Weezkly
Last Edited: Wed Nov 13 00:09:34 UTC 2024
What is Weezkly?
Weezkly is a radio show that I ran at Bowdoin College during the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters of my time there – my senior year. Below is the scripts of each of my weekly show and the shows I planned on doing at the time.
For ALL show episodes I am heavily indebted to the lovely people over at Weezerpedia.
Weezk 10 - Hurley
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 9. Last weezk we did a review show and heard a little bit from most of the albums and this week we're listening to Hurley. It's finals weezk, so I don't have much extra commentary prepared. It's also December 17th so it's the last day before christmas so after Hurley plays, I'll be playing Christmas with Weezer. Let's get right into first so Up next is Memories by Weezer.
Memories
Just on was Memories by Weezer, next up is Ruling Me By Weezer.
Ruling Me
Just on was Ruling Me by Weezer, and next up is going to be Trainwrecks by Weezer.
Trainwrecks
Just on was Trainwrecks by Weezer. and next up is going to be Unspoken by Weezer. Same phrase gets said continually.
Unspoken
Where's My Sex?
Run Away
Hang On
Smart Girls
Brave New World
Time Flies
And just on was Time Flies by Weezer. With that we've listened to all of Hurley by Weezer. In my opinion it's a fine album. It's nothing to really write home about, nothing particularly great or bad about it. Anyways, next up is going to be We Wish You a Merry Christmas off of Weezer's Christmas album titled Christmas with Weezer.
We Wish You A Merry Christmas
O Come All Ye Faithful
O Holy Night
The First Noel
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Silent Night
Weezk 9 - Review Weezk
I reviewed weezer songs of the past. Pasted, un-formatted, below is the complete schedule. I did this off the cuff and just played songs as I wanted.
12:01:28 AM 3:24 Weezer My Name Is Jonas Cottage Music: Alt Rock Your Dock 2019 UMG Recordings, Inc.
12:05:28 AM PSA: innovate 12:05:50 AM PSA: hope 12:07:26 AM 2:40 Weezer Buddy Holly - Acoustic / Live At Greater London Radio - January 26, 1995 BBC Recordings / Undone - The Sweater Song (Third Practice) 2024 Geffen
12:11:10 AM 5:47 Weezer Only In Dreams - Kitchen Tape Demo Weezer 2004 Geffen
12:17:56 AM 4:26 Weezer Pink Triangle - Acoustic Version Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition 2010 Geffen
12:23:01 AM 1:32 Weezer Interview - 107.7 The End - Blue vs Pinkerton Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition 2010 geffen
12:27:29 AM 2:57 Weezer Tired Of Sex - Tracking Rough Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition 2010 Geffen
12:31:11 AM 3:20 Weezer Island In The Sun 2000s Songs 2020 UMG Recordings, Inc.
12:35:44 AM 4:14 Weezer Endless Bummer Weezer (White Album) 2016 Atlantic Records
12:40:23 AM 2:42 Weezer Burndt Jamb Maladroit 2002 Geffen
12:43:35 AM 2:53 Weezer Slave Maladroit 2002 Geffen
12:46:58 AM 3:16 Weezer Beverly Hills NOW 20 2018 UMG Recordings, Inc.
12:50:45 AM 6:46 Weezer The Angel And The One Weezer (Red Album) 2008 Geffen
12:58:08 AM 4:22 Weezer Can't Stop Partying Raditude 2014 Geffen
Weezk 8 - Raditude
Station ID PSA 1 PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 8. Last weezk we listened to Weezer, Red and for this weezk we're listening to Raditude. I really dislike this album, and I'll be sharing exactly why, but for now let's get right into it with the first two tracks of the album. Up next is (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To followed up by I'm Your Daddy
(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To I'm your Daddy
Just on was I'm your Daddy and right before that was (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To. Starting off the bat, the title of the album was suggested by Rainn Wilson and the cover photo was the winner of a National Geographic photo contest. Now the recording sessions, according to Karl Koch, the sessions began in November of 2008, just a week after the Troublemaker Tour, the tour for the Red Album, ended. By March 2 2009 for sure, Patrick Wilson posted a photo of himself in front of the mixing board. About the same time, Karl Koch said that unlike The Red Album he was heavily involved with the album's creation process. There were also several rumours about the album floating about. There was a rumor that they were working with iTunes, Pat stated there was a fully acoustic song on the album with just guitar and vocals, and there was speculation that Pat had taken over Rivers' guitar duties and Josh Freese had replaced Pat on the drums. When asked for comments, they said they would rather talk about their tour with blink-182. Now there was one more interesting rumor floating around which we'll get to after this next song The Girl Got Hot.
