Jump to content

Pinkerton: Difference between revisions

Pinkerton (view source)

Revision as of 23:12, 19 December 2024

2,178 bytes added ,  19 December 2024
More writing, rearranging bits
(Continued writing, moving stuff around)
(More writing, rearranging bits)
Line 56: Line 56:
In August 1995, just a few days before Cuomo was set to travel to study at Harvard University, the band gathered to record at Electric Lady Studios in New York City,<ref name="pinklinernotes">''Pinkerton'' (Deluxe Edition) liner notes</ref> the same studio where they recorded their debut. Said guitarist Brian Bell, "We're going for the deeper, darker, more experimental stuff,' but assured fans, 'but we'll always be the Weezer you know and love."<ref>Tobak, Vikki. "[[Detroit News interview with Brian Bell - August 10, 1995|Nerd-chic? Weezer trashes the labels and just plain rocks]]" ''Detroit News''. 10 August 1995</ref> The band worked on "[[Tired of Sex]]," "[[No Other One]]," "[[Getchoo]]," "[[Why Bother?]]," "[[Waiting on You]]," "[[Devotion]]," "[[You Gave Your Love to Me Softly]]," "[[Blast Off!]]," "[[You Won't Get with Me Tonight]]," and "[[Longtime Sunshine]]." Although the band was still, at this point, following the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' blueprint, none of the three latter songs—those written with ''SFTBH'' in mind—made it past this stage of recording.<ref name="pinklinernotes" /> The song "You Won't Get with Me Tonight" was famously axed after, as [[Karl Koch]] recalled in the liner notes to the 2003 ''[[Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter|Gimme Skelter]]'' compilation, he explained to Cuomo that it reminded him of another song ("[[Wikipedia:I Shot the Sheriff|I Shot the Sheriff]]" by Bob Marley).<ref>[[Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - April 2022]]</ref> The band also attempted to record a coda to conclude the song "Longtime Sunshine," wherein Cuomo, [[Matt Sharp]], and Bell sang a medley of "Longtime Sunshine," "Why Bother?," "[[I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams]]," "No Other One," and "Blast Off!"
In August 1995, just a few days before Cuomo was set to travel to study at Harvard University, the band gathered to record at Electric Lady Studios in New York City,<ref name="pinklinernotes">''Pinkerton'' (Deluxe Edition) liner notes</ref> the same studio where they recorded their debut. Said guitarist Brian Bell, "We're going for the deeper, darker, more experimental stuff,' but assured fans, 'but we'll always be the Weezer you know and love."<ref>Tobak, Vikki. "[[Detroit News interview with Brian Bell - August 10, 1995|Nerd-chic? Weezer trashes the labels and just plain rocks]]" ''Detroit News''. 10 August 1995</ref> The band worked on "[[Tired of Sex]]," "[[No Other One]]," "[[Getchoo]]," "[[Why Bother?]]," "[[Waiting on You]]," "[[Devotion]]," "[[You Gave Your Love to Me Softly]]," "[[Blast Off!]]," "[[You Won't Get with Me Tonight]]," and "[[Longtime Sunshine]]." Although the band was still, at this point, following the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' blueprint, none of the three latter songs—those written with ''SFTBH'' in mind—made it past this stage of recording.<ref name="pinklinernotes" /> The song "You Won't Get with Me Tonight" was famously axed after, as [[Karl Koch]] recalled in the liner notes to the 2003 ''[[Buddyhead Presents: Gimme Skelter|Gimme Skelter]]'' compilation, he explained to Cuomo that it reminded him of another song ("[[Wikipedia:I Shot the Sheriff|I Shot the Sheriff]]" by Bob Marley).<ref>[[Weezerpedia Discord Q&A with Karl Koch - April 2022]]</ref> The band also attempted to record a coda to conclude the song "Longtime Sunshine," wherein Cuomo, [[Matt Sharp]], and Bell sang a medley of "Longtime Sunshine," "Why Bother?," "[[I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams]]," "No Other One," and "Blast Off!"


