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{{Rivers Cuomo quote|In '[[1993|93]] I had spent a lot of time listening to ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. In '94, on the road with Weezer, I listened to ''Les Miserables'', Verdi's ''Aida'' and Puccini's ''Tosca'' and ''Madama Butterfly''. I loved how these works married music and drama, how the different characters would sing to each other instead of talk and how the story unfolded through song. I realized that musical-drama could be the larger scale composition I wanted to write for Weezer's second record: a new-wave influenced rock musical in which I could explore my feelings about relationships, stardom, and my life in Weezer. I would call the musical, ''Songs from the Black Hole''. I purchased an Electro-Harmonix keyboard and a Korg keyboard from Center Music in Newington, Connecticut on [[January 3]], [[1995]], to add a sci-fi tone to Weezer's guitar crunch. I got excited, now knowing what I wanted to do. I started planning and writing out sketches, music, and songs.|''[[Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]'' [[Alone II liner notes|liner notes]]}}
{{Rivers Cuomo quote|In '[[1993|93]] I had spent a lot of time listening to ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. In '94, on the road with Weezer, I listened to ''Les Miserables'', Verdi's ''Aida'' and Puccini's ''Tosca'' and ''Madama Butterfly''. I loved how these works married music and drama, how the different characters would sing to each other instead of talk and how the story unfolded through song. I realized that musical-drama could be the larger scale composition I wanted to write for Weezer's second record: a new-wave influenced rock musical in which I could explore my feelings about relationships, stardom, and my life in Weezer. I would call the musical, ''Songs from the Black Hole''. I purchased an Electro-Harmonix keyboard and a Korg keyboard from Center Music in Newington, Connecticut on [[January 3]], [[1995]], to add a sci-fi tone to Weezer's guitar crunch. I got excited, now knowing what I wanted to do. I started planning and writing out sketches, music, and songs.|''[[Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]'' [[Alone II liner notes|liner notes]]}}


The [[Songs from the Black Hole, draft 1|earliest known written draft]] of ''Songs from the Black Hole'', as presented in the book ''[[The Pinkerton Diaries]]'', was dated [[November 28]], [[1994]]. The characters of the story were to be [[Jonas]] (voiced by [[Rivers Cuomo]]), [[Laurel]] (voiced by [[Rachel Haden]] of [[That Dog]]), [[Maria]] (planned to be voiced by [[Joan Wasser]] of the Dambuilders), [[Wuan]] & [[Dondó]] ([[Brian Bell]] and [[Matt Sharp]], respectively), and a robot called [[M1]] (voiced by [[Karl Koch]] via the use of a vocoder). At the time, Wasser was unaware of Rivers' intention of having her play a role on the album.
The [[Songs from the Black Hole, draft 1|earliest known written draft]] of ''Songs from the Black Hole'', as presented in the book ''[[The Pinkerton Diaries]]'', was dated [[November 28]], [[1994]]. The characters of the story were to be [[Jonas]] (voiced by [[Rivers Cuomo]]), [[Laurel]] (voiced by [[Rachel Haden]] of [[That Dog]]), [[Maria]] (planned to be voiced by [[Joan Wasser]] of the Dambuilders), [[Wuan]] & [[Dondó]] ([[Brian Bell]] and [[Matt Sharp]], respectively), and a robot called [[M1]] (voiced by [[Karl Koch]] via the use of a vocoder). At the time, Wasser was unaware of Cuomo's intention of having her play a role on the album.


The initial draft of the story differed from later drafts, seemingly taking place on Earth in a futuristic setting. Subsequent drafts re-imagined the characters explicitly as space travelers. In the words of Rivers, taken from an interview in the [[November 15]], [[2007]] issue of Rolling Stone: "There's this crew - three guys and two girls and a mechanoid - that are on this mission in space to rescue somebody, or something. The whole thing was really an analogy for taking off, going out on the road and up the charts with a rock band, which is what was happening to me at the time I was writing this and feeling like I was lost in space."
The initial draft of the story differed from later drafts, seemingly taking place on Earth in a futuristic setting. Subsequent drafts re-imagined the characters explicitly as space travelers. In the words of Cuomo, taken from an interview in the [[November 15]], [[2007]] issue of Rolling Stone: "There's this crew - three guys and two girls and a mechanoid - that are on this mission in space to rescue somebody, or something. The whole thing was really an analogy for taking off, going out on the road and up the charts with a rock band, which is what was happening to me at the time I was writing this and feeling like I was lost in space."


