC’s Dan Harris, Cuomo assumed Harris was talking about it when a question made vague reference to a project that led to a “fan revolt.”<ref group="Note">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_3KRd0U9Q</ref> (Harris was actually talking about 2010’s ''[[Hurley]]'' and frankly could have been referring to any number of alienating steps in the band’s career.) To this day, “The Green Album” is rarely cited among favorites in the still-passionate Weezer community, instead usually acknowledged as the band’s first misstep. | But the superfan disgust with “The Green Album” was real, its black sheep status so severe that, in a [[2016]] interview with ABC’s Dan Harris, Cuomo assumed Harris was talking about it when a question made vague reference to a project that led to a “fan revolt.”<ref group="Note">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_3KRd0U9Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU_3KRd0U9Q]</ref> (Harris was actually talking about 2010’s ''[[Hurley]]'' and frankly could have been referring to any number of alienating steps in the band’s career.) To this day, “The Green Album” is rarely cited among favorites in the still-passionate Weezer community, instead usually acknowledged as the band’s first misstep. | ||
If anything, its status has further waned over time as well, as the first two albums get elevated to higher and higher planes of lore. “Green” doesn’t belong in that canon — not much does — but after unloading the 747’s worth of baggage it comes with, what remains is a piece of music much better than its reputation: a quick dagger of an album, with an Ocasek-curated sound so tight that it feels like it might crack at any moment, spilling the radioactive goo of pure pop-rock inside. | If anything, its status has further waned over time as well, as the first two albums get elevated to higher and higher planes of lore. “Green” doesn’t belong in that canon — not much does — but after unloading the 747’s worth of baggage it comes with, what remains is a piece of music much better than its reputation: a quick dagger of an album, with an Ocasek-curated sound so tight that it feels like it might crack at any moment, spilling the radioactive goo of pure pop-rock inside. | ||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
The best track by a mile will always be “[[Hash Pipe]],” a surprisingly profane song that figures as one of the sludgiest, strangest rock songs to ever be an international hit. (Unlike the rest of the album, this one is actually about something, too: Cuomo described it as coming from the perspective a transgender sex worker on Santa Monica Boulevard, sort of like a musical precursor to Sean Baker’s 2015 film ''Tangerine''.) Given that it’s the only SS2K song to have made the release, you can come to your own conclusions about what alternate path for Weezer would have been better for us all. But it is what it is, and acting too good for a song like “[[Island In The Sun]]” is sort of like talking shit on “California Girls” — you’re only depriving yourself, and you’re not fooling anyone, either. | The best track by a mile will always be “[[Hash Pipe]],” a surprisingly profane song that figures as one of the sludgiest, strangest rock songs to ever be an international hit. (Unlike the rest of the album, this one is actually about something, too: Cuomo described it as coming from the perspective a transgender sex worker on Santa Monica Boulevard, sort of like a musical precursor to Sean Baker’s 2015 film ''Tangerine''.) Given that it’s the only SS2K song to have made the release, you can come to your own conclusions about what alternate path for Weezer would have been better for us all. But it is what it is, and acting too good for a song like “[[Island In The Sun]]” is sort of like talking shit on “California Girls” — you’re only depriving yourself, and you’re not fooling anyone, either. | ||
In the immediate wake of “The Green Album,” Cuomo was already aware that he’d found yet another way to upset everyone. “Of the millions of people who’ve already heard [the album], they all say that it sounds totally different from either of the first two; we’ve lost what made us great,” he told ''Entertainment Weekly'' in 2001. “They hate it. Go on the internet.”<ref group="Note" name="EW" /> The dude simply couldn’t win, and it was this kind of frustration and defeat that would bring him to half-jokingly refer to Weezer fans as “little bitches” on the ''[[Maladroit]]'' press cycle the next year<ref | In the immediate wake of “The Green Album,” Cuomo was already aware that he’d found yet another way to upset everyone. “Of the millions of people who’ve already heard [the album], they all say that it sounds totally different from either of the first two; we’ve lost what made us great,” he told ''Entertainment Weekly'' in 2001. “They hate it. Go on the internet.”<ref group="Note" name="EW" /> The dude simply couldn’t win, and it was this kind of frustration and defeat that would bring him to half-jokingly refer to Weezer fans as “little bitches” on the ''[[Maladroit]]'' press cycle the next year<ref group="Note">[[Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - May 2002]]</ref>. What could he possibly do to make everyone happy? As he was starting to figure out, likely nothing. | ||
— Nate Rogers, [[May 14]], [[2021]] | — Nate Rogers, [[May 14]], [[2021]] | ||