{{Rivers Cuomo quote|[It] was a big change in the way we worked. I decided not to make any demos and instead just to write the basic melodies and chord changes without orchestrating everyone's parts at all. So we went into the studio without really knowing what was going to happen. And it gave everyone a lot more room to be creative and spontaneous on their instruments.|[[Addicted to Noise interview with Rivers Cuomo - 1996|''Addicted to Noise'' interview - 1996]]<ref>[[Addicted to Noise interview with Rivers Cuomo - 1996]]</ref>}}
{{Rivers Cuomo quote|[It] was a big change in the way we worked. I decided not to make any demos and instead just to write the basic melodies and chord changes without orchestrating everyone's parts at all. So we went into the studio without really knowing what was going to happen. And it gave everyone a lot more room to be creative and spontaneous on their instruments.|[[Addicted to Noise interview with Rivers Cuomo - 1996|Addicted to Noise interview with Rivers Cuomo - 1996]]<ref>Kleinedler, Clare and Goldberg, Michael "[http://web.archive.org/web/20020111224530/http://www.addict.com/issues/2.12/html/hifi/Cover_Story/Weezer-QA/index.html Weezer Revealed: The Rivers Cuomo Interview]" ''Addicted to Noise''. Archived by ''Wayback Machine''. 1996</ref>}}
After insisting that the band hire a producer for their first album, the band's label permitted Weezer to produce their second album themselves.<ref name="pinklinernotes" /><ref name="schoolhouserock">Beaujour, Tom. "[[Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - March 1997|Schoolhouse Rock]]" ''Guitar World''. March 1997</ref> "I've never really wanted to be a producer," said Cuomo, "I just feel that the best way for us to sound like ourselves is to record on our own."<ref name="schoolhouserock" /> To give the album a live feel, members of the band would record the vocals in tandem around three microphones. According to [[Brian Bell]], the band used so much tremolo picking during the recording process that they began to refer to it as "butterfly picking."<ref>[[:File:Brian Bell Instagram Falling for You caption - 08-25-22.png]]</ref>


{{Small quote box|I don't know that we were modeling ''Pinkerton'' on anything in particular, but we really like some of the stuff Steve Albini has done, like the [[Pixies]]' ''Surfer Rosa'' or [[Nirvana]]'s ''In Utero''. We were also really into the Flaming Lips—and above all big drum sounds.|[[Rivers Cuomo]], ''Guitar World'', 1997<ref name="schoolhouserock" />}}After insisting that the band hire a producer for their first album, the band's label permitted Weezer to produce their second album themselves.<ref name="pinklinernotes" /><ref name="schoolhouserock">Beaujour, Tom. "[[Guitar World interview with Rivers Cuomo - March 1997|Schoolhouse Rock]]" ''Guitar World''. March 1997</ref> "I've never really wanted to be a producer," said Cuomo, "I just feel that the best way for us to sound like ourselves is to record on our own."<ref name="schoolhouserock" /> To give the album a live feel, members of the band would record the vocals in tandem around three microphones. According to [[Brian Bell]], the band used so much tremolo picking during the recording process that they began to refer to it as "butterfly picking."<ref>[[:File:Brian Bell Instagram Falling for You caption - 08-25-22.png]]</ref>
In January of 1996, during Cuomo's winter break, the band reconvened for two weeks at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, to continue the work begun at Electric Lady. The songs "[[Pink Triangle]]" and "[[El Scorcho]]" were also worked on for the first time. Songs conceived for the ''SFTBH'' concept, including "[[Superfriend]]," "[[She's Had a Girl]]," and "[[Dude, We're Finally Landing]]" were also recorded but subsequently shelved (or in the case of "Superfriend," taped over).<ref name="pinklinernotes" />


