The Red Album

I love Weezer. They try my patience, but I bloody love them.

The crushing truth of the matter is that they haven't produced anything worth a damn in the last 10 years. Which is upsetting because The Blue Album and Pinkerton are easily two of the best albums of the '90s, and the soundtrack from better days in regards to yours truly. The Green Album has its moments but is far removed from the Weezer of old, Maladroit is unfortunately sending the band headfirst into guitar-pop hellfire and the less said about Make Believe, the better.

"We are all on druuugs".....*shudder*

I was informed tonight that the much anticipated (?) Red Album, due out in June of this year, had 8 of its tracks recently leaked onto the internet. I took a sneaky listen, though I swear I'll either delete it if I don't like it, or pay for it if I do. I promise. It's Weezer.


1. Troublemaker - Yeah, this is a good opener. It doesn't exactly signify that this album will be an immediate return to form for the band, but it starts the proceedings off optimistically. Although, I'm a little uneasy at Rivers rhyming the words "beeyatch" and "keeyads".

2. The Greatest Man That Ever Lived - WOW. This is easily the best track on the album so far. It's more complex than Weezer have allowed themselves to ever be, and it works. There are a lot of different parts, from the Isaac Brock-sounding opening lyrics, to the finishing rush of guitars that seem so reminiscent of early Weezer. A great, great song.

3. Pork and Beans - This was the first track that anyone heard from this album, and it generally pleased fans and critics alike, some saying it was a sign of a return to form. I'll agree; it's a catchy, feelgood anthem, without sounding like something that would belong on Maladroit. It seems almost Pinkerton...

4. Heart Songs - River gets emotional on our asses, and I'm not entirely sold. It starts off sounding like an R'n'B song, before building up into a climax that utilises a guitar melody I'm positive they've used before on a Blue Album song. I just can't remember which one. I don't dislike this song, it just hasn't grown on me yet. I'm not sure it will.

5. Everybody Get Dangerous - Uh, what. This is one of the worst Weezer songs I've ever heard. The title is basically the chorus, basically sung on repeat over a three chord riff that wouldn't seem out of place on the soundtrack of a racing game. Oh, what's that? It features on the new Gran Turismo game? Fucking hell. Things were going so well, too.

6. Dreamin' - Fluffy, poppy anthem here. I didn't like it at first, but on repeat listens I notice that at a five-minute runtime, I actually like more than half of it. It does get better as it progresses, I'll give it that. It still hasn't got the sour taste of Everybody Get Dangerous out of my mouth, but I think we're getting there. Decent song, and I dig the last part.

7. Thought I Knew - Who's this singing? It ain't Rivers, but what the hey time for a bit of a mix up. Not a bad song, not a good song. Sort of middle of the road, but it might just grow on me more so than Heart Songs. I could give it a thumbs up for now.

8. Cold Dark World - I actually really like this one. It's a slow-burner, but it's also quite a dark treat on an otherwise so-far so-chummy LP. Thumbs up? Yeah, go for it.


So...out of the 8 tracks so far we have three very impressive opening tracks, along with two decent tracks, two semi-decent tracks and one simply atrocious song that I will never, ever warm to. Now, there's two extra tracks due for the official release, plus four bonus tracks. I'm a little worried about quantity superseding quality here, but alas my fears of this being Make Believe Pt. 2 have been proven fatally misjudged.

It's definitely not a return to form as I would have hoped, though on the basis of the first three tracks, I know Weezer can still pull out a tune or two and fingers crossed the closing tracks may just rescue the whole thing. It'll probably end up slotting underneath Pinkerton and above Green. Weezer are hanging on by a very small thread, but oh man, do I love 'em.