Everybody Get Dangerous!
Weezer are one of those bands that stand out on their own, quite happy to mix it up with different musical styles over an Indie-Alternative-Rock backbone. Personally I got into the band on the back of Weezer’s first of their 3 eponymous albums (with this one being the third) that have an unspoken subtitle of colours (‘94’s Blue album; 01’s Green album; and this one the Red album). In 1994 the rock scene had changed from Party-Rock to Grunge, and whilst the likes of The Offspring and Green Day were starting to make waves to stardom, it was also Weezer who grabbed my attention with what used to be known as Geek-Rock, but was a slightly Harder Indie-Rock with a few Beach Boys-esque harmonies (in Britain we had Silver Sun), and their breakthrough single, ‘Buddy Holly’ was over played everywhere.
So here we are with the Red album and I am pleasantly surprised that it both plays nicely along side the Blue and Green album (and of course the band’s otheres), whilst still having a fresh mix of songs. First song, ‘Troublemaker’ is a quick and catchy Pop-Rock number that has chunky riffs and the ability to stick into your brain straight away. This then goes straight to the longer and more complex song, ‘The Greatest Man That Ever Lived’ which is slightly Prog-Theatrical-Rock in the different changes of tempo and melodies, starting from big riffs, before switching to a marching band, then a piano and vocal part, before chugging guitars carry on. This is where people will say that this is a show of the band’s maturity, however I think that this says more abut the creativity of the band, and how sometimes they let their collective muse get pissed and go on a rampage with excellent results.
I don’t need to go into ‘Pork And Beans’ as it’s the first single off of the album and so is bound to have been played loads on the radio and television music stations by the time you read this. It’s another catchy and totally Weezer-like song with harmonies and fuzzy guitar riffs. Good stuff. Next is a gentle and slow song in, ‘Heart Songs’ which sounds very much like Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the slow melodic guitar and Rivers’ gentle voice as he sings about his music influences like, Quiet Riot, Iron Maiden, Debbie Gibson and Michael Jackson. Then in ‘Everybody Get Dangerous’ we have a more funky Red Hot Chilli Peppers in the verse before a rocking catchy chorus.
Now, ‘Dreamin’’ does take me right back to the Blue album as it sits there with it’s arms snugly around tracks like, ‘Undone- The Sweater Song’ and ‘Holiday’. Then we have the rest of the band getting involved in the writing of the songs. Firstly guitarist Brian Bell wrote and sings his way through, ‘Thought I Knew’ which is a middle-of-the-road rock song, then bassist Scott Shriner co-wrote, ‘Cold Dark World’ whist drummer Pat Wilson writes and sings on the ‘70’s influenced, ‘Automatic’ which is a great chunky and meaty number that has a nice raw edge to it. The last original song is the epic, ‘The Angel And The One’ which is a slow and thoughtful number that starts off gentle and rips into a raw power-ballad of a song.
The last two songs are covers, the first being the great Folk-Rock of ‘The Weight’ which was originally done by The Band and always sounds a little like, ‘Lodi’ by Creedence Clearwater Revival, before the slightly Psychedelic fuzzbox Rock of, ‘Life Is What You Make it’ originally done by Talk Talk.
It’s been said before that Rivers Cuomo is a little bit cuckoo, and that at times the engine is running but there is no one behind the wheel, however whatever your feelings on his mental state, there is no denying that he is a musical genius, and once again Weezer have produced an album that not only is very good, but is also very hard to pigeon hole again.
It’s funny how one of the purveyors of Geek Rock are now more Jock-mixed-with-Stoner Rock! In between the colours albums we’ve also had, ‘Pinkerton’ (96), ‘Maladriot’ (02) and ‘Make Believe’ (05), and whilst the Red album is a little more complex than previous albums there is nothing here that Weezer fans won’t be scared by, and more so a little more depth suggesting that they have fully let their proverbial hair down. Love it!