Review Summary: With the Blue Album, Weezer created a raucous and upbeat record with catchy hooks that became a landmark album for outcasts everywhere.
Bill Gates once advised people to be nice to nerds because one day you likely will wind up working for one. I’m not sure if the producers of Weezer (The Blue Album) were nice to nerds, but they certainly did a fine job working for one…or with one. The nerd I am referring to is obviously the incomparable Rivers Cuomo, the front man of Weezer. It is hard to believe that his band mates Brian Bell, Matt Sharp and Patrick Wilson did not contribute their fair share of nerd intellect to The Blue Album as well, as the four of them all sounded fantastic together on their debut record. In 1994, college and rock radio stations were mainly dominated by grunge, lo-fi and indie rock. Though Weezer may fall more under the category of an eclectic mix of alternative rock, punk and even metal, what set them apart from the norm was this shy, self-conscious nerd aspect they brought to their music. Before even listening to the album, the listener already can see an album cover with four simple-looking misfits staring back at them, with of course, a blue background. The album packs a wave of power chord filled punch, with lyric themes ranging from timidity yet, in a way confidence, insecurity, to alcoholism to, well, looking like Buddy Holly. It is impossible not to notice the geekiness that is brought to this album. At one point we hear Rivers inform us that he has a dungeon masters guide. At another point we hear him sing about an irresistible woman “in the air in between molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide”. Weezer were able to provide a heavy, some-what frustrated and very anxious theme to their debut album while simultaneously bringing a loner charm to the record as well.
On this record the listener can hear Rivers irked and confused by his love interests, while coping with his own insecurities. A common topic throughout this album seems to be the yearning for the attention of girls, yet simply falling short in attempts to do so. One of the albums most popular songs, “Undone (Sweater Song)” is a more monotone and somber track that deals with Cuomo showing just how vulnerable people are at parties and social situations in general as he sings “If you want to destroy my sweater/Hold this thread as I walk away (As I walk away)/Watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked (Lying on the floor)/Lying on the floor, I've come undone.” It is these more introverted tracks that really make this album phenomenal. One of them being “In the Garage,” which is one of the peaks of the record, where we hear Rivers finding a place where he can escape all of the judgment and pressure brought on by his peers: “In the garage, I feel safe/No one cares about my ways/In the garage, where I belong/No one hears me sing this song.” Maybe an even more introverted track, “The World Has Turned And Left Me Here”, has a bit more melancholic sound to it and a fantastic solo at the end. In the song we hear Cuomo sounding as hopeless as ever, and trying to cope with what seems like some type of loss along with a feeling of abandonment. Above all else this is an album for adolescents caught in a complicated and awkward period of their lives as evidenced by these three tracks all showing the struggles of being an outcast. On the contrast to these more downer tracks, there are also very happy and upbeat tracks as well, like the opener “My Name is Jonas”, along with “Surf Wax America” and the famously catchy “Buddy Holly,” which contains one of the most well-known choruses of the past 25 years. In fact, because of this song there are many millennials who are very familiar with the song “Buddy Holly,” yet unfamiliar with the person Buddy Holly.
It is impossible to talk about the Blue Album with out bringing up “Say It Ain’t So”, the albums finest track, which is a darker more angst-ridden song that addresses the attempt to avoid giving into alcoholism as it has been passed down by a previous generation to the singer. The song starts out calm with Cuomo seeming under control, but at around the halfway point, we hear him begin to unravel and finally give into the horrible temptation: “Dear daddy, I write you in spite of years of silence/You cleaned up, found Jesus, Things are good also I hear/This bottle of Stevens awakens ancient feelings/Like father, Step-Father/The son is drowning in the flood/Yeah Yeah-Yeah-Yeah-Yeah.” Along with the great guitar solos and choruses, the record also has a great closer with “Only In Dreams”, the longest track on the album, where we hear all four members of the band letting loose instrumentally as they start off with a slow and stirring build up into an onslaught of instrumentation. The band let out a lot of emotion on the first nine tracks, but on this one they let everything out at the albums finale, making it a very fitting and stellar way to close out an even more stellar album.
With the Blue Album, Weezer created a record for self-conscious wallflowers and nerds everywhere who were frustrated with both their social status and love life. It is an emotional record with a lot of charisma at the same time. Reclusive weirdo’s had been making records for years, depressed loners had been making records for years, but we had never quite heard nerd rock before, which is what made the Blue Album so special. It is one of the more fun records to come out during an era where most music was much gloomier and darker with grunge and alternative rock at the helm. Too often albums are described as “roller coasters of emotion”, but this record fits this description far more than others. Quite often, and deservedly so, people site this record as one of their favorites from the 1990’s and the alternative era. When you think about it, this album truly has it all, heavy dark tracks, upbeat fun tracks, great lyrics and solos, and an interesting and original concept. Spend more time in the garage Rivers. Spend more time in the garage.