Weezer - The Red Album

A very good friend of mine once made a very interesting argument about what true “emo” music is, he claimed that even though we oftentimes think of “emo” music as bands like Taking Back Sunday or Thursday, (at least that’s what I consider to be true emo.) The only true and pure emo band around today is Weezer, the music that they make is the most raw and emotiona around and can put any one of those other so called emo bands to shame.

Weezer is one of those few bands that even since the 90’s with their early release Pinkerton they have done what very few bands of the post grunge era were able to do and that is stay interesting and stay relevant. The band consistently has successful record sales with each album they put out, and hell they even had a music video with The Muppits that should give them at least a little bit of credibility

Rivers Cuomo is known for not only having the best name ever, but for having the talent and ability to write simplistic indie-rock songs that don’t just appeal to the indie rock fanbase, but are enjoyed by a very large and broad audience. And Weezer’s latest album The Red Album is really no different. Produced by legendary producer Rick Rubin The Red Album is certainly no Pinkerton and no Blue Album, even though Weezer have been able to stay popular after all these years that doesn’t necessarily mean their music is actually all that good.

There are times on this album where they try and sound like their classic sound but just come off as too sarcastic and then there are times when they try and sound like a pop band with tracks like “Pork and Beans” and those songs are at least entertaining. Rivers even attempts to sing falsetto on the track “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)” which is the best track on the album. One of the cool things on The Red Album is every member of the band sings a track on the album. However a creative idea but a miss as far as interesting sounds go.

Weezer certainly has come a long way since their alternative post-grunge sound and it seems like with every album they try harder and harder to be a terrible hipster band with pop sensibilities. Maybe they could have done it back in 2001 but not today, and certainly not with The Red Album.

Score 2/5