In January of 1996, during Cuomo's winter break, the band reconvened for two weeks at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, to continue the work begun at Electric Lady. The songs "[[Pink Triangle]]" and "[[El Scorcho]]" were also worked on for the first time. Songs conceived for the ''SFTBH'' concept, including "[[Superfriend]]," "[[She Had a Girl]]," and "[[Dude, We're Finally Landing]]" were also recorded but subsequently shelved (or in the case of "Superfriend," taped over).<ref name="pinklinernotes" />
{{Small quote box|I don't know that we were modeling ''Pinkerton'' on anything in particular, but we really like some of the stuff Steve Albini has done, like the [[Pixies]]' ''Surfer Rosa'' or [[Nirvana]]'s ''In Utero''. We were also really into the Flaming Lips—and above all big drum sounds.|[[Rivers Cuomo]], ''Guitar World'', 1997<ref name="schoolhouserock" />}}Work continued at Fort Apache Studios in Boston during Cuomo's spring break. In May, the band continued recording at Sound City in Los Angeles, now with engineer [[Dave Fridmann]]. "I had got to be good friends with the engineer who had been working with them before me, [[Joe Barresi]]," said Fridmann in [[2011]], "and he said that they kept coming in and putting down this Flaming Lips record and saying 'Make it sound like that, make it sound like that!' And finally he just said 'Why don't you call ''that'' guy and get off my back?'"<ref name="thefutureheart" /> By this time, Cuomo had abandoned the ''Black Hole'' concept in favor of the ''Pinkerton'' concept, wherein he likened his own struggles in his life from the prior two years to the story of B.F. Pinkerton, the flawed protagonist of ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''. During these sessions, "[[Across the Sea]]," "[[The Good Life]]," and "[[Falling for You]]" were recorded. The B-sides "[[Getting Up and Leaving]]" and "[[I Swear It's True]]" were worked on, but not finished. Cuomo finished the final song, "[[Butterfly]]" and recorded it at 6:00 AM on the last night at the studio.<ref name="pinklinernotes" />
 
Work continued at Fort Apache Studios in Boston during Cuomo's spring break. In May, the band continued recording at Sound City in Los Angeles, now with engineer [[Dave Fridmann]]. "I had got to be good friends with the engineer who had been working with them before me, [[Joe Barresi]]," said Fridmann in [[2011]], "and he said that they kept coming in and putting down this Flaming Lips record and saying 'Make it sound like that, make it sound like that!' And finally he just said 'Why don't you call ''that'' guy and get off my back?'"<ref name="thefutureheart" /> By this time, Cuomo had abandoned the ''Black Hole'' concept in favor of the ''Pinkerton'' concept, wherein he likened his own struggles in his life from the prior two years to the story of B.F. Pinkerton, the flawed protagonist of ''[[Madama Butterfly]]''. During these sessions, "[[Across the Sea]]," "[[The Good Life]]," and "[[Falling for You]]" were recorded. The B-sides "[[Getting Up and Leaving]]" and "[[I Swear It's True]]" were worked on, but not finished. Cuomo finished the final song, "[[Butterfly]]" and recorded it at 6:00 AM on the last night at the studio.<ref name="pinklinernotes" />


