Entertainment

Weezer hits some right notes, but mostly falls flat

Weezer's Teal Album

2019 has been a productive year for the once iconic band, Weezer.

With the release of two albums in the last three months, Weezer has been desperately grasping for the limelight that they once held 25 years ago.

The self-titled Teal Album was this first to be released this year on Jan. 24, 2019.

This is the twelfth studio release and the fifth self-titled album to be released by the band.

The album was released following the success of the band’s cover of “Africa” by Toto. This album consists entirely of cover songs ranging from TLC’s “No Scrubs,” to Electric Light Orchestra’s “Mr. Blue Sky.”

The album is successful in that it was released in the peak of the “Africa” meme, however; it is nothing special musically.

The band does little in altering the songs to make them unique renditions. The Weezer cover of A-ha’s “Take on Me” sounds nearly identical to the original.

The songs are impressively similar, which make for a very entertaining first listen, however the longevity of the album is questionable given that listeners can just as easily listen to the original song.

The band did nothing to incorporate their style or sound into the covers which in-turn, is boring.

The album is merely a ploy to profit off of the attention the band had gathered from the “Africa” cover.

The Teal Album is in no way a bad cover album, just a boring one. It largest success was garnering attention of the internet for the release of their second album of the year.

Weezer's Black Album

The highly anticipated self-titled Black Album was released on Mar. 1, 2019.

Since releasing the Blue Album in 1994, the band has struggled to reach the lofty standards that they had originally set for themselves 25 years ago.

Largely they have been successful in doing so; however, this album feels like a step in the wrong direction.

This is not to say there are not good songs on the album, “Can’t Knock the Hustle” is an incredibly catchy, enjoyable song that easily gets stuck in the head of the listener.

The fifth song on the album, “Piece of Cake” feels the most Weezer-esque. It consists of boppy beats and melodramatic lyrics that are synonymous with the band.

Many other songs on the album are evidence that the band is attempting to change direction.

The second song on the album, “Zombie Bastards,” acts as an anthem against those who hate on the new direction that the band is going in.

“Die, die, you zombie bastards” is sung about a dozen times throughout the song which adds to the emotions of the song, but almost in a child-like way. It is simplistic yet succinct message against the “haters.”

With a career as long as Weezer’s, it makes sense that they would want to change direction. The problem is not entirely with the sound.

The album does not feel full. There is no consistency and sound and feel between songs, it almost difficult to listen to the album as a whole, in order.

It is evident that the band is experimenting, but just as all experiments go, many aspects of this could be considered a fail.

Many of the songs have lost the original sound and feel of Weezer, leaving songs that sound like every single other pop song.

25 years ago Weezer created an amazing album, one that still follows them today, and it seems that this time, they could not quite live up to the standards set by it.