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A cheerfully restless record, one where all the parts don't fit and it's better because of it, as it has a wild, willing personality, suggesting that Weezer is comfortable as a band in a way they never quite have been before.
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The Red Album brings forward everything they do best, with hooks aplenty, emotive and funny lyrics, all washed down with the odd frisson of self doubt. It's a potent mix, and keeps them a step ahead once again.
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Though it tails off toward the end, the second Weezer-Rubin collaboration (and the band's third self-titled album, out June 3) is a rush, starting with a sustained, four-song soliloquy on pop music's allure.
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Starting with irresistible lead single 'Pork and Beans', a chunk of Weezer’s sixth album delivers the band’s trademark combo of crushing power chords, pop-culture references and a healthy dose of ironic self-ridicule.
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Q MagazineEverything is supercharged and melodic, like a poppy version of Nirvana. [July 2008, p.111]
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Rivers Cuomo and co. deliver another scintillating collection of punk-pop – with added experimentation.
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Cuomo turns the mic over to the other three members of Weezer for a song each (the best: "Automatic," sung by drummer Pat Wilson), unironically salutes the influence of Nirvana ("Heart Songs") and marries fake crowd noise and piano to the thick power chords of "Greatest Man." Rock on.
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The songs are consistently vibrant, catchy, and well-built.
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There are a few clunkers, and the three songs sung by other band members don't add much, but the so-called "Red Album" is better for its unevenness.
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What stops The Red Album being a great Weezer album, is--for the first time ever--Cuomo’s invitation to his bandmates to sing and write songs too.
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['Pork and Beans'] is the best geek anthem this side of whatever MC Chris’ last hit was. The rest of the album may try men’s souls, but if you ask me the verdict’s still out.
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Alternative PressThe Red Album is a wonderful jumping-off point for their second wind. [July 2008, p.145]
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On this, the third eponymous Weezer record (see, they are incomparable wise-asses) and sixth in total, there are contained some of their most pronounced moments.
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Weezer (red album), co-produced by Rick Rubin and Jacknife Lee (who has worked in the studio with Snow Patrol and R.E.M. and was a guitarist in Compulsion), is slight and flimsy (10 songs, 42 minutes), but finally returns the band to its peak entertainment level.
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Lyrics that once seemed cheeky and slyly referential back in the halcyon days of their 1994 debut (think ''Buddy Holly'') and 1996's Pinkerton (''El Scorcho'') have become tiresomely Seuss-ical on their sixth outing, Weezer.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 126 out of 191
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Mixed: 36 out of 191
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Negative: 29 out of 191
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Aug 22, 2010
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BlakeWOct 5, 2008
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RJun 4, 2008