TheBig3

Well, I just **** my pants. Thanks for the laugh, Zoon.

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Engine

I sympathize. I also have loved their first album since it was released. Even back then people made fun of me for it because Weezer weren't all that cool according to the people I knew.

I had a few close friends who understood though, and we all saw them live on their first tour and learned to play My Name is Jonas together because it was the only pop rock song I could play all the way through on guitar. I'll always love that first album.

Pinkerton is commonly known as their "best" work but I disagree. It's a fine album but it doesn't have the serious/sarcastic feel of their first one. Also, the big heavy, easy to play riffs were gone. After Pinkerton they were just another shitty band that I had no interest in.

Although, for vktr's sake I will say that I like the two singles on their Green album, Island in the Sun and HashPipe.

Anyway, what happened? I have no idea. They (especially River) seem fairly serious about their music. I really can't say why they became such a horrible, forgettable band.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Forward To Death

The Blue Album kicks ass, Pinkerton was good, but what can you expect from a band that plays pop with hard rock guitar. They still essentially do the same thing, but they try to keep with the times by doing songs with Lil Wayne.

simoirs

Weezer turned this way because no one at the time understood how good was Pinkerton.
After the cold general reaction he would probably have thought that to go on that way was meaningless and only stupid stuff could be appreciated. Why to put so much effort and emotions if your most commercially successful song becomes Beverly Hills (that I love, eheh)?

Everyone now think it's cool to write about very personal situations in life, see the Arctic Monkeys' debut, but when the precursor tried it it took years to get the deserved reaction.

Screen13

It's simply the natural fact of a band losing the raw muse that first attracted one to a band when one first hear them. Although I'm not really that much of a listener, I can cay that they are at least lucky to have stayed around all this time.

Around for about 2 decades? Had a debut album that actually made it and inspired a lot of other music? Compared to a lot of other bands, many of them never getting that first step through a major company door, that's at least something. In Rock Years, they achieved seniority when a lot of others have went away.

Just listen to what you like and at least dig that first album plus all the other tracks.

Goofle

Their debut is certainly my favourite of theirs. nMver really got into anything else other than Pinkerton, which is okay.

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JakeATLBraves24

Rivers was very sensitive to the backlash after Pinkerton, and Weezer has never been the same since. People were expecting another upbeat and fun album like the Blue Album, but Pinkerton was quite the opposite. As a result, the record wasn't received nearly as well. Weezer didn't make another album for five years, and when they did, what had made Weezer great was gone. The Green Album had some nice tracks, no doubt, but it was glazed over and ultimately a sell-out.

90s-era Weezer is probably my favorite band of all-time. Pinkerton is a masterpiece, and the Blue Album isn't far behind. Nowadays, Weezer isn't anything more than a lame pop-rock group.

GuitarBizarre

...the first page of this thread is a ****ing disgrace.

In what universe does it qualify as music discussion to fill a page of thread with "<band> sucks now", while offering absolutely no argument or other content of any kind within the post?


I like Weezer perfectly well, but ultimately their music has never wowed me particularly. A friend of mine however, is prone, when drunk, to argue that Pinkerton is the best album ever made. He's onboard with the idea they went downhill afterwards though he's never really explained to me in what way. And neither has this thread.

What, musically, changed about Weezer, that made everyone hate them? With Metallica you can say "They started doing bad Thin Lizzy covers and stopped having guitar solos" or "Kirk Hammett found the wah pedal and they weren't the same since".

Can anyone identify for Weezer, what happened?

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JakeATLBraves24

This write-up puts it into words better than I could (remove the spaces, I'm not allowed to post links because of post count):

ht tp : / / ww w. angel fire. co m/ ks /weezerisdope / greendeficiencies . ht ml

I think the main reason is the change in material Rivers has written about. He has gone from writing meaningful songs to generic, hollow pop songs. Compare "Only In Dreams" or "Pink Triangle" to "We Are All On Drugs" or "Troublemaker." The passion is long gone and has been replaced with calculated, contrived fluff. I think it extends to the music as well. Take the Green Album for example. Rivers' vocals are glazed over; it sounds like he has had the soul siphoned out of him. It's like Weezer has been censored. The sincerity that made them great just doesn't exist in their music anymore.

MglTerc

I couldn't agree more. Even though their albums past Pinkerton were passable, they just didn't wow me or pack the emotional punch that The Blue Album and Pinkerton had.

Even the songs that were not all that emotional were able to stand on their own as great songs with meaning, In The Garage, Holiday and Surf Wax America didn't dwell into deep emotional context but still provided something meaningful and real that a listener could relate to. We Are All On Drugs, Troublemaker and even (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To just sound like attempts to seem cool. It just doesn't feel real anymore.

It's very sad because in a way I feel that Rivers did this on purpose due to the Pinkerton backlash.