Review Summary: A varied overlooked gem
Weezer were back in the public spotlight. While Green had been a decidedly mediocre affair, its singles had been hits and the record had a warm public reception. The only way was up, but things weren't going well for the band. Rivers' drug usage was making him confrontational and rude and Bassist Mikey Welsh had left the group after a nervous breakdown. With Welsh's replacement Scott Shriner (who is still with the band to this day) officially a member, the group quickly recorded their next album. Unlike Green, Maladroit was no where near as popular and today is considering a hidden gem by the group. Has it held up though? Let's take a look.
Musically, Maladroit is a far more exciting record than Green. Gone are the bland soulless guitar tones, now replaced with a distorted heavier sound. The bass is thick and drums are heavy. While the group stick with their usual power pop sound, they take time to experiment with a few new ideas on a few tracks. 'Take Control' is flat out heavy metal, 'Death and Destruction' is a gentle but paranoid track with a skittering drum roll and lush vocals. 'Burndt Jamb' is a yacht rock funk work out which erupts into a blaring bridge and 'Slob' is a dark, doom laden emo burst of emotion. It's a wonderful breath of fresh air, and the new styles work wonderfully. While the group did try to experiment on their later albums, like on The Red Album, they never were able to pull it off as well they did here. Almost every song is fuelled by this intense energy, even the slower ones. Lead single 'Dope Nose' is a fierce punk track with a fun crescendoing vocal hook and the short but essential 'Space Rock' uses blaring guitar feedback which blends into the music, creating a sort of noise rock affair. The highlight 'Love Explosion' features the band's best chorus since 'Photograph' and 'Slave' is an upbeat but surprisingly sad track.
An interesting thing to note is Maladroit's lyrical content. While the music here is usually upbeat and catchy, the lyrics are considerably downbeat and emotional. The head banging music covers up the album's debatably Emo lyrics. The opening track 'American Gigolo', while fierce and direct with a pounding drum beat, the lyrics portray this air of giving up and acquiescing. Even the supremely fun and bouncy 'Keep Fishin'' masks its jealous lyrics behind a groovy bassline and guitar bursts. It's not all doom and gloom however. The Green Day inspired 'Possibilities' is notably more lighthearted and the lovely finale 'December' is mostly optimistic and hopeful. Otherwise Maladroit is an Emo album disguised as a power pop record.
Is Maladroit all great? Almost. Possibilities is catchy but needless and Space Rock ends before it can get going. The album's relatively short length (33 mins) means it's over far too quickly, and a few tracks are sadly too short (Burndt Jamb, debatably the best song on the album sadly ends at around 2 and a half minutes). Other than that, Maladroit is a sadly greatly overlooked album containing some of the band's best tracks. An absolute must listen for any Weezer fan, no matter how casual.
Standout tracks:
Keep Fishin'
Take Control
Death And Destruction
Slob
Burndt Jamb
Slave
Love Explosion
December
