In 2010 Weezer were a wreck. They had lost all but their most loyal fans after the horror of 'Raditude', and had been dropped by their label. This makes 'Hurley' a really weird album, because instead of having some breakdown Weezer quietly passed out their best album since 2002 and barely anyone noticed.
The lead single didn't do the album any favours - it's not great. The chorus is good and all but spoken/shouted lyrics about "Dutch kids who vomit then have sex" are a bit creepy. Luckily tracks 2 and 3 are great. 'Ruling me' is like no other Weezer song in existence before it but is catchy and everything you would want. Then 'Trainwrecks' is very similar in sound and feel, but builds and climaxes like few other Weezer tracks do, making it the best song on the disc.
'Unspoken' is another great song that sounds like very little Weezer has done before and the first 'angry' Weezer song to actually land any impact for a very long time. 'Hang on' is almost euphoric in it's backing vocals until at about 2 minutes the song becomes desperately sad and does it all with the not-quite-typical feel most of 'Hurley' has. Sandwiched between these songs is the infamous 'Where's my Sex' which is pretty much a novelty single that is mildly annoying before you get the joke and mildly pleasing after you get it.
'Hang on' is another atypical but great song, which also has Michael Cera on backing vocals,before 'Smart Girls' unfortunately packs itself into the category of 'Slightly creepy songs Cuomo's written about girls', but nonetheless has a nice instrumentals. I realise I've neglected to mention the music of Hurley so far, and although it varies slightly it is on the whole more edgy and raw than 'Raditude' (Although a 'Take That' album is more raw than 'Raditude') and feels more Weezer-y than any album since 'Maladroit', although there's much more palm muting this time round.
'Brave New World' is alright, but fails to really stand out. The album closes with 'Time Flies' which has extremely lo-fi production giving the song an old VHS feel that acts as a nice link to 'Memories' as they both tackle nostalgia in different ways. Overall, 'Hurley' is like no Weezer album before or after it and has ended up being their most underrated album.
8/10
'Unspoken' is another great song that sounds like very little Weezer has done before and the first 'angry' Weezer song to actually land any impact for a very long time. 'Hang on' is almost euphoric in it's backing vocals until at about 2 minutes the song becomes desperately sad and does it all with the not-quite-typical feel most of 'Hurley' has. Sandwiched between these songs is the infamous 'Where's my Sex' which is pretty much a novelty single that is mildly annoying before you get the joke and mildly pleasing after you get it.
'Hang on' is another atypical but great song, which also has Michael Cera on backing vocals,before 'Smart Girls' unfortunately packs itself into the category of 'Slightly creepy songs Cuomo's written about girls', but nonetheless has a nice instrumentals. I realise I've neglected to mention the music of Hurley so far, and although it varies slightly it is on the whole more edgy and raw than 'Raditude' (Although a 'Take That' album is more raw than 'Raditude') and feels more Weezer-y than any album since 'Maladroit', although there's much more palm muting this time round.
'Brave New World' is alright, but fails to really stand out. The album closes with 'Time Flies' which has extremely lo-fi production giving the song an old VHS feel that acts as a nice link to 'Memories' as they both tackle nostalgia in different ways. Overall, 'Hurley' is like no Weezer album before or after it and has ended up being their most underrated album.
8/10
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