The Girl Got Hot
Just on was The Girl Got Hot by Weezer. Now we were last talking about rumors during the recording process and one that ended up being true was that the songs were written with many collaborators. Now I'll get to more about the album in a minute but next up are two of those highly collaborative songs, so up next will be Can't Stop Partying - Polow Version which will be followed by Put Me Back Together - Serban Ghenea Mix.
Can't Stop Partying - Polow Version Put Me Back Together - Serban Ghenea Mix
Just on was Put Me Back Together - Serban Ghenea Mix. and right before that was Can't Stop Partying - Polow Version. And wow right there were two of the big collaborations of the album. Some of the collaborators were Butch Walker, Jacknife Lee, Dr. Luke, Josh Freese, Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, Lil Wayne, and much more. While we're on that, one of the songs that just played was Can't Stop Partying. I think that one's my least favorite song on the album, but it's also for sure one of the more interesting collaborations as it's with LIL WAYNE. Like wtf. Lots of other interesting live collaborators during the Raditude era were people like Chamillionaire, Sara Bareilles, Kenny G, Jermaine Dupri, and I'm giving a bunch of random names but this is a crazy list, but I think it also shows the cultural relevance and dominance of Weezer in this era. Their google trends peaked in May 2005 which is was the release of Make Believe which went Platinum. That kind of cultural saturation really set in so that by 2009 they were able to pull all of those big names in. Now, we'll get to how the culture received this album in a minute but for now we'll hear Tripping Down The Freeway followed by Love Is The Answer - Hindi Version.
Tripping Down The Freeway Love Is The Answer - Hindi Version
Just on was Love Is The Answer - Hindi Version and right before that was Tripping Down The Freeway. The album received very very mixed reviews and I'll read you some excerpts. Allmusic gave it a very positive review saying that Raditude is a "passionate surrender to growing up and a throw-your-arms-up-and-scream ride down the other side of the mid-life roller coaster." the New York Times gave it a 70 saying "Raditude sounds like a high-stakes game of chicken, and the intellectual gamesmanship becomes more satisfying than the music." Now for the bad reviews we have outlets like Paste Magazine saying "Raditude is an album of surface appeal–there's no heart beating inside these plasticized tunes." and, what I agree with the most, Under the Radar's 10/100 saying "Raditude is just the latest and fullest articulation of Cuomo's wincingly sad desire to become a mainstream success." Now overall it was given fine reviews, with some surprisingly high I won't lie, but there ya have it. The band tends to agree negatively and sees it as them chasing trends and fans have described it as peak mid-life crisis. Now we'll get to my thoughts in a second but first we'll hear Let It All Hang Out followed by In The Mall.
Let It All Hang Out In The Mall
So we just heard In The Mall and right before that was Let It All Hang Out. Now, we just heard the critic's thoughts on the album, but now for mine. This is my least favorite Weezer album that we've deep dived so far. It's really really quite bad. Now I have listened to a lot of 2000's pop, in 2008 I was in kindergarten, and 2000's pop is pretty much all that's played at most of the parties I have been to, so I'm really familiar with this sound and WOW did weezer miss here. [Keep talking]. But you know with that we've listened to Raditude! Y'know we're entering, sort of already in, the "meh" period of Weezer's discography but I hope you enjoyed hearing it learning about it. Next weezk we'll be taking a tour through Hurley This has been weezkly, I'll be sending off with I Don't Want To Let You Go, thank you for listening.
