Weezer
So I know I'm a relative newcomer to Weezer fandom (I didn't own the Blue Album until 2001) and that this is only one review, but still, I'm disappointed to learn/realize that Weezer sucks now. The Green Album was overall decent, a solid B in my book, but Maladroit was lousy, with the exception of a handful of songs. I was hoping that the latest album would prove that Maladroit was just a fluke. But what I've heard and read suggests that the new album really blows. And so we must enforce the R.E.M. rule - one bad album is a fluke, a second consecutive bad album after a career of stellar material means that I'm not wasting any more money on you.
C'est la musique. Le sigh.
7 comments:
As I'm sure you know, it's generally not too good idea to take Pitchfork reviews too seriously, but, yes, I have the same exact feelings you do. Just from the lyric samples the review gives, it sounds REALLY bad. On the other hand, Ben Bedo downloaded it and told me it was really good. So I dunno. It's already pretty far down my list, so my the time I reach that spot there should be enough for me to know.
Other Weezer questions: Do you have the Blue Album special edition? What do you think of Pinkerton? Wouldn't you just kill to have a Pinkerton special edition?
Yeah, I've only read a dozen or so Pitchfork reviews so far, and I can already tell that they have their biases and they're sticking to them. I mean, the guy gave the album a 0.4 rating out of 10. That's just ridiculous - the sound of some guy chewing gum would probably get a higher rating. But still, the reviews I've read give a pretty good impression of the albums, assuming that you read through the reviewer's preconceptions.
As for the Blue Album, I only have the regular version. And I'd go for a Pinkerton special edition depending on what it had. Sometimes a bunch of bonus tracks detract from an album rather than add to it (i.e., "Who's Next" more than doubles the number of tracks of the original, which just serves to dilute the album as a whole).
Pitchfork gave three albums by Wolfie (one of my all-time favorite bands) a 0.2, 2.1, and 4.9. And they had the same guy review all three! I mean, man, let another guy give it a shot.
I'll probably at least download "Make Believe" and give it a shot on the iPod. "Around The Sun" didn't pass that test, I dunno if the Weezer will.
I tend to always love bonus tracks as long as they don't do anything fucking stupid like put them in the middle of the album or something. The reissue of The Blue Album followed the lead of the Rhino Elvis Costello reissues by putting the bonus stuff on a completly different disc. I do like that, although I think I like the Pavement reissues even more, they fill up the first disc AND the second disc. Especially in today's cd-and-iPod world, I'm not always as worried about the integrity of the album as I am about getting the most music possible.
Yeah, for Ryan Adams (who I really like), their reviews were something like this:
Heartbreaker (9.0) - Great alt-country!
Gold (6.0) - We wouldn't expect Adams to remake Heartbreaker, and its really not fair to judge a sophomore album by its predecessor, but we're going to anyway, and this isn't as good as Heartbreaker. The bonus disc of Heartbreaker-sounding material is pretty good, though.
Demolition (5.5) - What's this, some crappy demos? We wanted another Heartbreaker.
Rock N Roll (2.9) - Boy, this isn't nearly as sincere as Heartbreaker, which is a good album (did we mention that already?).
Love is Hell Parts 1-2 (3.1, 4.0) - Y'know, Ryan Adams didn't use to suck, back when he made good albums, like Heartbreaker.
Cold Roses (7.2) - Hey, this isn't bad. It kinda sounds like Heartbreaker.
I think Ryan Adams is pretty good, but the only two I don't have are Heartbreaker and Cold Roses. I mean, if Pitchfork is right (and if you ask them, Pitchfork is always right!), I'm missing out on his two very best albums, so maybe that's why I don't love him.
Heartbreaker also has the honor of being the album that's been on my Amazon wishlist the longest, since February 8, 2002.
Well, I prefer Love is Hell and Gold to Heartbreaker. And I actually listen to Rock N Roll more than Heartbreaker, but I know that it's not "better" in an objective sense (sometimes I just like big stupid rock songs about drugs). Anyway, Heartbreaker is certainly worth getting especially if 1) you're a completist and/or 2) you like Whiskeytown. But it and Cold Roses are must more towards the country music end of Adams' musical spectrum, so if you don't care for that, I wouldn't recommend buying them.
I really have to listen to more of the Ryan Adams I do have, I've sort of fallen into the trap of buying his cds without really listening to them. But, #1, I am a completist, #2, I like the Whiskeytown I've heard, and #3, I'm not adverse to country if it's presented in a way that isn't stupid and annoying (see: Elvis Costello - "Almost Blue")
On a completly unrelated note, I just heard the title track to the new New Pornographers album. I'm really going to have to pick up some stuff by them one day. Damn you!
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