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Originally Posted by noisereductions
Weezer
Weezer
2001, Weezer was huge to me and my friends in high school. While Pinkerton was released my freshman year, those first two albums still totally played a huge part in the soundtrack to four years in high school. And Weezer became one of those larger than life bands to us. A group of us pooled our collective energy intro tracking down every import single and compilation we could find with any sign of JUST ONE MORE Weezer song back then. The rumors were swirling - Rivers was in college and it seemed like the band may be no more. And then something amazing happened: they started touring again in 2000. It had been three years since the Pinkerton tour wrapped up and we had all but radio silence from the band. In early 2001 a buddy of mine bought us tickets to go see the reunited Weezer in Lowell, MA. And it was amazing. So intense. If you can imagine the feeling it's like when you think a favorite band is over and then here they are playing in front of you... wow. Unsurprisingly their set was entirely Blue Album and Pinkerton songs, except smack-dab in the middle they played a new song: "Island In The Sun." Our minds were blown. There now existed a new Weezer song. And two short months later, a new album. The Green Album seems divisive among fans and critics, but this anecdote is why it's so important to me. Whenever I hear this album, I hear the sheer joy of hearing a new album from a band that I thought was gone forever. As such, it means a lot to me. I can't hear "Island In The Sun" without smiling. The album itself is nothing earth-shaking for the band. But it is solid from beginning to end. Everything here sounds exactly like "a new Weezer album" in 2001. And for that I love it. "Don't Let Go" is a great opener; "O Girlfriend" is a great closer. "Hashpipe" rocks regardless of what you think of Rivers' falsetto. So yeah, hopeless fanatic and all I guess it's no surprise that I adore this album. But at least maybe there's a good story behind why. |
I saw them tour behind this. They played with Jimmy Eat World and Tenacious D. Went with a bunch of friends. It was funny because the kids tried to mosh, and they were very obviously not the right crowd for it. (God I hated moshing after about age 17 though ... Jesus, what a great way to miss a concert and get hurt and lose your wallet and car keys and whatever contraband you were carrying. Never again.)
It was fun at the time. What a weird period that was for alt rock. NIN came back and it wasn't immediately clear if their new stuff was actually any good. Weeper came back and same (with the ultimate answer being, nope). Oh, and RHCP... saw them too around this time, I think. Oh, then Jane's Addiction, who sucked harder in rebirth than anyone else.
The late-'90s and early-'00s were when I really started to say "fuck this shit" and listen to underground stuff. Looking back on these years, I can't believe Weezer was even on my radar. It was the era of Unwound's magnum, and Fugazi dropped the motherfucking Argument. Microphones released The Glow pt. 2. And so on.