Weezer – The Red Album Review
Weezer’s 6th album came out on June 2nd to mixed reviews but somewhat better reviews then their 5th album Make Believe. Calling their latest album the Red Album after ditching the naming after the Blue and Green album 7 yeas ago.
I hated the track Pork and Beans, as it was crappy pop with the lack of good guitar use and clearly poor writing. The album starts off with Troublemaker, admittedly better then Pork and Beans as they decide to use some actual guitaring. The song writing however absolutely reeks. “Put me in a special school because I’m such a fool”, lyrics like this don’t leave a lot left to the imagination.
The next track The Greatest Man That Ever Lived is a little more reminiscent of old Weezer, at least musically. Lyrically I just have to shake my head again though it is sung pretty well. There’s no real insulting this track, a pretty decent one at least. At almost 6 minutes, it’s incredibly dense with experimentation, you’d have to wonder why the hell they didn’t have this idea for the rest of the album.
You already know my thoughts on Pork and Beans or can check out my thoughts that pissed off a handful of people.
Heart Songs starts off slow with a reference to Canadian Gordon Lightfoot. The problem with this track is that because it’s slow compared to the rest of a mainstream/pop album it’s really hard to grasp. The song is better that it’s slow, with so many references I don’t really care for this song. I’d say this track doesn’t fit well at all on the album and isn’t really the typical Weezer song anyway.
The next song Everybody Get Dangerous is one of those tracks that has a weak chorus. I will always HATE or rile on songs that have choruses that are either repeating words or just repeating a sentence. It ultimately ruined a potentially solid song into a crappy one.
Dreamin’ starts off pretty well, with guitaring you’d expect from Weezer and a solid chorus. A great pop song until Rivers Cuomo starts singing his verses and the song writing is in generally quite weak but it does have it moments.
Thought I Knew is a song by rhythm guitarist by Brian Bell which is actually refreshing to see someone else on the hem. I must say I kind of dug this song. The song writing is noticeably better, it just feels so much more natural though it’s not so much more ‘complex’.
Cold Dark World is a duo of vocalists but the problem is that musically they just hit it up with bass and it the beginning almost comes off as a rap. Musically I absolutely hated this one…there wasn’t much to begin with.
Automatic features another vocalist and musically it’s pretty good. The only problem if anything is that this feels like another band due the vocals shifting. Good nonetheless and great experimentation musically that you’d like to see earlier on an album.
The last track The Angel and The One is one of those epic closers to an album and I have no problem with these tracks. Some album do end on shitty notes and ending with a 6 minute dense track is quite commendable.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Overall a passable album, it’s not the worst and while there is some quality music here, I can’t believe Pork and Beans was their first hit. Some people riled on me for hating the track but come on aren’t I justified? There’s tons of indie pop better than that and it’s the kind of crappy song that grinds my gears.
I’m not breaking new ground by insulting Weezer but it’s mostly an album with misses rather then hits. There’s been much worse written about this calling this album the worst ever but it’s not complete utter crap even if I’d do without a lot of tracks and possibly Rivers Cuomo himself 
.
Buy this album from: Insound/CD Universe/Amazon
