Weezer

I recently put together a list of the top 50 albums released after 1990 with co-workers in an attempt to determine what will be considered the classics of my generation. I will post the list when I can figure out how to transfer the layout of an excel spreadsheet on here, but in the meantime take my word for it. The list is skewed to my personal tastes (just like the entries of this blog) but a few interesting observations can be made: 1) 1994 was a huge year in music, specifically grunge rock. 2) Until recently, Radiohead may have been the most important and underrated band of my generation. 3) Rap didn't stand the test of time for me. 4) What happened to Weezer?

Weezer's Blue Album and Pinkerton are both in my top 15. The Blue Album was the first disc I ever purchased (with Green Day's Dookie also on the same Lechmere receipt) and it remains an influential album to many budding musicians. When you look further down the list you will not find any of the other 4 studio albums that the band has released. In fact, those albums may not have made the cut if I had a top 100 list. The bottom line is that I haven't had the patience to listen to any of the albums due to lack of interest. Their sound remains familiar and distinct but maybe I outgrew the styling, maybe they weren't as good as I first thought and the first album just holds a strong personal significance, or maybe I'm just not sure why I never gave them a chance. The world tends to side with me since their albums sales have dropped and varied since their debut.

How can one band, who continued to produce commercially successful albums, suddenly fall off my radar? They took a hiatus in 1996 after Pinkerton (which is a great album no matter what critics say) but I don't think I ever gave it a second thought that they weren't producing records. The other "What happened?" bands that have albums in my upper echelon from this time period are very explainable. Nirvana- Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. Green Day- hard to follow up single-heavy Dookie but remained relevent with Insomniac and Nimrod. then of course the nauseating commercial success of American Idiot. Red Hot Chili Peppers- John Frusciante's departure after the Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour combined with a Dave Navarro (I will eventually write an entire post about my distaste for this man) follow up album all while the band should have been in their prime. Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine- broke up. Sublime- Bradley's tragic death. But what happened to Weezer?

Well, recently I watched Weezer live in Japan on my new favorite HD channel Palladia and it gave me new insight to the band and my thoughts on Rivers Cuomo as a songwriter. During the concert Rivers comes out unaccompanied and with just his acoustic guitar. He enters into a wonderful rendition of "Island in the Sun" from Weezer's 2001 Green Album. There came a moment where i had an epiphany about Rivers as a song writtern, my thought process, and music in general. It was incredible to watch the Japanese fans, most of whom don't know more than the phonetic sounds of the vocals, singing "Hip-Hip" which repeats at the end of each line of the chorus. This simple tune and melody cut across international language barriers and even as I tried to ignore the lyrics myself, the message was still there. It was relaxing and moving at the same time. It made me think; maybe I should give these albums a second chance in the near future. I never liked the song previous to this and had honestly never given it a chance, much like their albums. It's strange how a single moment can give you an entirely new perspective on years of thought. Maybe it's a testament to my eternal optimism and whimsical abilities. Maybe the albums still suck and that was just a cool way to hear the song. Either way, it made me think twice about holding down opinions I may not be able to make well educated commentary about.