Review by LarryG
3½ stars out of 4
Weezer's green album is bound to be among the best records of
2001. It's the best of their career. Weezer present a likable persona,
like they did on their first record, but their sound is bigger and
more solid than it was then. I like Weezer's second record but the
green album is more accessible. Pinkerton was dark with manically
fast, loud rockers. I loved Pinkerton's singles, The Good Life and El
Scorcho, but they were too complicated(both had different sections
with shifting meters) to be hits. The songs on the green album are
simple and easy to like. The only downside of the green album is that
it's quite short(28 minutes) but the ten songs are so uniformly good
that it doesn't feel skimpy.
The green album is consistently fun without being silly. The
exemplar for the music seems to be the first album's Buddy Holly. Most
of the music has steady rock guitars and a positive feel. The songs
are big and rocking with light touches that keep them from being
overbearing. Ric Ocasek, who also produced the first Weezer record,
knows from his Cars days about mixing rock guitar with fun touches.
The green album starts with Don't Let Go. Keyboards like The Cars and
Jeff Lynne used help create a giddy, breathless mood. As Weezer's
concerts show, they're a really skilled band. No ill effect is
apparent as Mikey Welsh replaces bass player Matt Sharp, who left
Weezer to work full time on his band, The Rentals(bad decision,
considering the green album's sales). Welsh, drummer Patrick Wilson
and guitar players Brian Bell and Rivers Cuomo propel Cuomo's tale of
shameless need for the girl of his dreams on Don't Let Go with tight,
fast playing. Opening with handclaps and "ooh-oohs", Photograph, which
encourages us to keep reaching out for love, has a spirited, retro
Beach Boys feel with steady guitars and solid drums. The confidence
and strength of Rivers Cuomo's singing on the green album is
impressive. Since the green album avoids cutesy songs for straight
forward rockers, Cuomo gets to do tough, straight forward singing. On
Hash Pipe, about a transsexual prostitute smoking to relieve paranoia
and anxiety, Cuomo moves assuredly in and out of a falsetto, always
adding to the song's sense of urgency. Hash Pipe was a good choice of
a first single. The tough, rocking sound helps kill the band's image
as video dependent jokesters. Bell and Cuomo make a guitar sound as
big and menacing as any hard rock band. The green album's hardest song
is smartly followed with its mellowest. Island In The Sun is a sweet
love song, with an easy, strummed guitar, celebrating (complete with
"hip hip"s) how nice it'll be to go away.
The rest of the green album is short, likable, fairly modest
rockers. Crab is dense glam rock with a cool, restrained pace.
Knock-down Drag-out's music is appropriately frenzied for a song about
trying to rekindle a turbulent relationship. Bell's guitar is fast and
confident. Smile is a Cuomo triumph. It has one of his best lyrics,
encouraging a woman to "open the door and let your love come down" and
"make it happen." I like the way Cuomo's voice empathetically softens
and rises in pitch on the chorus. Simple Pages has appealing guitars
and harmonies for one of the green album's many optimistic requests
for a woman to come back. Glorious Day bursts with energy from the
start with power chords as Cuomo boldly looks at the future, singing
"gonna make my move." Bell does one of his good, short, unshowy guitar
solos. O Girlfriend is the sad side of all the songs about wanting to
get back together. Cuomo sings he's "lost without your love." He uses
the sincere, poignant vocal of Only In Dreams, Across The Sea and Pink
Triangle. Even with the sad topic, the guitars and rhythm section keep
the song from dragging.
The green album is a very appealing, mostly upbeat record. The
only possible gripes besides the record's length are that Cuomo's
lyrics are sometimes so simple that they border on stupid and that the
record lacks the variety and personality of the band's first two. But
more importantly, the green album unfailingly delivers well played,
fun songs that are filled with rock thrills.
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