Pinkerton and “the Blue Album”. Both great. Likely better than any of the albums that Weezer have released since. Rivers went a bit weird. the band aren’t as cool as they used to be, and people will write off pretty much anything they release these days. Done.
Raditude is not only a contender for best album art ever (I have pre-ordered the 12” for pretty much this fact alone), but it’s also a return to form. The “Red Album” had a handful of good songs, and generally felt a bit half-baked. A few mentions of nails in coffins and about a year later, and Weezer are have dropped an album that everyone expects to stink but doesn’t.
It’s not the best album the band have ever released- Can’t Stop Partying and Love is the Answer are pointless ventures into styles they just can’t pull off and it kinda tails off after around track 11, but songs like I’m Your Daddy and Let It All Hang Out are Weezer on top form and there’s plenty here that’d be welcome in a setlist when and if the UK gets a tour
It’s worth checking out for those with even the thickest rimmed rose tinted glasses, but for those of you still in a time warp- do yourself a favour and skip tracks four and seven.
Tom Aylott