1994 was arguably the best year for alt-rock ever. We got Green Day releasing 'Dookie', Oasis releasing 'Definitely maybe', Nine inch nails releasing 'The downward spiral and Blur releasing 'Parklife' amongst many others. But out of everything released in '94, my favourite has always been Weezer's self-titled debut album commonly known as the blue album because - Well just look at it.
The album was a massive success, going triple-platinum in the US and landing on most 'best album of the '90s lists since it's May 10th release, and it's not very hard to see why. The first 20 seconds of 'My name is Jonas' are so good that most albums would be accused of front loading. It seems insane that a song about something as boring as attempting to claim compensation after an accident could sound so brilliantly triumphant, but 'Jonas' carries it off with style.
The lyrics on the album also help it stand out amongst the rest of it's competition, with songs about surfing, sweaters and looking the same as Buddy Holly sit beside alcohol addiction, heartbreak and depressed masturbation. The latter is 'Only in dreams', the 8 minute behemoth that is not only still the longest Weezer song but ends with almost 4 minutes of a guitar solo that emulates the song topic pretty accurately.
Speaking of solos, this album is full of them and they're all great! Even a crushingly angry song like 'Say it aint so' (My personal favourite Weezer track to this day) has a perfect solo that somehow manages to sound really cool and livid at the same time. Buddy Holly contains one of my all time favourite moments in any song with just three seconds of squealing guitar just before the final chorus.
What I think makes Rivers Cuomo (Lead singer and guitarist of Weezer) is so interesting is his ability to write very personal songs and yet make them just vague enough so that anybody can relate to them (Although Pinkerton is basically the opposite of this and is also incredible so I dunno). Examples of this are the aforementioned 'Say it aint so' and 'Only in dreams' along with 'The World has turned and left me here' and 'No one else', but is best demonstrated by the fan-favourite 'In the garage'. A song about being a teen alone in your bedroom/garage was by no means a rarity in the 90s, but it had never been this hopeful. Few artists would present sitting by yourself, geeking out over KISS and nightcrawler while singing to yourself as anything other than a bit weird or desperate - But not Cuomo, who instead crafts another awesome ode to being happy in your own company.
The album isn't completely flawless - 'Holiday' isn't quite up to the standard of the other songs although it's still better than almost everything they released during the 2000s, if only due to nonsensical lyrics and a weird breakdown near the end that doesn't really add anything.
That said, the appeal of this album is far beyond just the music, as it's evidently inspired many other great albums and artists - From early 2000s bands like Fountains of Wayne to up and coming artists like Car seat headrest. Nick Jonas also cites it as an inspiration for his band DNCE but lets try and ignore that. Most of Weezer's airplay still comes from the blue album singles and it's still their best selling album (Even if Pinkerton has arguably overtaken it in critical praise.). Since Weezer seem to be releasing good music again with 'Everything will be alright' and 'The white album', I think it's the perfect time to revisit this album or even to listen to it for the first time if you haven't yet, because it's easily one of the best albums of the 90s.
10/10
The album was a massive success, going triple-platinum in the US and landing on most 'best album of the '90s lists since it's May 10th release, and it's not very hard to see why. The first 20 seconds of 'My name is Jonas' are so good that most albums would be accused of front loading. It seems insane that a song about something as boring as attempting to claim compensation after an accident could sound so brilliantly triumphant, but 'Jonas' carries it off with style.
The lyrics on the album also help it stand out amongst the rest of it's competition, with songs about surfing, sweaters and looking the same as Buddy Holly sit beside alcohol addiction, heartbreak and depressed masturbation. The latter is 'Only in dreams', the 8 minute behemoth that is not only still the longest Weezer song but ends with almost 4 minutes of a guitar solo that emulates the song topic pretty accurately.
Speaking of solos, this album is full of them and they're all great! Even a crushingly angry song like 'Say it aint so' (My personal favourite Weezer track to this day) has a perfect solo that somehow manages to sound really cool and livid at the same time. Buddy Holly contains one of my all time favourite moments in any song with just three seconds of squealing guitar just before the final chorus.
What I think makes Rivers Cuomo (Lead singer and guitarist of Weezer) is so interesting is his ability to write very personal songs and yet make them just vague enough so that anybody can relate to them (Although Pinkerton is basically the opposite of this and is also incredible so I dunno). Examples of this are the aforementioned 'Say it aint so' and 'Only in dreams' along with 'The World has turned and left me here' and 'No one else', but is best demonstrated by the fan-favourite 'In the garage'. A song about being a teen alone in your bedroom/garage was by no means a rarity in the 90s, but it had never been this hopeful. Few artists would present sitting by yourself, geeking out over KISS and nightcrawler while singing to yourself as anything other than a bit weird or desperate - But not Cuomo, who instead crafts another awesome ode to being happy in your own company.
The album isn't completely flawless - 'Holiday' isn't quite up to the standard of the other songs although it's still better than almost everything they released during the 2000s, if only due to nonsensical lyrics and a weird breakdown near the end that doesn't really add anything.
That said, the appeal of this album is far beyond just the music, as it's evidently inspired many other great albums and artists - From early 2000s bands like Fountains of Wayne to up and coming artists like Car seat headrest. Nick Jonas also cites it as an inspiration for his band DNCE but lets try and ignore that. Most of Weezer's airplay still comes from the blue album singles and it's still their best selling album (Even if Pinkerton has arguably overtaken it in critical praise.). Since Weezer seem to be releasing good music again with 'Everything will be alright' and 'The white album', I think it's the perfect time to revisit this album or even to listen to it for the first time if you haven't yet, because it's easily one of the best albums of the 90s.
10/10
1994 Kurt died what the fuck are you going on about
ReplyDeleteIn terms of albums ya screb
ReplyDelete>8 minute behemoth
ReplyDeleteTry listening to prog or jazz you fucking lightweight
>8 minute behemoth
ReplyDeleteTry listening to prog or jazz you fucking lightweight
8 minutes is really long for a weezer song - It's more than twice as long as any single song from the green album for example
ReplyDelete