Classic Rock Album of the Day- Weezer- Weezer (Green Album) (2001)- *** 1/2
Weezer was always one of the bright spots as the late '80's and early '90's started ushering in gaping wide holes, and a vacuum of not only good rock bands, but rock bands in general. At this point in history of the rock era, it was being dominated by grunge/alternative bands. And while there were good Grunge bands, there were a ton of them that were cheap Nirvanna Clones. Weezer as a genre slot has often been placed in the alternative camp, but I think this is more of happenstance, of residing in that time frame. From my POV the band was more of a pop-punk-rock act, with a tinge of Pumpkins distort. But this is an excellent band that makes the most of the vinyl, and usually doesn't disappoint the fans.
One huge point of parsing their good catalog, that it is (was) no accident that their two best were the self-titled Green and Blue albums due to Rick Ocasek's production. He did a 2014 production stint with less success, but.... Again, this wasn't an accident in that these have such popular outreach. Rivers Cuomo in solo, was already a great hook-meister, but then add Ocasek? You knew you were going to get a top notch effort.
What I really also like on Green versus others was that very stealthily, the band did some numbers that had a def. Beatle-ish feel to them, No..... Not silly-ish shit like Oasis, but with the feel, emotion and touch that still comes with enough chops and differences not to look or sound like a cover. This is nicely consistent album, with minimal filler. Detractors have accused Cuomo of over-relying on hook, but I disagree.
Fun fact: The Green Album started a nice streak for Weezer, allowing the band to have 8 consecutive top 10 charting albums (2001-2016)
Track No.
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1. Don't Let Go- as that Blue Album theme , and style. Even to the point of that early 80's UK pop feel. If this tune had been produced in 1966, it would have charted easily. Weezer has that level of authenticity and nimbility- 5
2. Photograph- 1st of those mid '60's almost Beatles / Who sound, sans added fuzz. Nice job. 3
3. Hash Pipe- Bad Ass metal, fuzzed, chaotic bombastic, and yeah, it was rightfully a big hit. This is easily one of the best rock tunes of 2001. 1
4. Island in the Sun- Light tune, that you can tell Ocasek had his hand strongly in this one. Rick always did a great job, of pulling out a nice melodic curve ball out of the blue. Works well as a change of pace. Weezer did less and less of these during the subsequent years, and is one of the better in that criteria 6
5. Crab- Standard stuff, and good, but lesser ranked on this good album. Most traditional sounding rocker on the CD. 9
6. Knock Down, Drag Out- If there was any semblance of Grunge, this was their example. And still better than 90% of the alternative shit being flooded upon the airways in that era. 7
7. Smile- Closest thing to filler is this one. 10
8. Simple Pages- Sleeper on this one- Unique phrasing, and great Weezer fuzz, for some reason I just seem to like this one. 2
9. Glorious Day- Another sleeper. Hard rocking with the best punk hue of any song on the LP. 4
10. O Girl Friend- Better than filler. But a Needless love song, though I will grant that it fits in, in the vein of the theming of the CD. 8
Weezer was always one of the bright spots as the late '80's and early '90's started ushering in gaping wide holes, and a vacuum of not only good rock bands, but rock bands in general. At this point in history of the rock era, it was being dominated by grunge/alternative bands. And while there were good Grunge bands, there were a ton of them that were cheap Nirvanna Clones. Weezer as a genre slot has often been placed in the alternative camp, but I think this is more of happenstance, of residing in that time frame. From my POV the band was more of a pop-punk-rock act, with a tinge of Pumpkins distort. But this is an excellent band that makes the most of the vinyl, and usually doesn't disappoint the fans.
One huge point of parsing their good catalog, that it is (was) no accident that their two best were the self-titled Green and Blue albums due to Rick Ocasek's production. He did a 2014 production stint with less success, but.... Again, this wasn't an accident in that these have such popular outreach. Rivers Cuomo in solo, was already a great hook-meister, but then add Ocasek? You knew you were going to get a top notch effort.
What I really also like on Green versus others was that very stealthily, the band did some numbers that had a def. Beatle-ish feel to them, No..... Not silly-ish shit like Oasis, but with the feel, emotion and touch that still comes with enough chops and differences not to look or sound like a cover. This is nicely consistent album, with minimal filler. Detractors have accused Cuomo of over-relying on hook, but I disagree.
Fun fact: The Green Album started a nice streak for Weezer, allowing the band to have 8 consecutive top 10 charting albums (2001-2016)
Track No.
-------------
1. Don't Let Go- as that Blue Album theme , and style. Even to the point of that early 80's UK pop feel. If this tune had been produced in 1966, it would have charted easily. Weezer has that level of authenticity and nimbility- 5
2. Photograph- 1st of those mid '60's almost Beatles / Who sound, sans added fuzz. Nice job. 3
3. Hash Pipe- Bad Ass metal, fuzzed, chaotic bombastic, and yeah, it was rightfully a big hit. This is easily one of the best rock tunes of 2001. 1
4. Island in the Sun- Light tune, that you can tell Ocasek had his hand strongly in this one. Rick always did a great job, of pulling out a nice melodic curve ball out of the blue. Works well as a change of pace. Weezer did less and less of these during the subsequent years, and is one of the better in that criteria 6
5. Crab- Standard stuff, and good, but lesser ranked on this good album. Most traditional sounding rocker on the CD. 9
6. Knock Down, Drag Out- If there was any semblance of Grunge, this was their example. And still better than 90% of the alternative shit being flooded upon the airways in that era. 7
7. Smile- Closest thing to filler is this one. 10
8. Simple Pages- Sleeper on this one- Unique phrasing, and great Weezer fuzz, for some reason I just seem to like this one. 2
9. Glorious Day- Another sleeper. Hard rocking with the best punk hue of any song on the LP. 4
10. O Girl Friend- Better than filler. But a Needless love song, though I will grant that it fits in, in the vein of the theming of the CD. 8