Additional overdubs and remaining parts were finished at a number of studios over the following months. During a session at Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, the band attempted the song "[[Tragic Girl]]" with [[Adam Orth]] on bass (Matt Sharp had already traveled overseas to work on his [[Seven More Minutes|next album]] with [[the Rentals]]). Following the release of the ''Pinkerton'', an additional session was scheduled at Fort Apache (during Cuomo's spring break) with [[Scott Riebling]] on bass to finish the B-sides "Getting Up and Leaving" and "I Swear It's True," and to record a single mix for "Pink Triangle." Ultimately, no commercial release of "Pink Triangle" was ever issued, and the B-sides went unused until the release of the Deluxe Edition of ''Pinkerton'' in [[2010]].<ref name="pinklinernotes" />
Additional overdubs and remaining parts were finished at a number of studios over the following months. During a session at Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park, the band attempted the song "[[Tragic Girl]]" with [[Adam Orth]] on bass (Matt Sharp had already traveled overseas to work on his [[Seven More Minutes|next album]] with [[the Rentals]]). Following the release of the ''Pinkerton'', an additional session was scheduled at Fort Apache (during Cuomo's spring break) with [[Scott Riebling]] on bass to finish the B-sides "Getting Up and Leaving" and "I Swear It's True," and to record a single mix for "Pink Triangle." Ultimately, no commercial release of "Pink Triangle" was ever issued, and the B-sides went unused until the release of the Deluxe Edition of ''Pinkerton'' in [[2010]].<ref name="pinklinernotes" />
Line 69: Line 68:
{{Template:Cleanup section}}
{{Template:Cleanup section}}
{{Rivers Cuomo quote|There are some lyrics on the album that you might think are mean or sexist. I will feel genuinely bad if anyone feels hurt by my lyrics but I really wanted these songs to be an exploration of my "dark side" -- all the parts of myself that I was either afraid or embarrassed to think about before. So there's some pretty nasty stuff on the there. You may be more willing to forgive the mean lyrics if you see them as passing low points in a larger story. And this album really is a story: the story of the last 2 years of my life. And as you're probably well aware, these have been two very weird years.|[[Rivers Cuomo letter to the Weezer Fan Club, July 10, 1996|Letter to the Weezer Fan Club, July 10, 1996]]}}
{{Rivers Cuomo quote|There are some lyrics on the album that you might think are mean or sexist. I will feel genuinely bad if anyone feels hurt by my lyrics but I really wanted these songs to be an exploration of my "dark side" -- all the parts of myself that I was either afraid or embarrassed to think about before. So there's some pretty nasty stuff on the there. You may be more willing to forgive the mean lyrics if you see them as passing low points in a larger story. And this album really is a story: the story of the last 2 years of my life. And as you're probably well aware, these have been two very weird years.|[[Rivers Cuomo letter to the Weezer Fan Club, July 10, 1996|Letter to the Weezer Fan Club, July 10, 1996]]}}
The first four tracks on ''Pinkerton'' (in addition to the album's B-sides) were written before Cuomo's leg surgery and subsequent semesters at Harvard, while the subsequent six tracks were written while attending Harvard. "[[Across the Sea]]" was inspired by a letter he'd received from a Japanese fan. "I had fantasies over this letter," said Cuomo,<ref name="ap" /> "I realized that I’d completely shut myself off from life, but I was still aware of Eros inside me. I hadn’t eliminated that part of me at all. I wasn’t a monk. I was just a perverted hermit." Cuomo subsequently used the contents of the letter to write a song, "Across the Sea." "She basically wrote the lyrics to the first verse and part of the chorus, too," Cuomo later said of the girl.<ref name="courant">Catlin, Roger. "[[Hartford Courant interview with Rivers Cuomo - December 4, 1996|Weezer's worry]]" ''The Hartford Courant''. 4 December 1996.</ref> She has since, reportedly, received royalties for her contribution.<ref name="courant" /><ref name="ap">Daley, David. "[[Alternative Press interview with Weezer - January 1997|Happy [cancelled] Days]]". ''Alternative Press'', January 1997.</ref>
"The Good Life" was written about Cuomo's frustration with the prior year's lifestyle following his leg surgery. "I think I was becoming frustrated with that hermit's life I was leading, the ascetic life," said Cuomo, "and I think I was starting to become frustrated with my whole dream about purifying myself and trying to live like a monk or an intellectual and going to school and holding out for this ideal, perfect woman. So I wrote that song. And I started to turn around and come back the other way."<ref>Kleinedler, Clare. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20001009184822fw_/http://www.addict.com/issues/2.12/html/hifi/Cover_Story/Weezer-Story/page_02.html Weezer's Uncomfortable Success]" ''Addicted to Noise''. Archived by ''Wayback Machine''. December 1996</ref>
Much of the album's content was written by Rivers Cuomo while studying at Harvard. Cuomo strived to write from a more direct and personal stand point. The album touched upon various life experiences of Cuomo and included subjects like groupies, dysfunctional relationships, a fan letter, identity and former girlfriends. Due to his painful surgery to elongate his leg, many of the songs were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that Cuomo would not have to move too much to play them.
Much of the album's content was written by Rivers Cuomo while studying at Harvard. Cuomo strived to write from a more direct and personal stand point. The album touched upon various life experiences of Cuomo and included subjects like groupies, dysfunctional relationships, a fan letter, identity and former girlfriends. Due to his painful surgery to elongate his leg, many of the songs were written in first-position on his guitar's fretboard so that Cuomo would not have to move too much to play them.


Retrieved from "https://www.weezerpedia.com/w/index.php?title=Special:MobileDiff/127411"