Archive for the 'a weekend' Category

A Weekend with Weezer

Published
by
billy
on November 19, 2007
in a weekend, blue album deluxe, mp3, music, rock and weezer
. 0 Comments

Alright, get over it, I know it’s Monday but I felt as if this modern day fab four deserved to have one last post. I understand the weekend is gone, but in our hearts Weezer shall forever live on. In 2004, commemorating the ten year anniversary of their first studio album, Weezer rereleased The Blue Album as a deluxe version (iTunes). This version contained a second disc packed with rare tracks, previously unheard material, some live songs, and a few fan favorites that had only ever been played in concert. Although much of this material was old news to many in the Weezer fan base it was still nice to have the tracks compiled and in good condition. Cheers to you Weezer and best of luck on your next studio album.

mp3 : Weezer - Jamie (Live Acoustic B Side)
mp3 : Weezer - Lullaby For Wayne (Previously Unreleased Pre-Production Recording)
mp3 : Weezer - Mykel and Carli (B Side)
mp3 : Weezer - No One Else (Live Acoustic B Side)

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{Don’t worry, I’ll now return to my regularly scheduled blogcast of music. I hope you enjoyed this weekend.}

A Weekend with Weezer

Published
by
billy
on November 18, 2007
in a weekend, green album, mp3, music, rock and weezer
. 0 Comments

In case you were not aware Rivers Cuomo has an album entitled “Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo” which drops exactly one month from today on December 18.  Expect some greatness from this upcoming album as Rivers appears to be one of the most prolific writers of this modern music era.  There are allegations that Rivers writes well over one hundred songs for each Weezer album and then only chooses what he thinks are the best ten to fourteen tracks for the final pressings.

In other news Weezer will have their sixth studio album out in the Spring of 2008.  So if you’re not really into the unedited yearnings of a Harvard grad then you can always wait until his three buddies join him on what is sure to be a romp through romance, failures, the trials of life, and the slow maturation of little boys into men.

These tracks included below hail from Weezer’s third studio album which was self titled but is mainly referred to as The Green Album (iTunes).  Hearkening back to their roots with The Blue Album these tracks found the band splashing away merrily with a sound and a vibrancy that most fans and critics adored from the start.  It’s a short album but all the trademarks are still apparent.  Falsetto harmonies, a massive wall of guitar sound, and some well written guitar licks apply to almost the entire album from start to finish.  For those people who had never heard of Weezer 2004 was a good year to start liking the band.

mp3 : Weezer - Don’t Let Go
mp3 : Weezer - Island In The Sun

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A Weekend with Weezer

Published
by
billy
on November 17, 2007
in a weekend, mp3, music, pinkerton, rock and weezer
. 4 Comments

Weezer’s second full length album, Pinkerton (iTunes), was a departure from their original guitar driven surfer/loner/nerd anthem style of rock.  As such, when it was first released in 1996, it was panned by critics and many fans alike who were eagerly anticipating a second edition of The Blue Album.  To be frank here folks it seems like bands cannot seem to please anyone with a sophomore effort.  In the case of Weezer they went in a new direction for their second album and fans and critics hated it.  But look at The Strokes, who essentially released a second album, which could have been called This Is It to answer their first albums title Is This It?, that was so similar in sound and style to their first disc that audiences, critics, and even fans blasted the band for not changing.

Pinkerton, fortunately, has stood the test of time and now can be heard in a much more favorable setting.   Attempting to give fans more of a slice of what their live shows were like Weezer dropped their producer, played the songs together in studios, and layed down the three separate vocal tracks at the same time.  If their first album dealt with the peccadilloes of life in a broad sense then Pinkerton focused more on the minutiae of angst and longing.  One could credit or lambaste Rivers Cuomo for  this style of writing as it gave rise to latter day followers, Dashboard Confessional, who have successfully aped this type of story telling so well they have made it their own.

Here below are three powerful tracks from Pinkerton.  The first two are of the standard Weezer variety of guitar driven power pop while the third track, the album closing Butterfly, is a slow motion acoustic song detailing the end of a relationship.  Pay attention to the lyrics of Butterfly where Cuomo sings lines like “if I’m a dog then you’re a bitch” or “every time I pin down what I think I want it slips away.”  If ever there was a critic who claimed Weezer was too one dimensional Pinkerton stands in bold defiance of such a claim.

mp3 : Weezer - Pink Triangle
mp3 : Weezer - The Good Life
mp3 : Weezer - Butterfly

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A Weekend with Weezer

Published
by
billy
on November 16, 2007
in a weekend, blue album, mp3, music, rock and weezer
. 2 Comments

Did you know that virtually no one posts in music blogs over the weekends? It’s strange but true and I’m here to try to reverse that trend. A trend which probably started due to the fact that almost all bloggers blog from work, instead of working, and when they’re at home they stop doing all of those avoid-work-at-all-costs activities. Or, if you’re a realist, it might be due to the fact that people have lives, no one cares to read weekend blog posts, or any other of a plethora of legitimate excuses, none of which my current life qualifies me for.

Taking all of this in stride I thought I would begin a little tradition here at The World Forgot to help me push through the mundane world of weekend blogging. Hence the first ever “A Weekend with” themes has begun. This weekend I’ve chosen Weezer and I’ll attempt to post at least once about them Friday, Saturday, and Sunday thereby turning this four or five day a week hobby into a full time all out obsession. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up the “A Weekend with” theme at least twice a month from here until eternity. Enjoy the music.

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Weezer’s original debut album, most commonly referred to as The Blue Album (iTunes), was the very first CD I ever owned. I remember that crisp autumn day as I walked gallantly into Best Buy to purchase, for myself, one of the best guitar driven garage/surf rock albums of all time. To this day I can still sing every song word for word and I would bet many of my readers can as well. It was an album born of the garage band heyday, but came slightly after the depression that was grunge and other forms of dirty rock emanating from the Pacific Northwest. Obviously influenced by Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys, as well as The Cars, the quartet that was Weezer put together a wonderfully idiosyncratic album about broken relationships, going surfing, and the pathos of life. In 1994 it seemed as if every single song on this album could get anyone in any shower, car, or public pool singing along as if they meant it.

Making every “best of” list from Rolling Stone to Pitchfork to Blender to Popmatters shows the depth of sound and the legacy that The Blue Album has left in behind. At first blush it was the ultimate guitar driven answer to a generation that was looking more and more for something alternative to the depression of grunge and metal that was so prevalent in the early 90’s. And now, fourteen years later, it has stood the test of time as one of the most influential pieces of the last twenty years. Honestly, after listening to the next two songs who couldn’t help leaping around practicing their air guitar?

mp3 : Weezer - My Name Is Jonas
mp3 : Weezer - The World Has Turned and Left Me Here

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