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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: sonickteam2 on May 03, 2005, 12:53:00 pm
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my buddy just won two tickets to see Weezer Friday night in Toronto.....and apparently I am the nicest guy he knows (or is free this Friday)
woooohooooo!!!!!!!!!!
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Awww, that's nice. have a good time!
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Be sure and give him a nice big juicy kiss at the end of the night. ;)
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
apparently I am the nicest guy he knows
He doesn't know many people, eh.....?
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
apparently I am the nicest guy he knows
He doesn't know many people, eh.....? [/b]
apparently not.
though I did get him backstage at the Fiona Apple concert.....
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
though I did get him backstage at the Fiona Apple concert.....
Is she the one that curls up in the fetal position during her show, or the one that has a sobbing breakdown mid-set?
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Is she the one that curls up in the fetal position during her show, or the one that has a sobbing breakdown mid-set?
i only saw her once, and no fetal position.
It was towards the end of her tour for "when the pawn" in 2000. I think she was past her chlidish antics stage.
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Is she the one that curls up in the fetal position during her show, or the one that has a sobbing breakdown mid-set?
no, she's the one who insults people who paid to see her and never shuts up about maya angelou and how deeply she feels about various socio-economic issues..... :roll:
oh, and I feel sorry for you sonick; you have to go to a weezer show. that's too bad.
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Stream the new album here (http://www.myspace.com/weezer).
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Originally posted by kubrickpalahniuk:
oh, and I feel sorry for you sonick; you have to go to a weezer show. that's too bad.
really? i used to HATE Weezer. thier first album is horrific. and then , to my delight, Rivers apologizes for making it!!! haha, perfect.
now if they would just stop playing that "Buddy Holly" song and play "Getchoo" more often.
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i dunno me likey the blue record... except for that jonas song ;)
weezer is good but they need a strong support act for me to attend a live show...
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rivers is a fucking nut ... did anyone read the rolling stone cover story on him?
i love the blue album and pinkerton, not a huge fan of the rest
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Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
Stream the new album here (http://www.myspace.com/weezer).
Thanks, ggw....I'm digging this album. I have one Weezer album, but I'm not sure I ever listened to it. Does this sound like their other stuff?
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yeah, this ablum is great. "Perfect Situation" and "We're All On Drugs" are my favourites so far.
simply cant wait for tomorrow night....
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Originally posted by Bags:
I have one Weezer album, but I'm not sure I ever listened to it.
It's good to know that I'm not the only one who does things like this. :)
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Well, got back last night from the motherland.
I wanted to report back to anyone who likes Weezer or just maybe thinks they are ok. read this: YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THEM!!!!
I hated Weezer when Buddy Holly came out and the Sweater Song made me want to kill people, but after Pinkerton and the Green Album i began to warm up to them.
Friday night in Toronto, they blew me away. They have such a powerful sound and they are very polished, as a band should be after playing together for over 10 years. They drove through a lot of new stuff which is some of thier best, and they played all kinds of old songs, even Buddy Holly and the Sweater song for those of you who like the Weezer of old.
Rivers is totally wierd, and you can tell cause he doesnt even do wierd things on stage, hes just THAT WIERD!!!! They were all friendly with the crowd and seem to be glad to be out on the road.
When they make it to DC, I know I'll be back to see them again. I think they'll be winning a lot of new fans this time around....
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I met the guys in the band back in 2001 I think, whenever it was they reformed. Rivers is extremely shy and reserved. He seemed alright, but I really ended up probably feeling more uncomfortable than he did. Sometimes that happens with a musician. They clearly are thrust into this crazy place that they probably never expected. Mikey Walsh was with the band at that point and you could already see the cracks starting to show. Did anyone see Pitchfork's review of the new record? OUCH!
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
They drove through a lot of new stuff which is some of thier best,
Weezer
Make Believe
[Interscope; 2005]
Rating: 0.4
If you're one of those poor souls who while away the day job by keeping a scorecard of music review sites, there's one thing you already know: There are two distinct groups of bad albums. The more prevalent kind is the fodder that fills a critic's mailbox, bands with awkward names and laser-printed cover art that don't inspire ire so much as pity. The second group is more treacherous: Bands that yield high expectations due to past achievements, yet, for one reason or another, wipe out like "The Wide World of Sports"' agony-of-defeat skier.