Over the course of writing the album, Rivers, who'd enrolled at Harvard in the fall of [[1995]], was inspired to change his focus from the space rock opera theme of ''SFTBH'' to the ''Madame Butterfly''-influenced theme that permeates ''Pinkerton''. ''Pinkerton'' was released on September 24, 1996 and included the songs "[[Tired of Sex]]", "[[Getchoo]]", "[[No Other One]]", and "[[Why Bother?]]". These four songs had been written prior to the conception of ''SFTBH'' but had been reworked into the story of ''SFTBH''. Further leftovers "[[Devotion]]", "[[Waiting on You]]", and "[[I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams]]" (the latter of which was conceived as a ''SFTBH'' song) surfaced as b-sides to the ''Pinkerton'' singles "[[El Scorcho]]" and "[[The Good Life]]". "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" notably features [[Rachel Haden]] singing lead vocals, in the role that was originally intended for ''SFTBH''.
In August [[1995]], Weezer began recording ''SFTBH'' at Electric Lady Studios, with no producer. The songs "[[Waiting on You]]," "[[Blast Off!]]," "[[Longtime Sunshine]]," "[[Why Bother?]]," "[[Getchoo]]," "[[No Other One]]," "[[Tired of Sex]]," "[[Devotion]]," "[[I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams]]," "[[You Gave Your Love to Me Softly]]," and "[[You Won't Get With Me Tonight]]" would be tracked.<ref name="rechist8">[[Recording History - Page 8|Weezer Recording History - Page 8]]</ref> In September, the master tapes were brought over to Fort Apache Studios, where "Waiting on You," "Why Bother?," "Getchoo," "No Other One," "Tired of Sex," "Devotion," and "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" would receive work.<ref name="rechist8" />
 
Over the course of recording, Cuomo, who'd enrolled at Harvard in the fall of [[1995]], was inspired to change his focus from the space rock opera theme of ''SFTBH'' to the ''Madame Butterfly''-influenced theme that permeates ''Pinkerton''. One final tracklist of ''SFTBH'' was made in the fall as a means to try and salvage what was left of the concept. Weezer began recording at Sound City Studios in January [[1996]]. By this time, the songs "[[El Scorcho]]" and "[[Pink Triangle]]" had been written and were recorded during these sessions, but "[[Superfriend]]," "[[She's Had a Girl]]," and "[[Dude, We're Finally Landing]]" would be tracked as a very last-ditch effort to save ''SFTBH''.<ref name="rechist8" /> By the next sessions in the spring, ''Songs from the Black Hole'' had been scrapped in favor of ''Pinkerton''.
 
''Pinkerton'' was released on September 24, 1996 and included the songs "[[Tired of Sex]]", "[[Getchoo]]", "[[No Other One]]", and "[[Why Bother?]]". These four songs had been written prior to the conception of ''SFTBH'' but had been reworked into the story of ''SFTBH''. Further leftovers "[[Devotion]]", "[[Waiting on You]]", and "[[I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams]]" (the latter of which was conceived as a ''SFTBH'' song) surfaced as b-sides to the ''Pinkerton'' singles "[[El Scorcho]]" and "[[The Good Life]]". "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" notably features [[Rachel Haden]] singing lead vocals, in the role that was originally intended for ''SFTBH''.