I Don't Want To Let You Go
Weezk 7 - Weezer Red
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 7. Last weezk we listened to Make Believe and for this weezk we're listening to Weezer Also known as the Red album. I have some complex feelings about this album and it really made me confront my understanding of myself as a critic, but for now let's get right into it with the first two tracks of the album. Up next is Troublemaker and The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
Troublemaker
The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)
Just on was "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" by Weezer and just before that was "Troublemaker" also by Weezer. When we left off with Make Believe the band was at a bit of a low point, but they pulled through and released Make Believe. After their '05 tour RIvers went back to Harvard to finish a degree in English. Pat Wilson was working on "The Special Goodness" - A project with Scott Shriner, and Brian Bell was working on a project called "The Relationship." Now a brief aside from the Weezer story but MAN have I acquired quite the list of weezkly episodes to do next. I've gone ahead and uploaded the scripts for each episode of weezkly onto my blog which you can find at pkingston.xyz/blog/weezkly where I'll also be keeping an updated list of the episodes I plan on doing at the bottom of the page. Anyways, the band was off doing their separate projects and in the summer of 2006 Rivers married his wife Kyoko Ito, which side note, she's from Kumamoto Japan which is the same town Eichiro Oda, author of One Piece, is from. During his honeymoon he gave an interview where he gave the quote "Really, for the moment, we are done. And I'm not certain we'll ever make a record again, unless it becomes really obvious to me that we need to do one." MTV published this with some sensationalism and marketed it as Weezer breaking up! Well rest assured they didn't and for now let's hear from the next two songs on the album "Pork and Beans" and "Heart Songs."
Pork And Beans
Heart Songs
Just on was "Heart Songs" and just before that was "Pork And Beans". The band was very quick to squash the weezer has broken up rumor, but well into 2008 there were people who thought they had broken up. That said, in 2007 the acoustic home demo of "Pig" leaked on music blogs and the metadata had it tied to an album called Deliverance at Hand! At the same time a website called Albumsix popped up with an image that said Album 6 which was a link to the official website. Karl Koch, weezer's web master (among other things) said that he had no idea what the website was about. The website would alter advertise a fake album called Tout Ensemble which news outlets picked up on. Karl did put out a statement on the official website saying "Please note that Weezer and Geffen Records have no affiliation with www.albumsix.com. The new Weezer record is not called Tout Ensemble and there is no official release date yet for the album. Remember, when it's on Weezer.com, it's for sure. (Though I will say, 'well played', to the authors of that site.)" Now albumsix was a fake website, but from the real album next up is going to be Everybody get dangerous and I'll follow that with Dreamin.
Everybody Get Dangerous
Dreamin'
Just on was "Dreamin" and right before that was "Everybody Get Dangerous." both by weezer. Now before we talk about the recording and release of the album a quick update on the site, it's available on the internet archive and after the Tout Ensemble hoax, they teamed up with weezer and albumsix was the official forum for the band. The writing for this album involved a lot of firsts for the band. For one, Rivers started writing about experiences during his youth that didn't involve girls! One of the main criticisms about weezer is that much of their songwriting is kinda just "That feeling when no girlfriend" and it's on this album that he branched out. Structurally there were several new things going on, Dreamin was the first song since Susanne to begin with a chorus, The angel and the one, Pig, and The Spider, have no traditional verses, choruses or bridges and are more stream of consciousness. The biggest change on this album was that there was significant writing and vocals from the other members of the band. The Greatest man that ever lived credits Rivers, Brian, and Scott. Everybody get dangerous and Dreamin both credit Rivers and Brian. Automatic was written and has lead vocals by Pat Wilson. And, coming up next is going to be "Thought I Knew" which was written by Brian Bell and also has lead vocals by Brian Bell. After that I'll play Cold Dark World which was written by Rivers and Scott Shriner, and has lead vocals by Scott Shriner.
Thought I knew
Cold Dark World
Just on was "Cold Dark World" by weezer and right before that was "Thought I knew" also by Weezer. Now the release was pretty straightforward, but there was a leak. On April first, the Rolling Stone reported that there was a self titled red album with a single "Pork and Beans." Being on April first, people thought it was joke, but they updated it saying that it was, in fact, real. There were also some fake leaks of Pork and Beans lyrics on the weezer forums. The next day, a version of it leaked and an LA radio station played pork and beans back to back live on air. It was bootlegged and has been circulating ever since. Everyone on the board was really happy with the song. Overall the band had a generally positive critical reception. The lowest score was from Pitchfork who gave it a 4.7/10, but it was generally a well received album. Looking back on it, Red is seen as a return to the "old weezer" sound. It's paired with the Blue album and the Green album which, as a listener, makes a lot of sense to me. More thoughts later though, next up are our last two songs on the album "Automatic" and "The Angel And The One" by Weezer.