Often, these albums are bombarded with website tomatoes for reasons you can't necessarily hear through speakers: the band changes their sound and image to court a new crossover audience, perhaps, or attempts a mid-career shift into ill-advised territory. Or maybe they start writing songs about Moses in hip-hop slang. But sometimes the bad album in question is none of the above; it doesn't offend anyone's delicate scene-politics sensibilities or try to rewrite a once-successful formula in unfortunate ways. Sometimes an album is just awful. Make Believe is one of those albums (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/w/weezer/make-believe.shtml).
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I have never felt so good about disagreeing with some Pitchfork snot 100%.
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Originally posted by bearman:
I met the guys in the band back in 2001 I think, whenever it was they reformed. Rivers is extremely shy and reserved. He seemed alright, but I really ended up probably feeling more uncomfortable than he did. Sometimes that happens with a musician. They clearly are thrust into this crazy place that they probably never expected.
check out the rolling stone cover story (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7249178?rnd=1115734303913&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1040) on Rivers ... that's actually just an excerpt, but it gives you the idea ... i had no idea how crazy he was and how fractured the band is ...
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
check out the rolling stone cover story (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7249178?rnd=1115734303913&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1040) on Rivers ... that's actually just an excerpt, but it gives you the idea ... i had no idea how crazy he was and how fractured the band is ...
The word on the street is that Rivers is getting back to the good life. And by that we mean all night cocaine rodeos and teenage asian girls! (http://buddyhead.com/gossip/)
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
I have never felt so good about disagreeing with some Pitchfork snot 100%.
Rolling Stone and EW agreed with you (http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/weezer/makebelieve)
I guess the real issue with reviews is personal preference. Sometimes I get frustrated by the fact that Rolling Stone and AllMusic have such historical perspectives. As long as the album is well produced and decently written, they're very quick to give it 3 stars (out of 5). There was an issue of RS a couple months ago that had a wide variety of indie releases reviewed and EVERY SINGLE ONE got either 3 stars or 3.5 stars. It just gets frustrating sometimes.
That said, when I'm browsing through allmusic I'm glad they don't really place much personal preference in their star ratings. If the album succeeds in doing what it attempts to do, they usually give it 4 stars, whether or not the music is crap or not. And when you have such a broad perspective as AM or RS, that's probably a good thing. I'm just glad there are places like pitchfork that provide an alternate (and very personal) perspective.
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good points.
truth is, though, I only read CD reviews when they are posted on this board. And i hated writing them for "the Yawn" I dont know what it is about them....
also, maybe the new Weezer album is much better live than in your living room.
(funny, I have never had a stereo in my living room, yet i always seem to say that.)
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I listened to the Weezer album streaming online twice and I loved it. Fuck Pitchfork. They're too cool for me anyway.
Does Weezer have a DC date lined up already? I thought they did, but I could be confusing them with someone else...
Thanks for the review sonick, I'm inspired to try to see them now.
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
Originally posted by bearman:
I met the guys in the band back in 2001 I think, whenever it was they reformed. Rivers is extremely shy and reserved. He seemed alright, but I really ended up probably feeling more uncomfortable than he did. Sometimes that happens with a musician. They clearly are thrust into this crazy place that they probably never expected.
check out the rolling stone cover story (http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7249178?rnd=1115734303913&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.1040) on Rivers ... that's actually just an excerpt, but it gives you the idea ... i had no idea how crazy he was and how fractured the band is ... [/b]
? You didn't? silly boy. And this doesn't even cover the "dark year".
I don't read any of those review sites. AllMusic for bios but even then I still go listen to streams/samples. No DC date. Philly probably sold out.
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Oh, and if and when they do come to DC, I'd like to plug Kosmo for DJ if he wants the role.
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Originally posted by abulum:
? You didn't? silly boy. And this doesn't even cover the "dark year".
nope, i knew he was a little nutty, but i just hadn't kept up with his life / weezer's career over the last 8 or 9 years or so.