Asked why he "ditched" the album concept in a [[2002]] [[AIM chat with Rivers Cuomo excerpts - January 10, 2002|fan correspondence]], Cuomo simply replied "rotr" (referring to the [[1995]] album ''[[Return of the Rentals]]'' by former Weezer  bassist [[Matt Sharp]]), adding "plus it was kind of a lame idea". Cuomo expanded on this in [[2010]], saying "our bass player, Matt, put out his first solo record and I felt like it had a lot of the same musical and lyrical themes that I was planning to explore on the second record. So that would be one contributing factor, my change of heart. Also, I had this really painful surgical procedure on my leg, which lasted 13 months in all and it took me to a place, emotionally, where the whole idea of this whole rock opera started to feel too whimsical for where I was emotionally, going through the pain of the procedure. And so I scrapped the whole idea and went to a more serious and dark place."<ref>Greene, Andy. "Rivers Cuomo Looks Back at ‘Pinkerton’" ''Rolling Stone''. 2 November 2010. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-looks-back-at-pinkerton-107425/</ref> In 2002, several ''SFTBH'' demos were leaked on the internet. These included "[[Blast Off!]]", "[[Oh No, This Is Not For Me]]", "[[Come to My Pod]]", "[[Tired of Sex]]" and "[[Longtime Sunshine]]". Another demo, "[[You Won't Get With Me Tonight]]", was officially released on the [[2003]] compilation ''[[Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter]]''. A very short clip of the band rehearsing "[[Superfriend]]" in Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in January [[1996]], was released on the Weezer DVD ''[[Video Capture Device]]'' in [[2004]].
Asked why he "ditched" the album concept in a [[2002]] [[AIM chat with Rivers Cuomo excerpts - January 10, 2002|fan correspondence]], Cuomo simply replied "rotr" (referring to the [[1995]] album ''[[Return of the Rentals]]'' by former Weezer  bassist [[Matt Sharp]]), adding "plus it was kind of a lame idea". Cuomo expanded on this in [[2010]], saying "our bass player, Matt, put out his first solo record and I felt like it had a lot of the same musical and lyrical themes that I was planning to explore on the second record. So that would be one contributing factor, my change of heart. Also, I had this really painful surgical procedure on my leg, which lasted 13 months in all and it took me to a place, emotionally, where the whole idea of this whole rock opera started to feel too whimsical for where I was emotionally, going through the pain of the procedure. And so I scrapped the whole idea and went to a more serious and dark place."<ref>Greene, Andy. "Rivers Cuomo Looks Back at ‘Pinkerton’" ''Rolling Stone''. 2 November 2010. https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/rivers-cuomo-looks-back-at-pinkerton-107425/</ref> In 2002, several ''SFTBH'' demos were leaked on the internet. These included "[[Blast Off!]]", "[[Oh No, This Is Not For Me]]", "[[Come to My Pod]]", "[[Tired of Sex]]" and "[[Longtime Sunshine]]". Another demo, "[[You Won't Get With Me Tonight]]", was officially released on the [[2003]] compilation ''[[Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter]]''. A very short clip of the band rehearsing "[[Superfriend]]" in Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, in January [[1996]], was released on the Weezer DVD ''[[Video Capture Device]]'' in [[2004]].
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{{Rivers Cuomo quote|I think the whole Black Hole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion in people's minds. It's really like--it's just, like, a third of an album that was sketched out and most of the songs on it weren't really written specifically for The Black Hole; they were written before I conceived of The Black Hole and then I reshaped them a little bit for The Black Hole and then after I abandoned that idea, I unshaped them and put them on Pinkerton, so besides that, there are a handful or two of scraps of mostly interstitial pieces that aren't really songs, and then there may be just a couple of full songs that were written for The Black Hole. So it's really not that big of a deal.|''Alternative Press' interview<ref>Heisel, Scott. "Web Exclusive: A conversation with Rivers Cuomo" ''Alternative Press''. 30 October 2007. https://www.altpress.com/111-2/</ref>}}
{{Rivers Cuomo quote|I think the whole Black Hole thing has gotten blown way out of proportion in people's minds. It's really like--it's just, like, a third of an album that was sketched out and most of the songs on it weren't really written specifically for The Black Hole; they were written before I conceived of The Black Hole and then I reshaped them a little bit for The Black Hole and then after I abandoned that idea, I unshaped them and put them on Pinkerton, so besides that, there are a handful or two of scraps of mostly interstitial pieces that aren't really songs, and then there may be just a couple of full songs that were written for The Black Hole. So it's really not that big of a deal.|''Alternative Press' interview<ref>Heisel, Scott. "Web Exclusive: A conversation with Rivers Cuomo" ''Alternative Press''. 30 October 2007. https://www.altpress.com/111-2/</ref>}}


