|
|
| Line 372: |
Line 372: |
|
| |
|
| ===Cuomo's reactions=== | | ===Cuomo's reactions=== |
| Although he was initially quite proud of the record, the perceived failure of ''Pinkerton'' caused Cuomo to distance himself from it for quite some time. This has become an integral part of its legacy. Recently his views have changed and he has expressed a growing appreciation for the album. The following quotes trace Cuomo's thoughts on the record chronologically:
| | {{Rivers Cuomo quote|I told [David Geffen] how we’d just come back from this sophomore slump with “Pinkerton,” and I said something like, “But it’s turned into a real cult phenomenon.” He goes, “ ‘Cult phenomenon’ is a euphemism for failure.”|''Los Angeles Times''<ref>Wood, Mikael. "[https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-03-25/weezer-blue-album-oral-history-30th-anniversary-rivers-cuomo Weezer’s Blue Album at 30: The inside story of the debut that launched L.A.’s nerdiest band]" ''Los Angeles Times''. 25 March 2024.</ref>}} |
| | | Cuomo was initially proud of the record, but following the album's perceived "failure," Cuomo distanced himself from the record publicly. "The most painful thing in my life these days is the cult around ''Pinkerton''," Cuomo told ''Rolling Stone'' in 2001,<ref>Mundy, Chris. "[[Rolling Stone article - September 13, 2001|Weezer's Cracked Genius]]" ''Rolling Stone''. 13 September 2001.</ref> "It's just a sick album, sick in a diseased sort of way. It's such a source of anxiety because all the fans we have right now have stuck around because of that album. But, honestly, I never want to play those songs again; I never want to hear them again." In an interview with ''Entertainment Weekly'', Cuomo called it "a hideous record," adding, "It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to happen on a grander and grander scale and just won’t go away. It’s like getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself."<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20161023085435/https://ew.com/article/2010/11/02/weezers-pinkerton-reissue-rivers-cuomo Weezer's 'Pinkerton' reissue: Read the 2001 EW story where Rivers Cuomo called the now-classic album a 'hugely painful mistake']" ''Entertainment Weekly''. 2 November 2010</ref> |
| {| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; clear:both; font-size:.9em; text-align:center; width:80%"
| |
| ! style="background: #7ad;" |Source
| |
| ! style="background: #7ad;" |Quote
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 1996 [https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Addicted_to_Noise_interview_with_Rivers_Cuomo_-_1996 Addicted to Noise interview]
| |
| | | ...the second album feels much more like us. And it feels much more like me, which is really important for an album that's so personal. It sounds more like the recordings that I would make in our garage...I really like the sound of this record. I like that it sounds so natural. Maybe my taste will change by the time I have another 10 songs. But I think my tastes are kind of leveling off and becoming more consistent so maybe the next record would sound similar. I never have any idea.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 1997; officially released [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvilS45-lGo radio interview on 107.7 The End]
| |
| | | When we went to make our first album...we were nervous and we wanted it to sound good. So I think we were in the wrong frame of mind. We were making sure everything was perfect, and it came out sounding a bit sterile I think...[The spirit of the second album] was 'be ourselves, be natural'.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 1997 [[Homie#Homie show #2, 11/21/97 at TT & the Bear's, Boston, MA|Homie]] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXydpTI5Xhg performance]
| |
| | | ''[Before playing "[[The Good Life]]"]'': We’re going to play an old Weezer song. I heard this song on the radio today and I was struck by how pathetic I sound. I think I was really bummed out when I wrote it.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2001 [[Rolling Stone article - Sep 13, 2001|Rolling Stone article]]
| |
| | | The most painful thing in my life these days is the cult around ''Pinkerton''. It's just a sick album, sick in a diseased sort of way. It's such a source of anxiety because all the fans we have right now have stuck around because of that album. But, honestly, I never want to play those songs again; I never want to hear them again.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2001 [http://www.ew.com/article/2010/11/02/weezers-pinkerton-reissue-rivers-cuomo Entertainment Weekly piece]
| |
| | | [''Pinkerton'' is a] hideous record... It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to happen on a grander and grander scale and just won’t go away. It’s like getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself<br><br>I got very sad... I became very unsure of my instincts.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2002 [http://weezerlat.tripod.com/kerrang.htm Kerrang article]
| |
| | | I don’t like ''Pinkerton''. [''Expletive''] it’s a [''expletive''] album! I wish people would leave it alone.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2005 [[L.A. Weekly interview with Rivers Cuomo - June 9, 2005|L.A. Weekly interview]]
| |
| | | Then I went back to Boston and wrote ''Pinkerton'', which didn’t have as broad an appeal. It has the sound of someone who’s not really in touch with other people, and I don’t know if that’s good. It also sounds very much like a winter album, which I don’t know if I would make in L.A. So I like L.A.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2008 [http://pitchfork.com/features/interviews/6773-rivers-cuomo/?utm_campaign=search&utm_medium=site&utm_source=search-ac Pitchfork Media interview]
| |
| | | ''Pinkerton's'' great. It's super-deep, brave, and authentic. Listening to it, I can tell that I was really going for it when I wrote and recorded a lot of those songs.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2010 [https://exclaim.ca/music/article/weezers_rivers_cuomo_talks_pinkterton_reissue_i_think_its_brilliant_album Exclaim piece]
| |
| | | Right around 2001, when we put out the ''Green Album'', I said a lot of negative, inflammatory things about ''Pinkerton'' and about a lot of things. I said a lot of crazy stuff. And those quotes have lived on for the last nine years. And people get confused and they think I still feel that way even though it was something I said in an off-handed way nine years ago. But ever since I've been trying to make it clear that, of course, I think it's a brilliant album. I love it. I love the songs and I love playing those songs and I hope the positive message gets through.