Automatic
The Angel And The One
And with that we've listened to all of Weezer's Red! Now as for my thoughts on the album, The Angel and The One is, in my opinion, far and away the best song on the album, but in general I don't think it's very good. I'll say that as a Weezer fan it's a super interesting album because it's really our first time hearing from the other members of the band, but I just don't think the songs are very good. I will say though that this puts me at a weird place as a critic because I feel like I've very much been sitting on the fence in a lot of my recommendations. On one side of this fence is my, in quotes, objective opinion of the album. What I think of the songs, how are they written, how are the textures, are the melodies interesting, are the chords interesting, do the songs tell a cohesive musical story? And on the other hand is myself, Patrick Kingston. And I think I've sort of been fronting and telling myself that it's possible to separate the two. That it's possible to be an objective music or art critic which, I don't think it is. Next week we'll be taking a tour through Hurley. This has been weezkly, thanks for listening.
Weezk 6 - Make Believe
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 5. Last week we listened to Maladroit and for this weezk we're listening to Make Believe. For me this album, not Green, is the critical point for weezer but I'll get more into what I mean by that later. For now I'll shut my trap and get us straight into "Beverly Hills"
Beverly Hills
Just on was "Beverly Hills" by Weezer. Now last weezk we talked about Maladroit and something that I mentioned last time was that the band was making tracks for Make Believe before Maladroit even came out, so remember that it started forming in the Weezer shenanigans, heavy fan interaction, era. In spite of this seemingly positive energy, Rivers was feeling pretty bad about his songwriting. Pat wilson said that through 2003 "He didn't believe in the music, because he didn't believe in himself…There were times where he was physically ill coming out of the studio." The band was also in one of its least functional states of all time, it got so bad that Rick Rubin suggested they have sessions with a communications coach. The band was at a really low trough, not a perfect situation, but before we hear about how they got out of it let's listen to the next two song "Perfect Situation" and "This is Such a Pity"
Perfect Situation
This is Such a Pity
Just on was "This is Such a Pity" and before that was "Perfect Situation" both by Weezer. Now we last mentioned that the band was doing horribly and to get out of this slump Rivers took to some pretty extreme measures. He started off by reading a book of Poetry called The Gift by Hafez which gave Cuomo an epiphany and followed these religious poems replacing the word God with Musical Creativity everywhere. He also started to meditate, also a suggestion by Rick Rubin. With this epiphany and newfound musical spirituality, he sold most of his possessions and moved into an apartment near Rick Rubin's house and started volunteering six days a week providing meals to people with HIV. He also started regularly fasting. He also grew disgusted at himself because of the fact that he was just having sex with groupies and never fell in love with anyone and took a vow of celibacy. After all this they started recording songs throughout 2003, but in 2004 they scrapped them and began working on new songs. There were also lots of songs, referred to as "Fallen Soldiers" that didn't end up making the cut. Now one of the songs written after these meditation retreats and fasting periods, also Rick Rubin's favorite, was "Hold Me" which is coming up next, also followed by "Peace"
Hold Me
Peace
Just on was "Peace" and before that was "Hold Me." Now for the album's release, it was much much much more normal than Maladroit, but their record label did ask for an album by Spring which meant that many of the decisions on things even as crucial as track listings were made very late in production and that they had to really scramble to get it done on time, but it was released on May 10, 2005. Also released were 4 singles for the album "Beverly Hills" on march 29, 2005, and then after the album was released "We are All on Drugs" "Perfect Situation" and "This is Such a pity." I'll say now also that Beverly Hills is the band's most successful song to date. Of the song, Rivers said "I saw a picture of Wilson Phillips. And for some reason I just thought how nice it would be to marry, like, an 'established celebrity' and live in Beverly Hills and be part of that world." Pat said, "Rick said we should have a boom-boom-chop song and that's how it became this" [AMMENDMENT: READ THE WHOLE OF RIVERS AND PAT'S BLURBS LIVE] and Brian said "When I first hear the song, it was a rivers demo of it, and I think I called him and said 'Congratulations you wrote a hit song.'" and he was right. It was the band's most successful single ever and spent months near the top of Billboard's hot 100. Now, up next is going to be one of those songs, and I'm sorry to subject you to this but I have to, is "We are all on drugs," but as penance I'm also going to give you "The Damage in Your Heart" and "Pardon Me"