As the demos from the ''SFTBH'' began being desired by fans, Cuomo stated on his blog that he was unable to release any of his demos (including ''Black Hole'' songs) because of his contractual obligations to Geffen Records: "...Someday that may change but it won’t be anytime soon...Until I can figure out a way to compensate Geffen records (and in the case of covers songs, the songwriters) I can’t give away my recordings." Also on his blog, Rivers mentioned playing his demos to Jordan Schur, the president of Geffen Records: "...when we were starting to work on Make Believe in 2003, I sat down with Jordan and played him hours of my old demos, going all the way back to the beginnings of Weezer. He didn’t think any of them were album-worthy. Neither did I. The one song he thought was good was "Blast Off" but it 'needs a new chorus.' I agreed." In a [[2006]] interview, commenting on speculation that Make Believe would be Weezer's last album, drummer [[Pat Wilson]] stated that he would be interested in releasing a compilation of "lost" Weezer tracks. This fueled rumours that the band would release previously unheard ''Black Hole'' songs or a completely re-worked version of the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' concept album in the near future. A petition for the band to release the ''SFTBH'' demos was launched by Weezer fans on [[November 27]], [[2005]], with the goal of reaching one thousand signatures. The petition reached its goal on [[March 1]]st, [[2006]]. On [[October 3]], 2005 during [[Weezer concert: 10/03/2005 - Rosemont, IL|a Weezer show at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois]], the band invited a fan up onstage to play the rhythm guitar for "[[Undone - The Sweater Song]]". The fan took advantage of this moment to attempt to get the band to play "Blast Off!" by beginning to play the intro to the song and sang the first four lines of the song.<ref>CLme. "Blast Off / Undone" ''YouTube''. 16 October 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNG3RPbxz0M</ref> "Blast Off!" was played live for the first time with the full band on [[August 19]], [[2011]] at [[Weezer concert: 08/19/2011 - Seattle, WA|a concert at WaMu Theater in Seattle, WA]]. It was the encore song after a "Double Memories Night", during which the band performed both ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)|The Blue album]]'' and ''Pinkerton'' in their entirety.
As the demos from the ''SFTBH'' began being desired by fans, Cuomo stated on his blog that he was unable to release any of his demos (including ''Black Hole'' songs) because of his contractual obligations to Geffen Records: "...Someday that may change but it won’t be anytime soon...Until I can figure out a way to compensate Geffen records (and in the case of covers songs, the songwriters) I can’t give away my recordings." Also on his blog, Cuomo mentioned playing his demos to Jordan Schur, the president of Geffen Records: "...when we were starting to work on Make Believe in 2003, I sat down with Jordan and played him hours of my old demos, going all the way back to the beginnings of Weezer. He didn’t think any of them were album-worthy. Neither did I. The one song he thought was good was "Blast Off" but it 'needs a new chorus.' I agreed." In a [[2006]] interview, commenting on speculation that Make Believe would be Weezer's last album, drummer [[Pat Wilson]] stated that he would be interested in releasing a compilation of "lost" Weezer tracks. This fueled rumours that the band would release previously unheard ''Black Hole'' songs or a completely re-worked version of the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' concept album in the near future. A petition for the band to release the ''SFTBH'' demos was launched by Weezer fans on [[November 27]], [[2005]], with the goal of reaching one thousand signatures. The petition reached its goal on [[March 1]]st, [[2006]]. On [[October 3]], 2005 during [[Weezer concert: 10/03/2005 - Rosemont, IL|a Weezer show at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois]], the band invited a fan up onstage to play the rhythm guitar for "[[Undone - The Sweater Song]]". The fan took advantage of this moment to attempt to get the band to play "Blast Off!" by beginning to play the intro to the song and sang the first four lines of the song.<ref>CLme. "Blast Off / Undone" ''YouTube''. 16 October 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNG3RPbxz0M</ref> "Blast Off!" was played live for the first time with the full band on [[August 19]], [[2011]] at [[Weezer concert: 08/19/2011 - Seattle, WA|a concert at WaMu Theater in Seattle, WA]]. It was the encore song after a "Double Memories Night", during which the band performed both ''[[Weezer (The Blue Album)|The Blue album]]'' and ''Pinkerton'' in their entirety.


