Christmas with Weezer

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Christmas with Weezer
Christmas with Weezer cover
EP by Weezer
Released December 5, 2008 (game release)
December 16, 2008 (EP release)
November 2, 2022 (CD re-release)
Format digital, CD
Recorded 2008
Genre Alternative rock, Christmas
Length 13:48
Label DGC/Interscope
Producer(s) Pat Wilson, Rivers Cuomo, Ken Sluiter
Weezer chronology
Six Hits
2008
Christmas with Weezer
2008
Raditude
2009
Not to be confused with the Christmas-themed 2-track promotional release Christmas CD.

Christmas with Weezer is a six-song EP of Christmas carol covers performed by Weezer. The songs were originally released as part of an IOS application of the same name developed by Tapulous, the creators of Tap Tap Revenge. The EP was released on digital music platforms on December 16, 2008, and received a CD release in Japan on November 2, 2022.[1][2]

Recording process

All songs on Christmas with Weezer were recorded by Pat Wilson with the exception of bass guitar provided by Scott Shriner.[3] Lead vocals were recorded by Rivers Cuomo separately. Some changes and enhancements were made to the songs when they were re-released online as a digital EP. The new versions were remixed and now contained vocal harmonies from guitarist Brian Bell, altered lead vocals from Cuomo (removing some of the extensive vocal doubling) and added tambourine on "Silent Night".

Karl Koch has claimed that production duties on the project were informal and shared between Wilson and Cuomo:[4]

There was no producer per se. Pat and Rivers just did it with minimal assistance, in a side studio at the same facility (“The Document Room”) in Malibu that they were working on Raditude in with Jacknife Lee. Pat was basically told to make it happen, so as far as the basic mixing and producing duties, it was him, although certainly Rivers had a part to play too, at times. It was a very low key thing that they just grinded out when there was downtime up at the main studio.

Conversely, Weezer (The Red Album) engineer Ken Sluiter claims to have been the EP's engineer, producer, and mixer.[5][6]

Release

Bonus video unlocked upon game completion:

The Tapulous application was released on December 5, 2008, and featured gameplay similar to other rhythm games (such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band). Alongside the six Christmas carols with which the game debuted, two bonus tracks were playable exclusively on the hardest difficulty: "Pork and Beans" and "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)". By beating the game, a "bonus video" could be unlocked, containing numerous short segments; notably, footage from a 2008 rehearsal in which Pat Wilson performed "Only in Dreams".

The official press release for the Christmas with Weezer phone game distributed by DGC was shared by Karl Koch on Karl's Corner in his December 3, 2008 update.

The songs were originally intended to be available exclusively through the phone game, however fan outcry led to them being partially remixed and released as an official EP on digital music services shortly after the app's release. The EP's cover artwork is the same as the game's logo.

The EP received a limited physical CD release in Japan in 2022. It was released alongside 25 other Christmas-themed albums and EPs by artists on the Universal Music label, as part of a set of CDs dubbed the "Christmas Album Masterpiece Collection".[2]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"   1:24
2. "O Come All Ye Faithful"   2:04
3. "O Holy Night"   4:04
4. "The First Noel"   2:22
5. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"   1:32
6. "Silent Night"   2:22
Total length:
13:48

See also

External links

References

  1. "Christmas with Weezer". HMV&BOOKS online. Retrieved from https://www.hmv.co.jp/artist_Weezer_000000000039818/item_Christmas-With-Weezer-Ltd_13270725. Archived from the original on archive.org.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "洋楽クリスマス コンピの決定版『Happy Christmas ~ Wonderful Songs~』― ヴィンス・ガラルディ、ノラ・ジョーンズ、ジャクソン5、ビーチ・ボーイズ、ジャスティン・ビーバー、アリアナ・グランデ、サム・スミスなど 古今東西 クリスマスの名曲をたっぷり収録". (September 12, 2022). HMV&BOOKS online. Retrieved from https://www.hmv.co.jp/news/article/220912128/. Archived from the original on archive.org .
  3. Wilson, Patrick (as thefranklinmint). (October 28, 2010). All Things Weezer post. Screenshot on Weezerpedia at File:Pat Christmas with Weezer ATW citation.jpg.
  4. Koch, Karl. (June 19, 2020). Email correspondence. Screenshot on Weezerpedia at File:Karl Christmas with Weezer email 6-19-2020.jpg.
  5. kensluiter. (June 5, 2019). "I was the engineer, producer, mixer for this EP". Discogs submission history. Screenshot on Weezerpedia at File:Kensluiterdiscogs.png.
  6. Boudreau, Matt, & Sluiter, Ken. (February 19, 2018). Working Class Audio #166 with Ken Sluiter. WORKING CLASS AUDIO. Retrieved from https://www.workingclassaudio.com/wca-166-with-ken-sluiter/.