Pinkerton, Weezer, 1996, :34
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
This is the first Weezer album I've heard in its entirety and I'm not impressed. Apparently built around the story of what a creep Rivers Cuomo is, it's all buzzy, fuzzy distorted guitars, feedback, rock "yow!" and "ooh!", lots of cymbals and snares and hi-hats; it's a very treble-heavy sound. There are a couple of nice melodies here, but they're buried under layers of histrionics and rock frills. Yes, it's rock, but must there be so much of it? And the lyrics are, well, pretty damned dumb. "I can't believe how bad I suck, it's true / What could you possibly see in little ol' three chord me?" Or: "I'm dumb / She's a lesbian / I thought I had found the one." That's from "Pink Triangle," one of the dumbest songs I've heard in a while. "El Scorcho" is the most popular song on the album, but I think it's practically unlistenable. On the other hand, fans and Rivers himself have gone 180 degrees in their opinions of the album over the years, so who knows? Favorite tracks: I can manage two. "The Good Life" is catchy, though highly repetitive and its lyrics are also simplistic and puerile ("I ain't no Mr. Cool / I'm a pig, I'm a dog, so 'scuse me if I drool"); I also like the acoustic "M. Butterfly" pastiche, "Butterfly," very much an outlier on the album.
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
This is the first Weezer album I've heard in its entirety and I'm not impressed. Apparently built around the story of what a creep Rivers Cuomo is, it's all buzzy, fuzzy distorted guitars, feedback, rock "yow!" and "ooh!", lots of cymbals and snares and hi-hats; it's a very treble-heavy sound. There are a couple of nice melodies here, but they're buried under layers of histrionics and rock frills. Yes, it's rock, but must there be so much of it? And the lyrics are, well, pretty damned dumb. "I can't believe how bad I suck, it's true / What could you possibly see in little ol' three chord me?" Or: "I'm dumb / She's a lesbian / I thought I had found the one." That's from "Pink Triangle," one of the dumbest songs I've heard in a while. "El Scorcho" is the most popular song on the album, but I think it's practically unlistenable. On the other hand, fans and Rivers himself have gone 180 degrees in their opinions of the album over the years, so who knows? Favorite tracks: I can manage two. "The Good Life" is catchy, though highly repetitive and its lyrics are also simplistic and puerile ("I ain't no Mr. Cool / I'm a pig, I'm a dog, so 'scuse me if I drool"); I also like the acoustic "M. Butterfly" pastiche, "Butterfly," very much an outlier on the album.