Sheet music and lyrics for several unreleased ''Songs from the Black Hole'' tracks were made available by Rivers on his MySpace page on [[April 30]], 2006. Lyrics were posted for "Blast Off!", "[[Who You Callin' Bitch?]]", "[[Oh Jonas]]", "[[Please Remember]]", "[[Oh No, This Is Not For Me]]", "[[She's Had a Girl]]", and "[[Now I Finally See]]", while sheet music was posted for "She's Had a Girl", "Who You Callin' Bitch?" and "Oh Jonas".
Sheet music and lyrics for several unreleased ''Songs from the Black Hole'' tracks were made available by Cuomo on his MySpace page on [[April 30]], 2006. Lyrics were posted for "Blast Off!", "[[Who You Callin' Bitch?]]", "[[Oh Jonas]]", "[[Please Remember]]", "[[Oh No, This Is Not For Me]]", "[[She's Had a Girl]]", and "[[Now I Finally See]]", while sheet music was posted for "She's Had a Girl", "Who You Callin' Bitch?" and "Oh Jonas".


[[Pat Wilson]] discussed ''SFTBH'' in a [[2006]] interview with the student radio station WBFH in Bloomfield Hills, MI.<ref>WBFH website, "The Latest Station News" page. Blog reads: "INTERVIEW ALERT! Exclusive interview with Pat Wilson of Weezer on Wednesday November 15th from 3-5 p.m., during Keifer Wells' show "Rock Your Face Off!!"." [https://web.archive.org/web/20061128163110/https://wbfh.fm/] Archived via Wayback Machine.</ref><ref>[[Karl's Corner - 11/11/2006]] Karl's Corner by [[Karl Koch]].</ref> He recalled that the rest of Weezer only knew Cuomo wanted to make a concept album.{{citation needed}}
[[Pat Wilson]] discussed ''SFTBH'' in a [[2006]] interview with the student radio station WBFH in Bloomfield Hills, MI.<ref>WBFH website, "The Latest Station News" page. Blog reads: "INTERVIEW ALERT! Exclusive interview with Pat Wilson of Weezer on Wednesday November 15th from 3-5 p.m., during Keifer Wells' show "Rock Your Face Off!!"." [https://web.archive.org/web/20061128163110/https://wbfh.fm/] Archived via Wayback Machine.</ref><ref>[[Karl's Corner - 11/11/2006]] Karl's Corner by [[Karl Koch]].</ref> He recalled that the rest of Weezer only knew Cuomo wanted to make a concept album.{{citation needed}}


