It has only been a year and a bit since the release of Weezer’s The Red Album, an indie rock based love note to a misspent youth. The Red album was vintage Weezer, a little bit nerdy with a lot of catchy tunes. Raditude the Deluxe Edition is a 53 minute exploration of the lighter side of Weezer’s musical style. Rivers Cuomo, the voice of Weezer, has always exuded a certain breed of self flagellating charisma, note songs such as Buddy Holly and more recently The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn). Raditude, to be honest, brings out a different less appealing side of Weezer, with its multiple guest musicians it comes off as the beginning of an unwanted stylistic mash-up. Featured contributions on Raditude include Butch Walker, Jermaine Dupri and the All-American Rejects. Not exactly a line up that makes you get excited. A Hindi influence comes into play with the song Love Is The Answer, which might make some think that somebody has seen Slumdog Millionaire a few too many times… that means you Cuomo.
When front man Rivers Cuomo was working on The Red Album it more intriguing that he would spend so much time interacting with fans online and using their input to develop the songs that we ended up hearing. Perhaps it has not been long enough since the last album or maybe fans feel a little bit less connected with this one but Ratitude stands out as one of the lesser Weezer albums to date. With a few exceptions in tracks like, Tripping Down The Freeway and I Don't Want To Let You Go hardcore Weezer fans might be left wondering what happened to their band. After listening to Raditude (Deluxe Edition) you have the feeling that a lot of experimentation was going on while making the tracks that populate the record, which for some might come as a greatly appreciated departure for the band into some less carted stylistic waters. But for others Raditude the ‘Deluxe Edition’ or otherwise will be less enjoyed and more distained. Perhaps after getting this out of the band’s system Weezer will get back to making more palatable albums like their Blue Album or even a Make Believe would do. If the band continues to create albums every year as they have been over the past two year then we can just hope that next year will bear better results.
When front man Rivers Cuomo was working on The Red Album it more intriguing that he would spend so much time interacting with fans online and using their input to develop the songs that we ended up hearing. Perhaps it has not been long enough since the last album or maybe fans feel a little bit less connected with this one but Ratitude stands out as one of the lesser Weezer albums to date. With a few exceptions in tracks like, Tripping Down The Freeway and I Don't Want To Let You Go hardcore Weezer fans might be left wondering what happened to their band. After listening to Raditude (Deluxe Edition) you have the feeling that a lot of experimentation was going on while making the tracks that populate the record, which for some might come as a greatly appreciated departure for the band into some less carted stylistic waters. But for others Raditude the ‘Deluxe Edition’ or otherwise will be less enjoyed and more distained. Perhaps after getting this out of the band’s system Weezer will get back to making more palatable albums like their Blue Album or even a Make Believe would do. If the band continues to create albums every year as they have been over the past two year then we can just hope that next year will bear better results.
3 comments:
Wow, that was kind of harsh.
If you've heard the album, you would know that this was actually too nice. The album is horrible.
(Laughing)Frankly, we could have gone harder at this album, but we still love Weezer. That is why the post ends on a high note. Here is to hoping the next one is better than the shit that is Raditude. Cheers.
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