| |
| |-
| |
| | | 2010 [http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rivers-cuomo-looks-back-at-pinkerton-20101102?RS_show_page=0 Rolling Stone interview]
| |
| | | Our first two records feel like classic rock records now, especially for this generation.
| |
| |-
| |
| |}
| |
|
| |
|
| | Cuomo reversed this stance again in subsequent years, however. In [[2010]], Cuomo told ''Exclaim'', "Right around 2001, when we put out the Green Album, I said a lot of negative, inflammatory things about Pinkerton and about a lot of things. I said a lot of crazy stuff. And those quotes have lived on for the last nine years. And people get confused and they think I still feel that way even though it was something I said in an off-handed way nine years ago. But ever since I've been trying to make it clear that, of course, I think it's a brilliant album. I love it. I love the songs and I love playing those songs and I hope the positive message gets through."<ref>Gormely, Ian. "[https://exclaim.ca/music/article/weezers_rivers_cuomo_talks_pinkterton_reissue_i_think_its_brilliant_album Weezer's Rivers Cuomo Talks ''Pinkterton'' Reissue: "I Think It's a Brilliant Album"]" Exclaim.ca. 14 September 2010.</ref> |
| ==Personnel== | | ==Personnel== |
| All information is taken from the CD (''Pinkerton'' booklet and liner notes). | | All information is taken from the CD (''Pinkerton'' booklet and liner notes). |
| * [[Rivers Cuomo]]–lead guitar, lead vocals | | * [[Rivers Cuomo]] — lead guitar, lead vocals |
| * [[Patrick Wilson]]–percussion | | * [[Patrick Wilson]] — percussion |
| * [[Brian Bell]]–rhythm guitar | | * [[Brian Bell]] — rhythm guitar |
| * [[Matt Sharp]]–bass guitar | | * [[Matt Sharp]] — bass guitar |
| * [[Joe Barresi]]–engineer | | * [[Joe Barresi]] — engineer |
| * Billy Bowers–engineer | | * [[Billy Bowers]] — engineer |
| * Jim Champagne–engineer | | * [[Jim Champagne]] — engineer |
| * David Dominguez–engineer | | * [[David Dominguez]] — engineer |
| * Greg Fidelman–engineer | | * [[Greg Fidelman]] — engineer |
| * [[Dave Fridmann]]–engineer | | * [[Dave Fridmann]] — engineer |
| * [[Hiroshige]]–cover art | | * [[Hiroshige]] — cover art |
| * Rob Jacobs–engineer | | * [[Rob Jacobs]] — engineer |
| * [[Spike Jonze]]–photography | | * [[Spike Jonze]] — photography |
| * [[Adam Kasper]]–engineer | | * [[Adam Kasper]] — engineer |
| * George Marino–mastering | | * [[George Marino]] — mastering |
| * Dan McLaughlin–engineer | | * [[Dan McLaughlin]] — engineer |
| * Clif Norrell–engineer | | * [[Clif Norrell]] — engineer |
| * [[Jack Joseph Puig]]–engineer, mixing | | * [[Jack Joseph Puig]] — engineer, mixing |
| * Jim Rondinelli–engineer | | * [[Jim Rondinelli]] — engineer |
| * Janet Wolsborn–art assistant | | * [[Janet Wolsborn]] — art assistant |
| * [[Karl Koch]]–Karl Koch | | * [[Karl Koch]] — Karl Koch |
|
| |
|
| ==See also== | | ==See also== |