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washingtonpost.com
Feeling Single: The Wobbly Weezer
By Sean Daly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 11, 2005; C01
One of rock-and-roll's great social misfits, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is, among other things, a recluse, a masochist, a nerd, a narc and, on the band's 1996 album "Pinkerton," a bit of a perv. His latest oddball behavior involves strict celibacy and intense vipassana meditation, a regimen that makes a monk's life look like spring break in Daytona. No wonder his band mates reportedly treat the guy like a punch line.
At the same time, the singer-songwriter-guitarist is one of our great practitioners of power pop, a man responsible for such catchy slices of sun as "Buddy Holly," "Hash Pipe" and "Beverly Hills," the last of which kicks off the SoCal quartet's just-released fifth album, "Make Believe." Credit Cuomo and only Cuomo for the band's remarkable 11-year run: Weezer -- unlike, say, power-poppers Fountains of Wayne -- has stayed huge during surges from rap-metal goons, Brit-pop dandies and hip-hop thugs. The other guys in Weezer (drummer Pat Wilson, guitarist Brian Bell and bassist Scott Shriner) may mock their bespectacled leader, but they shouldn't get too nasty. For all his mania, Cuomo remains the rare sure-thing meal ticket.
Of course the problem with musical eccentrics is their unpredictability. The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson did some beautiful things on the road to Bonkersville. But Cuomo, as he's spiraled deeper and deeper into his own dark places, has become less and less interested in making cohesively great albums. The band's self-titled 1994 debut (aka "The Blue Album") was filled with hook-rich promises that Weezer would one day make a classic album. It never happened. Follow-up disc "Pinkerton" was captivating, yes, but mainly because Cuomo was more interested in writing about his fetish for young Asian women than writing hits. The two albums that followed were uneven at best, but a smattering of tunes on each were so darn good that 2001's self-titled disc (aka "The Green Album") and 2002's "Maladroit" sold well anyway.
The trend continues on the new "Make Believe," the band's first batch of brand-new stuff since "Maladroit." Super-producer Rick Rubin has been hired to work the sound board, but there's no mistaking who's really in charge here. Cuomo sprinkles the album with some wickedly fun stuff (heavier than "Pinkerton," not as heavy as "Maladroit"), but eventually loses steam, focus and interest -- as if he'd much rather be cross-legged in a cave pondering the meaning of life. "Make Believe" is further proof that if there is a great Weezer album lurking in the future, it will no doubt be a greatest-hits collection. The best we can hope for now is that Cuomo remains a fine singles artist and fills up our iPods.
As always, the radio-ready keepers on "Make Believe" deal with Cuomo's disastrous romantic track record. "What's the deal with my brain? Why am I so obviously insane?" he asks on the sublime "Perfect Situation," a guitar-washed mid-tempo lament about a weird wallflower ("I'm a hero . . . I'm a zero") who can't hold on to the girl. The sad chorus of "oh oh oh" contrasts nicely with the song's edgy framework. On the sock-hop throwback "Hold Me," Cuomo admits, "I am terrified of all things," first and foremost the gal who just dumped his sorry self.
Another telling lyric is found on the stomp-and-shout first single, "Beverly Hills," a shameless party cut with a big beat reminiscent of "We Will Rock You" and a guitar solo inspired by too many rotations of Peter Frampton's "Comes Alive." In waxing on about Zsa Zsa Gabor's stomping grounds, Cuomo speak-sings, "Look at all those movie stars, they're all so beautiful and clean." Clean? Oh, he must feel sooo dirty. It's a wonder he hasn't scrubbed off all his skin by now.
Cuomo is incapable of making a boring album, but listenable doesn't necessarily mean likable. "We Are All on Drugs" flat-out cooks -- and the "Give it to me!" bridge is one of those power-pop details that Weezer does best -- but listen more closely ("The best of your days will all vanish in the haze") and you realize it's a treacly "just say no" song, Cuomo's awkward penance for whatever bad things he once ingested. "I want to confiscate your drugs," he warns.
