I was 15 when Weezer's Blue Album came out. My friends and I all learned all of the "dialogue" in The Sweater Song and we would recite it together. The video for that song was so rad, even though I didn't know who Spike Jonze was. I understand now that Weezer were nerds, but at the time they just looked like the coolest, funniest guys - like that part where Pat Wilson is squatting over the drum stool and wiggling his hips, then a bunch of dogs ran through - they were, literally, what I wanted to be when I grew up. 'Say It Ain't So' was oddly moving, since I had no idea what it was about, somehow an emotion came through the music to me. I loved the cover, and tried to dress like them. I should make this clear though: I was also trying to dress like Kurt Cobain and Billy Corgan. I loved Weezer, but I loved "Alternative" music and Weezer were not my saviors, they were a very fun, very cool part of it that I loved.
That time seems so weird to me now - maybe older people will know different, but my friends and I thought that our music wasn't that popular. We didn't listen to college radio and had never heard Pavement (who I heard shortly after and came to love much more than Weezer) or Guided by Voices (who I didn't, and didn't). We listened to KROQ here in Los Angeles and it felt like a lifestyle choice. We made friends and chose girls based off of music taste.
I didn't like all of the Blue album, I would say I enjoyed half the songs on it. But those songs I enjoyed I loved so much that the tape was on frequent replay in my car for years.
Then two things happened: that lifestyle quality about "Alternative" seemed to evaporate around me, and I totally lost touch with Weezer. I don't remember hearing any songs from Pinkerton on the radio, and literally did not know it existed until after I heard the Green album. I still loved Weezer, but somehow I never wondered what happened to them. The Blue Album was enough, I still loved it.
Then - 'Hash Pipe.' This song is probably second to 'SIAS' in my favorite Weezer songs. A song from the point of view of a transvestite prostitute? Now that's 'Alternative.' I loved the crunchy guitars, the falsetto descending melody, and the weird balance between something that seemed kind of sad and kind of funny. It felt tough, brave to me. I felt like I was weird in all the ways I loved to sing along with it. Remember: I had not heard 'Pinkerton' at all. I bought 'The Green Album,' again in love with the cover, and loved the songs. Driving with the windows open listening to 'Island in the sun,' the incredible rush of the loud-quiet dynamics throughout, and the line 'Open your heart and let the good stuff out,' I was thrilled to hear Rivers' voice again, but I still wasn't really creating a "Weezer Story" in my head, I just liked a lot of fun, cool songs from two albums.
So I started reading about Weezer when I saw something about them, like in Rolling Stone and SPIN. I learned about 'Pinkerton.' I bought it and loved it. Fun, weird, tough.
Then - The Strokes. The White Stripes. The "lifestyle" quality of the music I loved was back, and I felt that feeling again like my interests were more common and might one day take over the world, or the music world at least.
More reading about Weezer in 2002 - preparing a new album, fans listen online, etc. I looked into it abut was late, so only got to hear a bit of that. Loved a bit of what I heard and put it on CDs for my friends. Suddenly everything about Rivers' writing clicked for me: His melodies, phrasing, chords - it sounded like the most perfect music. I listened to more Beatles and then 'Pet Sounds,' because Rivers did. My friends and I, in our early 20s, started playing in a garage. Among with 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' and 'Cannonball,' we played 'Hash Pipe' and 'SIAS.'
I had a few fun singalong moments here, such as being at a Reel Big Fish concert where pre-show the entire audience sang along to 'SIAS' from the sound system, and then at a friends party I was surprised to hear 15 people sing along with the guitar solo from 'SIAS' note for note.
Then 'Maladroit:' I loved this album. I loved the ambience of the production, the incredible drum sound, and drum playing, the guitar solos (which I had always hated but now sounded so musical to me) the wide variety of styles, I would say I was crazy about 90% of the songs on it. It must be one of the most played albums of my life.
Then: My iPod, which has literally changed the way I listen to music every day. Music purists will go crazy here, but there are many albums which I consider my favorites where I have never heard all of the songs in track order. I felt weird about it, but I love music so much and listen to it hours every day so I decided that however I wanted to enjoy it was fine.
In 1995 my parents had another boy, so I have a brother who is 17 years younger than me. When Maladroit came out he was 6, so I played him 'Keep Fishin,' and he loved it (Not to mention the Muppets music video). He's twelve now and Weezer is still one of his favorite bands: alongside 'Hotel Yorba' and '7 Nation Army' on his hand-me-down-iPod are "'My Name is Jonas,' 'Buddy Holly,' 'Island in the Sun,' 'Photograph,' "'Keep Fishin,' 'Beverly Hills"' and 'Pardon Me.' He was at a friend's house playing Guitar Hero or Rock Band and saw My Name is Jonas and couldn't wait to tell me. Weezer is one of my favorite bonding things with him.
Then 'Make Believe.' I loved 'Beverly Hills' and used to listen to it on repeat. This album was when I fist was introduced to the "Weezer used to be different" story. I had literally never heard it. They were a band I loved, and I all of my friends either liked them or didn't. I didn't know there were people who had liked them but didn't anymore. It seemed like the complaint was largely about lyric writing. I can see a change - there's a literal and poetic maturity to 'El Scorcho' which doesn't seem to be in 'Pardon Me.' But I didn't hate it, it was just different. One was for one kind of mood, another for another. This was also when I head the "Rivers is crazy" story, which when I was in high school would have been the "this guy is weird" story - a slight but maybe important change?
Anyway, I didn't really like 'Make Believe' - I liked a couple songs, but I didn't like them as long, and some I didn't like singing along with at all, so it just kind of fell out of listening. I wondered: is it true? Is this "worse" than their early stuff? Do I not like it because it isn't as "good"? (An experience which since I've had with 'First Impressions of Earth' and 'Get Behind Me Satan.' Everyone said they were worse, and I didn't like them as much, so should I start thinking the band I liked was somehow "bad"?)
Now this one. I love 'Pork and Beans' - a great beat, great sounding guitars, idioms, and a video which made me feel better about the world, literally - like everyone could have fun together (corny I know) - but I look to online reviewers whose reviews I really like, and they seem to be reviewing a band instead of an album - and band who is different in their heads than mine. I've listened to this CD for a couple weeks now and it still sounds fun. Will I like it? Will I not? If I don't, is the band "bad"?
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