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==Background== | ==Background== | ||
[[Rivers Cuomo]] began envisioning Weezer's sophomore album as having more of a new-wave sound, utilizing Moog synthesizers, before the band even recorded their [[Weezer (The Blue Album)|eponymous ''Blue Album'']] in [[1993]]. Cuomo even envisioned "[[Buddy Holly]]" as being on their second album, before [[Ric Ocasek]] encouraged the band to include it on ''Blue''.<ref>''"Weezer - The Blue Album LIVE |Spotify THIRTY - The 30th Anniversary", Spotify, https://youtu.be/P_vI3FV1H4U''</ref> "[[I Swear It's True]]," the last song Cuomo wrote before recording ''Blue'', was another such song in consideration.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020814224416/http://www.riverscuomo.com:80/music.html</ref> | |||
As early as June of 1994, Cuomo began conceptualizing a narrative (inspired by his own relationships) in which a young man must choose between two women.<ref name="thepinkertondiaries" /> Later that fall, disillusioned and lonely from the lifestyle of constant touring, Cuomo began developing the concept as a space-themed rock opera/musical, inspired by works such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', ''Les Miserables'', ''Aida'', and ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''. "I loved how these works married music and drama," Cuomo recalled in [[2008]], "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."<ref>''[[Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo]]'' [[Alone II liner notes|liner notes]]</ref> | |||
After the multi-platinum success of the ''Blue Album'', in late December [[1994]], Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Cuomo traveled back east to his home state of Connecticut, and using an eight-track recorder, he began piecing together demo material for Weezer's next album. Cuomo's original concept for Weezer's second album was to be a space-themed rock opera, ''Songs from the Black Hole''. The album was intended to feature songs that flowed together seamlessly and end with a special coda that briefly revisited the major musical elements of the piece. The band began demoing and working on Cuomo's concept through intermittent recording sessions in the spring and summer of [[1995]]. During this time, Cuomo, who was born with one leg shorter than the other, received leg surgery intended to stretch out his right leg. This would impact his songwriting for the album because he would be under the influence of painkillers. Sometime during this period Cuomo applied to study at Harvard University with an application letter describing how disillusioned he was with the rock lifestyle. | |||
Ultimately, the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' album concept was dropped. The album would instead feature songs composed before their first album (which had briefly been incorporated into the space-opera) as well as some new ones written while Cuomo was at Harvard. | Ultimately, the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' album concept was dropped. The album would instead feature songs composed before their first album (which had briefly been incorporated into the space-opera) as well as some new ones written while Cuomo was at Harvard. | ||