Weezer (The Red Album): Difference between revisions

The Red Album marks many firsts in Weezer's career both in writing and writers.  In the [[Alone]] booklet, Rivers wrote on the commentary for "[[This Is the Way]]" that he had written a symphonic art minute song called "Daydreamer".  This, along with comments of "darker" subject matter, and the previously leaked "Pig", hinted to a new Weezer sound.  Most songs were penned by Rivers, but additional songs were penned by Brian, Pat and Scott.  Brian Bell's song [[Thought I Knew]] was a reworked [[Relationship]] demo of his.  Pat's [[Automatic]] was a song once considered to be a [[Special Goodness]] tune before Rivers showed such enthusiasm for it that it was converted into a Weezer song.  Scott's [[Cold Dark World]] was a bass riff he often played to warm up.  The band was so enthusiastic about it that they helped him turn it into a full song.  Rivers then wrote the lyrics.  Additionally, Rivers himself was writing songs from a new standpoint.  In an interview shortly before Red's release, Rivers stated that being married helped him feel more comfortable about his own writing.  He began writing from different perspectives.  Among these are included a pig (on "Pig"), a cocky guy (on "King", "Greatest Man") and a teenager; for the first time Rivers was incorporating several of his actual youth experiences into songs that were narrative without being girl related ("Troublemaker", "Everybody Get Dangerous").  Besides experimental lyrical content, Red's song structures are new firsts for Weezer.  "Dreamin'" is the first Weezer song to be released since "Susanne" to begin with a chorus.  "The Angel and the One", "Pig" and "The Spider" have no traditional verses, choruses or bridges.  Rather, they are a stream of consciousness similar to writing styles by Jack Kerouac (whom Rivers is influenced by).  "Miss Sweeney" contains a very different verse style from any Weezer song, which Rivers hinted at in interviews (he referred to it as "southern rap").  Also, Sweeney was co-written with Sarah C. Kim (The band's personal assistant).