On [[October 15]], [[2007]] Rivers posted a blog on his official blog stating that he had permission from Geffen to release a collection of demos spanning 1992-2007. On [[November 22]], Rivers updated his blog, stating "I want to share with everyone the excitement I felt when I went back and heard the original master tapes of these demos. In most cases, they sounded much better than the mp3s I've been listening to for years--clearer, warmer, deeper. I highly recommend that listeners buy the CD rather than the digital version so that they can enjoy the highest quality listening experience." On [[December 18]], Rivers Cuomo released the collection of his home demos entitled ''[[Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]''. The collection also included five demos for songs intended for or included on ''Songs From the Black Hole'': "[[Longtime Sunshine]]", "Blast Off!", "Who You Callin' Bitch?", "[[Dude, We're Finally Landing]]", and "Superfriend." This was the first time fans got to hear "Who You Callin' Bitch?", "Dude, We're Finally Landing", and a high-quality version of "Superfriend." In the ''Alone'' [[Alone liner notes|booklet]], Rivers explained some of the plot points of the musical and, after having reviewed his journal notes of ''SFTBH'', revealed that the name of the "good girl" was Laurel (previously mistakenly believed by fans to be "[[Lisa]]".
On [[October 15]], [[2007]] Cuomo posted a blog on his official blog stating that he had permission from Geffen to release a collection of demos spanning 1992-2007. On [[November 22]], Cuomo updated his blog, stating "I want to share with everyone the excitement I felt when I went back and heard the original master tapes of these demos. In most cases, they sounded much better than the mp3s I've been listening to for years--clearer, warmer, deeper. I highly recommend that listeners buy the CD rather than the digital version so that they can enjoy the highest quality listening experience." On [[December 18]], Rivers Cuomo released the collection of his home demos entitled ''[[Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]''. The collection also included five demos for songs intended for or included on ''Songs From the Black Hole'': "[[Longtime Sunshine]]", "Blast Off!", "Who You Callin' Bitch?", "[[Dude, We're Finally Landing]]", and "Superfriend." This was the first time fans got to hear "Who You Callin' Bitch?", "Dude, We're Finally Landing", and a high-quality version of "Superfriend." In the ''Alone'' [[Alone liner notes|booklet]], Cuomo explained some of the plot points of the musical and, after having reviewed his journal notes of ''SFTBH'', revealed that the name of the "good girl" was Laurel (previously mistakenly believed by fans to be "[[Lisa]]".


Three more tracks were released on [[November 25]], 2008 on ''[[Alone II]]'', including "Oh Jonas", "Please Remember", and "Come To My Pod". "You Won't Get with Me Tonight" was re-released on the Deluxe Edition of ''Pinkerton'' in [[2010]]. On [[December 12]], [[2011]] several demos were released on ''[[Alone III: The Pinkerton Years]]'', including "Oh No, This Is Not for Me", "Tired of Sex", "She's Had a Girl", "What Is This I Find?", "Now I Finally See", and a reprise of "Longtime Sunshine" and "Superfriend". Finally with the release of ''[[Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years]]'' on [[November 22]], [[2020]], "Why Bother", "Devotion", "I Just Threw Out the Love Of My Dreams", "[[You Were a Man]]", three alternate reprises of "Longtime Sunshine" and an alternate demo of "Superfriend" were released.
Three more tracks were released on [[November 25]], 2008 on ''[[Alone II]]'', including "Oh Jonas", "Please Remember", and "Come To My Pod". "You Won't Get with Me Tonight" was re-released on the Deluxe Edition of ''Pinkerton'' in [[2010]]. On [[December 12]], [[2011]] several demos were released on ''[[Alone III: The Pinkerton Years]]'', including "Oh No, This Is Not for Me", "Tired of Sex", "She's Had a Girl", "What Is This I Find?", "Now I Finally See", and a reprise of "Longtime Sunshine" and "Superfriend". Finally with the release of ''[[Alone IV: The Blue-Pinkerton Years]]'' on [[November 22]], [[2020]], "Why Bother", "Devotion", "I Just Threw Out the Love Of My Dreams", "[[You Were a Man]]", three alternate reprises of "Longtime Sunshine" and an alternate demo of "Superfriend" were released.


Three copies of a demo version of ''SFTBH'' are known to exist in CD-R form. Two of them are in the care of [[Karl Koch]], while the third copy is in Rivers' personal archive. These CDs contain the tracks from the second track list (see below).
Three copies of a demo version of ''SFTBH'' are known to exist in CD-R form. Two of them are in the care of [[Karl Koch]], while the third copy is in Cuomo's personal archive. These CDs contain the tracks from the second track list (see below).


==Reception==
==Reception==
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