We Are All on Drugs
The Damage in Your Heart
Pardon Me
Just on was "Pardon Me", before that was "The Damage in Your Heart", and before that was "We are all on drugs." Now we'll get to my full opinion of the album in a minute but We are all on drugs is absolutely my least favorite song on the album. It is so annoying, the lyrics are boring, it's, in my opinion, a bad song. We'll get to my thoughts on the rest of the album in a minute, but for now we'll get to the reception. It got a mix of positive reviews and negative reviews, Dot Music, E! Online, IGN, and the Rolling Stone gave it positive reviews, but other groups like Stylus weren't as good. Pitchfork's Rob Sheffield gave the album a 0.4 out of 10. I read the review and it was really quite scathing saying that Rivers' personality has vanished and that Rivers' emotional depth was spent. They also had a very successful tour co-headlining with the Foo Fighters. Critics were mixed but the band hasn't done much public reflection on Make Believe, but I have done a bit which we'll get to after "My Best Friend" and "The Other Way"B
My Best Friend
The Other Way
Just on was "The Other Way" and before that was "My Best Friend." This album is a tricky one for me to rate. I'll say that there's not a single song on this album on my likes playlist. I think beverly hills is fine, it's catchy but it's not one that I'm wanting to listen to. Whenever I hear about the writing process and what Rivers was going through at the time I really really relate. Like, the desire for extremes, especially in relation to religious practice, is a desire I really have felt in the past. It feels like about every 2 years I get that monastic urge and there's a very constant "I wish I were more spiritual, religious, or contemplative" sense in my life. I say this, but I really don't feel this reflected in the album that much. In a way I do, some of the songs have an almost "spiritual" truth to them, if that makes sense. Like the substance isn't that profound but they resonate with me. They also elicit a very real nostalgia for me. It came out in 2005 when I was a 3 year old and the sound is very very nostalgic, like I would hear this genre of music in the background of TV shows I would watch that came around in the early 2000s, but that's just it. To me, it's ultimately an album of shallow background music. Next up we're going to listen to the last 2 songs in the album in "Freak Me Out" and "Haunt You Every Day"
Freak Me Out
Haunt You Every Day
And with that we've listened to Make Believe! Y'know we're entering, sort of already in, the "meh" period of Weezer's discography but I hope you enjoyed hearing it learning about it. Next weezk we'll be taking a tour through Weezer, the red album, so if you're a fan of blue or green, weezer or me make sure to tune in. This has been weezkly, thank you for listening.
Weezk 5 - Maladroit
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 5. Last week we listened to Green and for this weezk we're listening to Maladroit. For reference, if I say an album is named a color, it's technically called "Weezer" but these albums are just known as what the color of the background behind the guys is. For now I'll shut my trap and get us straight into "American Gigolo"
American Gigolo
Alrighty as we've heard 3 albums andI think it's worth spending some time giving a weezer recap, a weezcap if you will. So, weezer was a band born out of the grunge era of alt rock inspired by bands like nirvana and the pixies and by pop rock outfits like oasis. It's in this context that they came out with the hit album, one that many people argue to be their best, the blue album. It had an incredibly positive perception, but it wasn't taken seriously like a nirvana album. They wrote it with a sense of irony that the public didn't seem to pick up. In response to this they wrote a super serious album with stripped back minimalist production in pinkerton. The public did not like this album and Rivers himself said some horrendous things about it calling it sick and diseased. In response to this they released the Green album which was a much more fun album and sounds much more like Blue. Rivers described it as an anti-emotional extreme in terms of the writing. It's here where we begin talking about this fourth album, released only a year after the green album: Weezer's Maladroit. Next up is going to be not just one, but the two singles from the album Dope Nose right into Keep Fishin'
Dope Nose
Keep Fishin'
