Weezer (The Red Album) And Arrogant Self Awareness

by Brett in Album Reviews, Uncategorized

If artificial intelligence ever reaches self awareness, I’m gonna be freakin’ thrilled. But when Weezer’s lead singer Rivers Cuomo does on the Red Album, I wanted to turn it off just to spite him. A once indie garage band group should know better than to brag about fame. Let this be a warning to you musicians out there currently making your way up in the world.

Having just heard the album in its entirety, I find it difficult to admit the truth. “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” is probably the best song on the album. It’s got a kind of Modest Mouse feel to it. It’s mostly raw, but it incorporates some overlapping vocals that’re refined and impressive. To put it short, It’s awesome. But the singer is a bleeping bishop choker and his arrogance ruins it.

Worst of all, I could never listen to that song out loud in public. Now, that’s not to say no one will. I’m absolutely certain you’ll find plenty of cocky frat boys and band-wagoners blasting it in an effort to show everyone that they listen to “cool music”. But not me. Hell no.

What about the rest of the album? Meh.

“Heart Songs” touts the chorus “These are the songs. These are my heart songs, they never feel wrong.”

“Everybody Get Dangerous” sounds like a frat party pleaser.

“Dreamin’” sounds like it should have been on a previous album – which is to say it’s rough, and it’d be fresh if you hadn’t heard a bunch of songs just like it before.

“Thought I Knew” takes an interesting stab at the electronic indie genre, but doesn’t quite hold up to Postal Service standards.

And, well, I have no plans of writing home about the rest of the album, so I’m not going to waste your time either. Buy it if you own the rest of Weezer’s albums, if you’re a frat boy, or if you’re just really curious about why I say that.