Review Summary: Pinkerton is probably one of, if not the, best albums of the late 90s. I truly consider it the Nevermind of the late 90s and should of changed the face of alternative rock forever. Unfortunately, the album was a flop because it was so ahead of it's time.
Weezer's debut Blue Album is synonymous for being one of the best alternative rock albums ever made. And while that album certainly deserves that spot, "Pinkerton" truly reigns supreme. Why? Well, there's many reasons.
For one, the production. The Blue Album (1994) was produced by Ric Orcasek, you know that one guy who wrote that one song with that one band that was in a Best Buy commercial during the late 2000s. Despite him being a part of The Cars, a band that was very huge in the Original New Wave movement of the early 80s, he the album sound extremely fresh and new, and I assume a lot of that relies on him. Everything feels tight on Blue, and that's not a bad thing. Hell, Blue had the coolest guitar tone of the day and probably of all time (people underestimate the power of Mesa Boogies and the lack gain on their tone knobs). On the flip side, Pinkerton feels like the band members just went ***ing nuts and played their hearts out, especially on Rivers' and Brain's part. The guitars are just crazy, and it's much more unique and creative than the controlled feel on Blue. There are two much more distinct guitar parts on each song, giving it a bigger yet even quirkier feel. So in a nutshell: the guitars are extremely well put together and have a raw yet emotional tone to them, and the way in which they're played just breathes pure emotion. It's as if Rivers and Brian are playing with their hearts rather than their heads.
Matt and Pat also do a great job on this album as well. Matt utilizes more walking bass lines in Pinkerton as compared to Blue, giving an overall bigger perspective in the world in which the band is painting for you. The tone of the bass is very powerful and dirty. Pat's drumming, though simplistic, matches the style very well. His precision proves very well that Pat keeps the beat of the song very well. It reminds me of what Jack Black said about Neil Peart, that his rhythm matches that of an atom. The sound of the drums, like the bass and guitar: Powerful. Maybe it's because most of Pinkerton was recorded at Sound City, which supposedly has some strange power of making drums sound as if they were set up by Jesus himself *refer to the Dave Grohl documentary "Sound City" if you have no clue what I'm talking about.
But the coolest thing about this album is, it's self produced. They just went in, hired some engineering people, and just went with what they wanted...well, what Rivers wanted for the most part.
The album is loosely based off of Madame Butterfly, an opera written about an American sailor who marries a Japanese woman and cheats on her and stuff. The man's name? Pinkerton! Bingo, that's the inspiration. There's references to the opera scattered around the album ("listening to Cio Cio San," the song Butterfly, "Goddamn you half Japanese girls," and just the general fascination of Japanese babes) but if you're foreign to Puccini, these will just be interesting and odd themes that revolve around the album. But even though Madame Butterfly is the inspiration for the album, it's main inspiration is Rivers Cuomo's horrible and unfortunate love life. Many people may see Rivers as melodramatic and oversensitive, but I have personally felt the torment of horrible heartbreaks and terrible luck with my feelings so I can relate verrryyy easily. Whether it's being Tired of Sex: the whole concept of using human beings as sex objects and getting into a routine of hump-n-dump, being stuck with a girlfriend who sucks; but is the only person who will love you back; wanting to be with a girl; but giving up because you feel it'll just be a repeat of everything that you're ex lover did to you, and so on and so on. This album is REALLY and I mean REAALLLYYY made for those young men who are just utter hopeless romantics, and THANK GOD. Some may find this as a turn off, but personally, it's what drew me in. It's the perfect album to listen to when you feel hopeless, depressed, and dead inside. But tracks like "The Good Life" are extremely inspirational to help you get off your depressed ass and get better! This album goes both ways between drowning in depression as well as driving yourself to be happy again. So SUBSTANCE WISE: This album is AMAZING, but if you can relate to these songs, it can literally be the soundtrack of your life for about 6 months straight.
Okay so the Production is stellar and the lyrical substance is AMAZING, how is the musical substance? Again, BOOM. Amazing. The album was released in 1996, sooooo that means it was recorded around 1995/1996. Well here's the really cool thing about Pinkerton. It realllyyy fits with the whole Indie rock/hipster rock style of today. Literally, it sounds like it was released yesterday. It hasn't aged ONE BIT. Well, at least by today's standards. Pinkerton really paved the way for how indie/alternative bands of this decade write their music. Oh yeah: the quirkiness, the use of xylophones, and amps that sound like they exploded- it's all here. But while many bands that have these qualities come off as (in my opinion at least) pretentious, monotonous, and so damn annoying (I swear if I see one more cell phone commercial with that kinda music where billions of people sing "WOAAAHHHH OH OHHHHHHH" while kiddie instruments are being played in the background, I'm going to die), Pinkerton pulls these qualities off perfectly and it does not detract from the album at all. That's because they're used kinda sparingly, so it's not annoying.
I also gotta note that the background vocals/chants sung by the rest of the band are awesome. It sounds like they're singing along to the jukebox while ***faced at an Irish Pub, and it works!!! EVERYTHING ON THIS ALBUM WORKS!!!!! And the cherry on top of this awesome sundae is Matt Sharp. His funny and goofy personality just shines on this album through his little falsetto backup vocals!!
The best songs? Well, every song gets at least an A. In my opinion, Pink Triangle (the song about falling in love with a Lesbian) and Falling For You are just the overall champs of the album. Musically, their song structures are the most complex and interesting on the album, and Falling For You just reaches this pinnacle after the guitar solo that becomes the most emotional point on the album. The worst songs? Eh, there's not any bad songs, but I kinda feel like "El Scorcho" and "Getchoo" are the weakest. Not because they're the most popular songs, but I just don't think they hold up as well as the other tracks.
ALL IN ALL: PINKERTON IS LOVE, PINKERTON IS LIFE!!!