"The Other Way," "Peace" and "Freak Me Out" are blah, go-nowhere fillers -- not only can Cuomo write these tunes in his sleep, he probably did. "My Best Friend" has a perky beat but is mired by an earnest up-with-people sentiment, a Hallmarkian bit of joy joy joy that is just as creepy as anything on "Pinkerton." And then there's the album closer, "Haunt You Every Day." Awash in fuzz and guitars and depression, it sounds like the musings of a man who may be lost for good. "I am just insane / Walking on my own." Oh boy. Something tells me not even eight hours in the lotus position is going to solve that problem.
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i've never seen the big deal about weezer? what have they done that's been exceptionally good? or innovative? or interesting?
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Originally posted by distance:
i've never seen the big deal about weezer? what have they done that's been exceptionally good? or innovative? or interesting?
i think they largely appeal to generation Yers like myself who were in their young teens when The Blue Album was released
n the context of widely accessible commercial music, that album was like a breath of fresh air in a 'modern rock' world ruled by crappy grunge and post-grunge ... sure other people/bands had done and were doing similar things, but they didn't break through to the mainstream like weezer did, so they captured the attention of a lot of people who otherwise wouldn't have heard that kind of fresh guitar pop ... they also appealed to nerdy kids who identified with rivers
so take that, and add all the emo kids who claim weezer as their ancestors, then add all the younger people who discovered them in their less-personal-lyrics, post-pinkerton era and you have a pretty sizeable/rabid fanbase
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Originally posted by distance:
i've never seen the big deal about weezer? what have they done that's been exceptionally good? or innovative? or interesting?
they're like the 70s band that never came out on 8-track.
Weezers songs are usually exceptionally written and the lyrics are usually quite interesting.
innovative....i wont get into that, but good and interesting? sure.
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
a pretty sizeable/rabid fanbase
which ALWAYS makes for such a fun live show!
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
Weezers songs are usually exceptionally written and the lyrics are usually quite interesting.
i loved the lyrics on The Blue Album and Pinkerton ... maybe it was because i was 13 and 15 when they were released, but they were great, quirky, nerdy confessional albums that didn't stray into slop like today's emo
the lyrics on the last 2 albums were just kinda blah to me, they're much more universal and just didn't have the same quirks as the first two ... haven't heard the new one yet ...
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
innovative....i wont get into that, but good and interesting? sure.
But are they relevant?? Today? :cool:
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Originally posted by HoyaParanoia:
i think they largely appeal to generation Yers like myself who were in their young teens when The Blue Album was released
n the context of widely accessible commercial music, that album was like a breath of fresh air in a 'modern rock' world ruled by crappy grunge and post-grunge ... sure other people/bands had done and were doing similar things, but they didn't break through to the mainstream like weezer did, so they captured the attention of a lot of people who otherwise wouldn't have heard that kind of fresh guitar pop ... they also appealed to nerdy kids who identified with rivers
so take that, and add all the emo kids who claim weezer as their ancestors, then add all the younger people who discovered them in their less-personal-lyrics, post-pinkerton era and you have a pretty sizeable/rabid fanbase
well, i was in my teens when the first album came out. i owned it at one point, i think? it was ok. a couple songs i heard off pinkerton were ok, but then they disappeared.
then they came back in 99/00? and all they sudden they are now emo? were they emo in 1994? am i missing something here? everything i've heard since they came back has been utter crap and i'm not seeing what the current draw is really. maybe i just don't 'get it'. maybe i just don't want to.
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Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
innovative....i wont get into that, but good and interesting? sure.
But are they relevant?? Today? :cool: [/b]
ahhhh. you'll have to ask our resident "journalist" that question. I am sure he can dig up a well thought out answer from somewhere on the internet...
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Originally posted by distance:
then they came back in 99/00? and all they sudden they are now emo? were they emo in 1994? am i missing something here?
eh, i don't think the band themselves (or rivers) was ever self-consciously "emo", but they were co-opted by emo kids who look to them like punk kids looked to the stooges or MC5 ... proto-emo?
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Originally posted by Bags:
Originally posted by sonickteam3:
innovative....i wont get into that, but good and interesting? sure.
