With a couple of great albums, one that was hugely successful and one that was shunned by society, Weezer was one of the 90's premier alternative acts. Hot off the heels of the successful Blue Album, Weezer released Pinkerton, a commercial disaster. The thing is, in the new millenium it was deemed a classic. That's right, a classic. Weezer decided to take a few years off to recover from the Pinkerton, err, disaster, and Rivers decided to move into a house and spraypaint all the windows black and lock all the doors full time. He did this because he was writing songs that Weezer could make a comback with. The first that Weezer would make in 4 years as a band was The Christmas Song, that was featured on the Kevin & Bean X-Mas album. And, shortly following the official return of Weezer, the guys quickly assembled some of the better songs that Rivers had written, hooked up with former producer (and former Car member) Ric Ocasek, and started a speedy recording.
The Result: The Green Album.
The Band:
Rivers Cuomo - Vocals, Guitars
Brian Bell - Guitars, Vocals
Mikey Welsh - Bass, Vocals
Pat Wilson - Drums & Pecussion
Let's put it this way. Weezer haven't knocked themselves out with being the most diverse, inspired and creative band out there for this album, seeing as they never vary out of their limits. Songs like "Crab", "Simple Pages" and "Don't Let Go" are all catchy, up beat power chord power pop with little or no depth (quite the turn off to fans of Pinkerton). The quirky sound is accompanied with Rivers' wimpy high school poet vocals, which never really progress the song. Instead, it seems the band resorts to mere catchiness to entertain the listener, something that easily makes for a boring listen, even if the songs themselves are rather good.
In context, this should either be a complete failure or a complete success. So it's a shame that it's neither, but rather a mere average album with a few power chords, vocal-pattern guitar solos, and (once again) catchy and upbeat guitar song. The song writing is not exactly cutting edge, especially since it's been five years since the band's last proper release. Rivers spent his time alone in a house writing songs for five years, so it's rather dissapointing when songs like "Crab" and "Knock-Down Drag-Out" come accross - both extremely simple songs with little more going for them then accessable guitar pop. But either way, it makes for a half decent listen, mostly if you're looking for a good summer party album. But otherwise, it's almost frustrating to early Weezer fans, knowing that they're capable of so much more, let alone creating actual individual sounding songs.
A dissapointment seems to sum this up, but that's not to say it doesn't have it's moments. "Island in the Sun" and "Glorious Days" are both rather simple, but once again they border on extremely wonderful based on sheer catchiness. But being catchy doesn't save this album from being a dissapointment. It's short, at barely half an hour, and the band sounds bored with their own sound throughout. A huge let down, and a mere average album.
