Blow Me! It's Album 3! And It's Great! (Weezer 'green Album' - Weezer)

Member Name: SpankMarvin

Product:	Weezer 'green Album' - Weezer
Date:	06/07/01 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Catchy, Summery, It's Weezer

Disadvantages: Five years wait!

How to be a successful rock band according to Weezer’s lead singer/guitarist/songwriter Rivers Cuomo:

1. Release a brilliant rock album to general acclaim.
2. Follow it up with an even better album which isn’t received quite so well by the general public.
3. Take time out to have an operation on legs, and to go to Harvard University.
4. During this period, write hundreds of new songs.
5. Return after five years and release another fantastic album as if nothing ever happened.

This is exactly what Weezer have done. The four-piece established themselves in 1994 with the Blue Album, containing classics such as Buddy Holly, The Sweater Song and No-one Else. While they have been away, a series of ‘geek rock’ and punk bands have emerged, such as Wheatus and Blink 182, who really do owe their existence to Weezer, the originators of the new wave so-called 'geeky' scene. Although some may argue that Weezer have returned as stylised nerds, they had a decent share in creating this image, so it’s quite nice to see them pulling it off so shamelessly.

Weezer’s latest third album, called “The Green Album” is a return back to the older style of material, sounding (and looking) far more like the debut Blue Album than its follow-up, Pinkerton, and produced by Ric Ocasek, who produced the Blue Album. The track list is as follows:

1. Don’t Let Go
2. Photograph
3. Hash Pipe
4. Island In The Sun
5. Crab
6. Knock-down Drag-out
7. Smile
8. Simple Pages
9. Glorious Day
10. O Girlfriend
11. I Do

Like Pinkerton, the Green Album is of a shortness which now seems almost typical for Weezer – at just 30mins 29secs, the whole album is about as long as one track by King Crimson. Some might shout, “this isn’t long enough!” whereas others would be disappointed with anything else. Yes, the songs are short but the
y are also thankfully sweet (perhaps with the exception of the rather dodgy final track “I Do”), and it’s power chords and lyrics about the cruelty of girls all the way! There are instantly catchy tunes, such as Photograph and Island in the Sun which are quite reminiscent of the Blue Album’s Buddy Holly and Say it Ain’t So respectively. The later tracks in the album take a couple of listens to warm to, but before long it is enjoyable from start to finish. The Green Album is full of cheery, unforgettable riffs and vocal harmonies, which are maybe how the Beach Boys would have sounded if they had been bullied a bit more at school. Although Mikey Welsh has taken over from Matt Sharp on bass, the replacement seems almost seamless and the result of five years away is an album which almost sounds more Weezer than Weezer! The shortness of the album may seem odd considering that the band have written far more as yet unreleased songs, but I think any longer would have been too much of a good thing. In Weezer’s case less definitely seems to be more, and the quality of the songs makes the length of the album immaterial.

The Blue Album is still arguably Weezer’s best album to date (although in my opinion Pinkerton, whilst not being quite so radio-friendly, is still Weezer's moment of genius), and while this album does not outdo it, it is still a fantastic summer album, in no way self-indulgent or pretentious. Fans of the band’s older material are certain to love this album, which has a habit of reminding you how good that older stuff was. Those who have never heard any Weezer however might do well to try out the Blue Album first, to see what all the fuss was about. If you buy this album, which you really should, you will not take it out of your stereo. Besides, Weezer must need the cash by now, with the amount they must surely lose from dinner money tax.

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