Weezerpedia:Featured article February 2024: Difference between revisions

Songwriting for ''ROTR'' began as early as [[1993]]. In May of that year, Sharp collaborated on a song with [[Rivers Cuomo]] titled "[[Mrs. Young]]," which was originally considered for release as a [[Weezer]] song alongside "[[Jamie]]." Sharp later reworked it into "[[Please Let That Be You]]," however, alongside a number of other demos throughout, including future breakout hit "[[Friends of P]]," "[[California (Rentals song)|California]]," and "[[Brilliant Boy|Stupid Girl]]." After the release of Weezer's first [[Blue|self titled release]] in [[1994]], Sharp formed a side-project in which he was both the chief songwriter and lead-singer. Initially dubbed "That's Incredible!" by producer [[Tom Grimley]], Sharp would eventually settle on the name "[[the Rentals]]". He later recorded demo tapes for two potential albums at [[Poop Alley Studios]]: ''Return of the Rentals'' and ''[[For the Ladies]]''. The Rentals released the former later that year, and the latter eventually saw release as a demo compilation in [[2005]].

The synthesizer parts played on the album were a late addition in the production process. [[Rivers Cuomo]] claimed in 2002 that the heavy use of moogs on the record discouraged him from pursuing his ''[[Songs from the Black Hole]]'' project, which would have also incorporated sci-fi themes and synthesized instrumentation.

The music video for "[[Friends of P]]" received heavy airplay on [[MTV]], considerably lifting the band's profile before they had even solidified a steady lineup. It portrays the band in black-and-white in a vaguely Eastern-European setting, with the song's lyrics subtitled in Russian. According to Sharp, the idea for this elaborate backstory came from a desire to separate the project from Weezer, "mak[ing] it so we weren't even from this country and I didn't have anything to do with anything from America at all."