WEEZER'S BLUE ALBUM (1994)

Although Kurt Cobain had just died, the path to success was cleared for many rock bands by 1994. It didn’t matter much that the Gin Blossoms or Collective Soul didn’t sound anything like Nirvana, they were breaking through to mainstream radio and scoring big hits on the pop charts. One of the many bands to breakthrough in the aftermath of the Seattle grunge phenomenon was Weezer, a Los Angeles rock band fronted by Rivers Cuomo, a shy, awkward, heavy-metal-loving twenty-something from the east coast. For their debut, they brought on Ric Ocasek, the engine that kept the 70s/80s new wave band The Cars running. Although many of the tracks feature loudly mixed guitars and angsty content, there is a bright, effervescent feel to the album that sets it apart from the moodier, darker sounds of the grunge groups. In a sense, Weezer is hard to classify in terms of genre but the best way would be to say power-pop meets grunge.

Although Weezer would go onto being a name associated with inconsistency and (for some) disappointment, it is almost unanimously agreed upon that their 1994 eponymous debut, affectionately nicknamed The Blue Album and for good reason, as many would be hard-pressed to find a more enjoyable rock album from start to finish. It is the definition of all killer no filler, and it definitely does not lack in personality. Singles “Buddy Holly” and “Undone (The Sweater Song)” are thematically unique tracks that probably caused many to hit them with the “nerd rock” tag. They’re both ultra-catchy tunes that still get played on the radio to this day. The former chugs along, while the latter floats aggressively for lack of a better word. However, if there’s a song that exudes rock in all its geekiness, it would be “In the Garage” with its fondness of KISS posters and X-Men action figures. “In the Garage” is an anthem for the ages and would normally blow away all other songs through those terms, but this album contains opener “My Name Is Jonas” as well as the career-defining single “Say It Ain’t So,” which both use the loud-soft-loud dynamic about as good as The Pixies or Nirvana did.

The five remaining songs are all excellent, but instead of hearing me wax poetic about the rest, you should go listen to the album one more time. Weezer may have fallen off a little after 1996’s rather anti-pop Pinkerton, but Cuomo’s embrace of killer pop melodies over the years has arguably led to more good than bad, even if the songs sometimes lack the edge of early Weezer. Albums such as 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright in the End truly deliver the goods, and even when the albums are less good such as Pacific Daydream (2017), they can still be grounds for an engaging discussion. When it’s all said and done it is very likely that Weezer will never top the heights of their debut (or Pinkerton), but the fact of the matter is that most albums do not reach those levels to begin with.

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THE BLUE ALBUM