Review Summary: Hated at first, Pinkerton had to let to children of Blue mature themselves and come to terms with one of the greatest albums of the 1990's.
The year; 1996. After the highly successful and widely acclaimed Blue Album, Weezer fans were ready and waiting for the band’s second album. Full of joyful songs about sweaters, Buddy Holly, holidays, and some fellow named Jonas, followers were reared and ready for another dose of Rivers Cuomo’s signature songs, full of heavy sing along choruses and structured songs. It was time for Rivers, now a rock star, to sing of his newfound fame and glory in the world, unlike his other album: full of awkwardness and uncertainty. And sing about his newfound stardom and glory he did…and exactly how much he hated it.
Weezer’s Pinkerton was not intentionally poppy. Weezer’s Pinkerton was not structured. Even the cover, clad with Night Snow at Kambara is dark. And Weezer’s Pinkerton was anything from joyful; it is some 35 minutes of pure hatred poured into album form. And God, is it good.
Starting off with Tired of Sex, we are immediately thrust into post Blue; a land of pain (leg extension surgery) and sadness for Cuomo, clad with stories of all the girls he has been with since his stardom. The groupie lifestyle never was illustrated so darkly…a place of emptiness and never a never ending search for true love. The leading bass line, one of near perfection, blends in unison with the synth riff into a concoction of despair to dance to; one worthy of immediate listening. Gone is the normal Blue solo, and in with the fast paced off whack solos the define the album. Next, Getchoo, another song of love and it’s endless despair is another melodic yet slow rock tune that grabs the listener, assuring what a first time listener might be trying to figure out: there are no Surf Wax America’s on this album. It’s dark, and dirty.
Next, we are welcomed into No Other One to the sound of Rivers screaming, and stay at the low paced end of the spectrum. The lyrics are well written and add to the songs catchiness. Although not a masterpiece in its own right, like Getchoo, we are building to the meat of the Album, as we travel into a tunnel that seems to be lightless and fully realizing that Cuomo is not the same at all he was two years ago.
After two songs of slow melodramatics, we roll into Why Bother? Starting with a power chord build up and is the first song to employ some real rock. The rhythm is catchy. The chorus is catchy. The bridge is catchy. And still throughout, we stay reclusive, knowing Rivers is blending this pop joy with a story of quitting love altogether from endless failure and mistrust. As fans tap their feet and play air guitar, Cuomo blends lyrics of true despair, and his preference of “whackin’” over relationships anymore. How he blends these forms together into any feasible song is amazing, let alone an excellent one.
Across the Sea introduces us to Rivers the genius. The song features a bridge with multiple chord changes and tempo fluctuations. From the simple chord in the beginning we get to see the story of a fan whose letter Cuomo read, and decided to write about…asking of his birthday and favorite foods. Seemingly touched by her simple questions Cuomo writes a moving song of the longing for this companionship; one on a level unlike interviews and schedules, but of shameless human interaction of a basic nature. He has her letter and she (and thankfully us) have her song, and it is arguably Weezer’s finest song off its finest album.
The Good Life, another song of complaining centered on Rivers’ painful leg operation, is another excellent addition to the heart of the album. It begins with it’s two chord exchange and then turns into another Pinkerton legends: full of off tempo parts and solo’s slightly off time and pitch. The break here is fabulous as well, clad with xylophones and almost some slide guitar as well woven into a sequence totally different from the up-tempo verse and chorus that precedes it, but yet still fits so well. The only problem with this song (and this record) is its seemingly pointless music video that tries to adds a comic element of a pizza delivery girl, when there is no comedy present at all. El Scorcho, the albums next treat is full of the same. It features an excellent break and a highly infectious chorus as well, although it is the same as the verse. Matt Sharps (sadly his last Weezer record) shines here, and the song reaches climax when he joins the melody late in the song. It I chock full of yelling background vocals and Rivers explaining more of his failures with girls, this time a one who ignored his invitation to a Green Day concert, and his new shyness to talk to her because of it. Not much more can be said, just simply another excellent track.
Rounding out the end of the album, Pink Triangle features prominent slide guitaring in the intro, and starts the slowing process and our journey starts to end. Written about a girl he fell for but turned out to be a lesbian, Pink Triangle is more moving than it is funny as the listener discovers Cuomo’s plans with the girl. He was thinking marriage but the in Cuomo’s words (and the finest single line of songwriting on the album) “But married in my mind's no good.” Cuomo laments on his seemingly endless choice of wrong girls, and weaves it into another excellent song with a singable chorus but with the familiar depression of the album. Falling for You is a song the echo’s with Japanese inspired scaling, and is the musical closer to the album. Arguably the next best behind Across the Sea, we see ourselves again enjoying Cuomo’s pain. The guitar sings a long with the melody as another excellent break solidifies the album in history of rock music. The album in its musical entirety is 100% listenable, and all to moving as well as enjoyable.
Butterfly serves to thrust us out of this dark world, back into our own and our daily lives. Only Cuomo and his acoustic meet us here, and we see an ultra depressing farewell from Cuomo that lasted some five years. The song is beautiful in itself, and slows our pace to normal.
Pinkerton, as an album, was widely panned from the start. The fans, instead of accepting Cuomo for himself, decided that if he did not fit their interpretations of him neither would his album. Receiving votes for Rolling Stones “Worst Album of the Year”, Cuomo hid away never to play out or grant interviews. Only after these teenagers from Blue matured into their twenties was the music world fully ready to handle what Cuomo had put out. An album of emotional distress, instead of silly lyrics that meant nothing. The album would start the emo genre, and solidify the album as a classic. Such a clamoring would occur that the ultra sensitive Cuomo finally came out of his self imposed exile to write ultra non emotional Green. Sadly still some people have not grown up enough to understand or appreciate this work of art, and still claim Cuomo’s works into the early 2000’s are his best along with Blue. They just join the familiar story, one of rejection and redemption that seems to follow this album wherever it goes. Cuomo already crafted his gem at 26, and most everything will fall short of it, unless he writes another album to define a decade.