Just on was Keep Fishin and right before that was Dope Nose. So. This album came very shortly after the release of Green after which, behind the scenes, fired their management. This is because Green was such a commercial success that they were kinda loaded. Rivers felt that the band could fund their next album with their own money and pay themselves back when the album sold. Just a few weeks after Green came out, they were recording new songs, booking studio time, and shopping around for producers. They came onto a radio show on June 13 2001, which I'll remind you that Green came out on may 15, 2001, and already had enough material to perform all new songs. So, onto an Olympus handheld digital recorder they started laying down tracks. Now we have a much more somber note coming up next, but the next song up is going to be "Take Control"
Take Control
Just playing was Take Control by weezer. In august of 2001 after Green bassist Mikey Welsh's mental health began to decline. As it turned out he had undiagnosed bipolar dissorder which was compounded by drug abuse and constant touring. He attempted suicide via overdose and after the band couldn't find Mikey for several days, they held auditions and found Scott Shriner who has been the bassist every since. After this they recorded demos from august to september and began the band's tour, the Midget Tour (named because it was short). Between legs they would record tracks in what the band jokingly called "the black album" Mikey welsh later passed away from an overdose in October of 2011, in fact 2 weeks ago to the day was the aniversary of his death. The band made an instagram post saying "Its been 13 years since we lost our beloved Mikey Welsh, who left us on 10/8/11. Mikey was a great friend and amazing bass player, helping define the Green Album era with his power, skill, artistry and his absolutely hilarious wit." Now, on that somber note we'll be hearing the next two songs "Death and Destruction" and "Slob"
Death and Destruction
Slob
Just on was "Slob" and right before that was "Death and Destruction." They recorded the songs from December of 2001 and they ended in February of 2002. An interesting fact about this album is that Cuomo heavily encouraged Karl Koch to upload in progress demos to weezer.com. This was revolutionary as the fans would give feedback and help change the direction of the album. Because of this there were 150 in-progress MP3s that were released to the public without the knowledge of Geffen studios. During this process a highly controversial forum cropped up which we'll get to after the next two tracks "Burndt Jamb" and "Space Rock"
Burndt Jamb
Space Rock
Just on was "Space Rock" and right before that was "Burndt Jamb" I left off with the fact that there was a controversial internet forum that popped up during the recording process of Weezer's maladroit. It was called, literally, the "Rivers Criticism Board" which was renamed to the "Rivers Correspondence Board" after rivers himself started to post there. Very funny, he started arguing and clashing with the fans in the forum so much so that he rewrote part of Space Rock saying "They want it all, and they're pinning you to boards." There were also some suggestions that were taken into account, some as important as the name of the album which was suggested by the fan "lethe." And the song "slob" making it onto the album. Anyways we'll get to some more of the band's pre-release shenanigans in a second but next up is "Slave"
Slave
Just on was "Slave" by weezer off of maladroit. There were many shananigans to do with the record label from teh released demos, to the fan interactions, and arguably the crowning achievement of their tom foolery was the fact that they sent CDs of songs titled "Songs from the Forthcoming 'Maladroit'" Karl Koch later said about it "This was sent out by hand—we were stuffing envelopes—and we got the list of all the radio station addresses and who to send this to...we sent out hundreds of these things all over the country. Again, the label did not know we were doing this, even though we specifically asked them "Could you please get us the list of the radio stations you send CDs to?" They're like "Oh, sure! What do you need that for?" "Ah, don't worry about it!" The band was done with recording by february 2002 and started recording tracks for the next album before maladroit was even released. Next up is going to be a double feature "Fall Together" followed by "Possibilities"
Fall Together
Possibilities
Just on was "Possibilities" and right before that was "Fall Together" Maladroit was received pretty well by critics and by fans. The singles "Dope Nose" and "Keep fishin" did pretty well, but the sales weren't really there. Weezer had reached a critical mass by that point, so there were enough fans for the sales to be there, but the perception would change moving forward. The pinkerton sect of the weezer fanbase sees it as a failure from a band in freefall. For others it represents a fine album before things really got bad. As for me, well we'll be listening to the last two songs on the album "Love Explosion" and "December" before I share my thoughts. Those are on next.