But are they relevant?? Today? :cool: [/b]
=)
they were just on the front cover of rolling stone, their new album will sell tons and tons, they're definitely "relevant" in the pop-culture landscape
on the other hand, the hipsterati has long since dismissed them as "irrelevant"
guess it depends on what context you're looking at
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
Weezers songs are usually exceptionally written and the lyrics are usually quite interesting.
i'll have to disagree with you here.
but that's ok.
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Originally posted by distance:
i'll have to disagree with you here.
of course, else you would like them!
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Make Believe
Geffen, 2005
rating: 1.5/5
reviewer: mr p
To extinguish that question burning in everybody's heads, allow me to piss on your fire: Make Believe is not Pinkerton. It's not a "return to form" or a throwback to the mid-'90s, nor is it even an attempt at such, as some rags claim. Despite the slight chance that Rivers's new meditation practices would revive his songwriting impotence, Make Believe is the nail in the coffin, the album that has ensured their irrelevancy. Rivers's illusory faith in the market as an arbiter of "good" taste has ultimately led him astray. To believe that the more popular the song, the better the song is also to believe that Britney Spears is popular because of her talents. For an industry that relies on extensive marketing and centralized power for its imperial dominance in the music world, Weezer has always appeared as that glimmer of hope that music didn't have to deconstruct itself to show its value, nor did the music have to even push limits or eschew good wholesome pop sensibilities for ham-fisted politics. It could simply be genuine, and it was precisely this faith in Weezer that kept us coming back. But Make Believe seems disingenuous. Even Brian Bell recently told Rolling Stone that he sometimes feels like just one part of Rivers's big experiment.
http://www.tinymixtapes.com/musicreviews/w/weezer.htm (http://www.tinymixtapes.com/musicreviews/w/weezer.htm)
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its funny how when an album isnt quite what everyone expects it to be, it sucks.
i seem to remember Kid A getting horrible reviews all over, i mean, horrible.
now, the album is in Top Lists everywhere.
(no way am i comparing this to Make Believe, no WAY)
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Originally posted by sonickteam3:
i seem to remember Kid A getting horrible reviews all over, i mean, horrible.
now, the album is in Top Lists everywhere.
it's too bad that kid a isn't even close to radiohead's best album. i think people feel obligated to like it or something. i'm not saying it's a bad album, but you can't even start to try to argue that it's a stronger album than ok computer. hell, i'd say hail to the thief is a better album than kid a. is kid a important in the evolution of radiohead? certainly, but that doesn't mean that one has to say it's one of radiohead's best or one of the best in general.
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Originally posted by distance:
but you can't even start to try to argue that it's a stronger album than ok computer.
while i could argue that Kid A is better than OK Computer , I could also argue the other way around, so many great things about both of them, yet they are too different to compare.
I wont say what Radiohead album is the "best" but Hail To The Thief is my favourite.
back to Weezer
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To me, the Green Album is Weezer's finest moment. Simple, repetitive, but they tapped into some great unfiltered jetstream like sound. The repetition makes it flow which somehow gives it depth. Love the opening Don't Let Go, and can't help listen to it all the way through. Great driving music. I don't know why they don't work exclusively with Ric Ocasek. And yeah, I know I'm not a real a fan.
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I just drove to Centerville and back. I put all the Weezer albums on shuffle play in my ipod. Jeez, they're all good. We are the world. We are the children. We are all on drugs (ok, drag those lyrics to the curb along with dope nose). But please don't ask me why I was driving to centerville.
Anyway, from someone who bought pinkerton the night it came out (at 12:01 am) and saw them on that tour (at 9:30), in retrospect i don't think the newer songs stray too far from that album. With distance and time I think that the newer songs fit right in with the old ones. I'd say that Pinkerton and Maladroit are long lost cousins. Green and Blue are fraternal twins. Make Believe is second cousin to the other four (I never took a genetics course).
"The Damage In Your Heart" could've been a b-side from the blue album. As shitty as it is, "...On Drugs" is Pinkerton material. As is "Beverly Hills."
Weezer's older albums aren't as great as we remember...or...if we'd had the new ones back then we'd have loved them just as much. I don't think much has changed. The more I listen to all these on shuffle the more I smile. Isn't that all that's important?
And Kid A is better than OK Computer.
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Originally posted by Chip Chanko:
And Kid A is better than OK Computer.
:)