AOTW #17 - Weezer (The Blue Album)

I've often cited this as one of my favorite albums of all time, and I can definitely say it altered my musical awareness. I can remember the first time I listened to Weezer's 1994 debut. It would have been my sophomore year of high school, after the release of the 2001 "Green" album. Someone I knew in high school had this album playing in our band classroom and by the first downbeat of "Buddy Holly" I was hooked. I probably listened to Weezer practically every day for the next two months. Let's take a look back and see exactly why.

Recorded in the late summer of 1993, Weezer exploded onto the scene in May of 1994 and was certified gold on by the end of the year. It opens with "My Name Is Jonas," one of the best intro tracks of all time (in my opinion). Notable in my mind for being entirely in 6/8 time, it announces that this is a record to notice. It's a song that builds nicely in it's layers, adding complexity all the way through the song. Inspired by Rivers Cuomo's brother and his experience with a car accident and his insurance policy, the song's lyrics are about things not going your way and getting 'reamed by The [insurance] Plan.'

"No One Else" and "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here," are songs that I've always viewed as two parts of the same story. In "No One Else," the narrator is a controlling boyfriend, obsessing over who his girlfriend is with and why, and by the time "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here," he is wondering why this girl he obsessed with is gone. The latter song was the earliest song Cuomo wrote for the band. Together they are a practically universal experience of jealousy and loss.

"Buddy Holly" was Weezer's breakout hit, and for good reason. It's catchy as hell, chock full of pop hooks and geek angst. Although it was almost left off the album by Cuomo, it's a great song, and surely destined to be on "classic rock" radio in the future. A fitting tribute to Buddy Holly, one of rock's great pioneers.

Undone -- The Sweater Song - Weezer

One of our favorite songs to spontaneously sing a capella in high school, "Undone (The Sweater Song)" is a rich, amazing blend of equal parts Pixies and The Troggs. There are spoken word sections interspersed, but what really makes the song shine is the I, VI, V, IV chord progression throughout the song, similar to the one featured in the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie."

One thing that stands out on this song, as well as the whole album, is the guitar playing. Rivers' guitar style is both new and classic. It reaches down through the strata of rock, before Led Zeppelin and punk, back to the riff-heavy guitar playing of the Davies' brothers and up through the proto-metal of Kiss and following the clean lines of 80's non-metal bands like The Cars. It's sweet and melodic. It roars when it needs to, but more often rings out from the rift producing the singing melodies.

I also love surf rock, and "Surf Wax America" delivers on the title's promise. It's a Brian Wilson-esque romp with a heavy dose of fuzz thrown in, turning out like a feedback loving version of "I Get Around." The choral vocals opine about a sarcastic call to hedonism, a call to abandon work and take up your board. It also has probably my favorite drumming on the whole album.

"Say It Ain't So" is a fantastic song about (perceived) alcoholism and more importantly, divorce. The song is about a child trying to cope with his parents' divorce long after his mother had married his step dad. My favorite part of the song is easily the section that begins at 2:45 and laments about the possibility that son, like father and step father, could become an alcoholic. The succeeding guitar solo is masterful in reinforcing that feeling and driving the song to it's conclusion.

In The Garage - Weezer

Of all the songs on the album, "In the Garage" is perhaps the song I listened to most on repeat as a teen. Not sure if that makes it my favorite or not, but for a geeky, angst-ridden high school kid, nothing captures that feeling of being alone in your room, lost in another world of X-Men and D&D because sometimes that's the only world that makes sense. The narrator's sanctuary is the garage, and his "no one hears me sing this song," isn't a cry for help or a complaint, it's a sense of relief.

Holiday - Weezer

"Let's go away for a while/You and I/To a strange and distant land," begins "Holiday," another Brian Wilson-inspired choral about the amazing idea of just packing-- or rather, not packing-- and just leaving for a while. Taking a vacation, not just to a new location, but to a new life. The unbridled romanticism of the Kerouacian adventure coupled with a fantastic chorale at 1:38 makes this an underrated gem.

Weezer's closer, "Only In Dreams" is a fantastic guitar song, and Weezer smartly builds a rousing crescendo that lasts for three minutes across all of the instruments. The guitar solo at the end is absolutely epic, but the real shining star on this track is undoubtedly Matt Sharp, whose bass playing is exquisite on this track, front and center where it belongs.

I think if it wasn't before, it's certainly evident now that this is one of my favorite albums, not only because it is so very good, but also because it is so very personal to me. It didn't define my taste in music so much as expand it. And it's not personal bias, however, when I say that this is absolutely one of the best albums of the past 20 years. Again, you should own it.

Where to buy:
[iTunes]
[Amazon mp3]

Album of the Week appears every Wednesday at Knowhere. Each week Ryan discusses an album in context of influence, artistic merit, and whatever else seems slightly relevant.