Love Explosion
December
And with that we've listened to all of Weezer's Maladroit! Before we get to my thoughts I'm going to go off script I want to try something and see how Dope Nose and Possibilities transition. It occurred to me that they sounded very similar and I want to see how they transition so it's time for a weezkly experiment live on air!. [riff and talk about my thoughts on the album]. Next week we'll be taking a tour through Maladroit. This has been weezkly, and I'll be sending you off with my favorite song on the album, Burndt Jamb. Thanks for listening.
Burndt Jamb
Weezk 4 - Green
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 4. Last week we listened to Pinkerton and for this weezk we're listening to Green. For reference, if I say an album is named a color, it's technically called "Weezer" but these albums are just known as what the color of the background behind the guys is. For now I'll shut my trap and get us straight into "Don't let go"
Don't let go
Just on was "don't let go" off of Weezer's green album. Now this album is one of the more interesting Weezer albums to discuss. It's been a few weeks, so I'll forgive you if you don't remember, but the inception of Green, like most things Weezer, starts with Blue. Remember that Weezer started off wanting to be like Nirvana, they weren't taken seriously. Then for pinkerton they wanted to be more "raw" and "real" compared to blue. Critics didn't like it, and initial audience impressions weren't so good and it was seen as a real commercial flop. Rivers himself did NOT like pinkerton. I gave a quote last week, but he said some really heinous things about Pinkerton. I'll bring up some more after the next song. Next up is "Photograph"
Photograph
Just on was "Photograph" by Weezer. We left off with the fact that Critics didn't like pinkerton, audiences didn't like pinkerton, and finally Rivers himself didn't like pinkerton. He was quoted in 1997 saying "We're going to play an old Weezer song. I heard this song on the radio today and I was struck by how pathetic I sound. I think I was really bummed out when I wrote it. "
In 2001 saying "The most painful thing in my life these days is the cult around Pinkerton. It's just a sick album, sick in a diseased sort of way. It's such a source of anxiety because all the fans we have right now have stuck around because of that album. But, honestly, I never want to play those songs again; I never want to hear them again. "
And in 2001 again saying "[Pinkerton is a] hideous record... It was such a hugely painful mistake that happened in front of hundreds of thousands of people and continues to happen on a grander and grander scale and just won't go away. It's like getting really drunk at a party and spilling your guts in front of everyone and feeling incredibly great and cathartic about it, and then waking up the next morning and realizing what a complete fool you made of yourself. I got very sad... I became very unsure of my instincts. "
That's a lot. From the year after Pinkerton was released to the year Green was released, not a single public positive word about Pinkerton. For transparency, he doesn't stand by these feelings anymore, but wow his words were very very strong.
Alright that's enough yapping for now, next up is "Hash Pipe" by weezer.
Hash Pipe
Just on was "Hash Pipe" By weezer. Last week I talked about my least favorite song and it's my show so I'll do what I want. This is 100% my least favorite song on the album. They played this song whenever I was at their show in Boston and it was a real lowlight. It's brash, it's loud, and I think the writing is horrible. It's repetitive, annoying. If this song was removed from the album it would be better.
Anyways. Let's talk about the green album. After Pinkerton, instead of returning to Harvard, Rivers chose to focus on songwriting. He also did lots of shows in Boston with friends in the local scene. As Weezer, the band spent some time auditioning potential basists. Matt Sharp departed the band due to quote "differences with the band." He later said, "I certainly have my view of it, as I'm sure everybody else has their sort of foggy things. When you have a group that doesn't communicate, you're going to have a whole lot of different stories." While he did leave weezer, he wasn't on bad terms with the band. There was a small side project of Rivers' called Homie that released only one song from 1997-1998 called "Meet the Deedles."
Without Sharp, the band needed a bassist and the group ended up hiring Mikey Welsh who had played with Rivers in Boston.
After these next two songs i'll talk more about Green's writing process but for now we'll listen to "Island in the sun" and "Crab"
Island in the sun
Crab
Just on was Island in the sun and Crab. While we're on it, I'll just say that Island in the Sun is my favorite song from Green. It's a classic for a reason and right now, according to spotify, it's the #1 weezer song with 831 million streams.
The recording process for Green is super interesting. Rivers decided to get super analytical with the writing process. He holed himself up in the room of his apartment, got rid of his phone, painted the walls and ceiling black, and covered the windows with fiberglass insulation. He started to study and disct songs by Nirvana, Oasis, and Green day trying to distill some keys to pop songwriting. The document he produced he called the "Encyclopedia of pop". He didn't write much and wanted to go back to school but instead he started rehearsing with the band and in th summer of 1999 went on a pinkerton tour again. By mid 2000 they settled on producer Ric Ocasec, Blue's producer, and began recording tracks for the untitled Green album.
Our next two are going to be a double feature in "Knockout Dragout" and "Smile"
Knockdown Dragout
Smile
Finally. How was it received? Well we've already talked about how Green is a response to pinkerton, but how is that? Well as you've already heard, this album is MUCH more blue than pinkerton. Rivers himself described it as being on the "Emotionally extreme side" whereas Green was on the "Anti-emotional extreme side". Karl Koch has an essay called "Thoughts from a Green Mind (or It's Not Easy Being Green)." It's super short and recounts the album as a success and how it was an album emerged from Weezer's darkest period. I can't stress enough how it was a commercial success. In that same essay Karl describes it as the album that cemented Weezer as commercially viable. I have opinions which we'll get to but next up is Simple Pages by Weezer.
Simple Pages
Just on was Simple Pages by Weezer.
Audiences at the time loved it. They saw it as a return to the "real" weezer and it was a commercial success. Further Rivers described it as the anti emotional extreme and said that he anticipated the band to go back and forth to calibrate and really find their groove. Seeing it as part of the broader development arc of the band, yeah that makes sense.
As for my thoughts, I think it's a fine album. It's certainly not my favorite weezer album, but it's also far from the worst. Overall it reads to me as incredibly mid. It's not one that I feel the urge to revisit. I like some of the tracks but I actively dislike others.
[Riff, talk about how the fact that it's shackled to pinkerton marks it hard to endorse, and how much I enjoy the "non weezer" stuff like maladroit, ok human, etc.]
I'm going to let the last two tracks play out and with that we'll have listened to all of Green. Next week we'll be taking a tour through Maladroit. This has been weezkly, and I'll be sending you off with Glorious Day, and O Girlfriend. Thanks for listening.
Glorious Day
O Girlfriend
Weezk 3 - Pinkerton
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, is weezk 3. Last week we listened to blue and for this weezk we're listening to Pinkerton. I have a lot to say about this one but let's get to some music. First up is "Tired of Sex" straight into "Getchoo"
Tired of Sex
Getchoo
Just on was "Tired of Sex" and "Getchoo." Now I usually save my personal takes on the album until the last song, but I have to say: Getchoo is probably my least favorite weezer song. I can't promise that this will remain constant as I only have a couple of their albums on regular rotation, but god I hate getchoo. I just hate it. Anyways, The earliest roots for Pinkerton go back before Blue. Rivers was ambitious and wrote Buddy Holly and I Swear It's true for Pinkerton before Blue was even released. The true pinkerton doesn't really begin after blue, because without blue there is no pinkerton. Pinkerton is, in my opinion, fundamentally reactionary. Now, I'll get to what I think the two primary ideological roots after these next two tracks "I swear it's true" and "No Other One"
I Swear It's True
No Other One
Just on was I swear It's True and No Other One. I'll say I Swear It's True wasn't a song on pinkerton, it was a B side. Now before these two songs I mentioned that there are two primary ideological roots of blue, both of which are fundamentally linked to the Blue Album. First: Rivers' angst with how Blue was received by critics and the general public. Second: Rivers' general disillusionment with the lifestyle of being a rockstar. Rivers was so disillusioned that, I'll let him speak for himself on this next song, another B side of Pinkerton Long Time Sunshine
Long Time Sunshine
Just on was "Long Time Sunshine" a track that didn't make the cut for Pinkerton and I want to read out the first couple lines "Sometimes I wanna pack it all up Get on a bus and move to Vermont Or Maine, or any of those states back east That I remember. Sometimes I wanna go back to school An east coast college with some history I'd be satisfied, I know In the simple things" and go to a college in one of those states back east. Specifically, he went to Harvard where he studied music theory. Rivers did end up writing most of the songs during his time at Harvard, but Rivers was understandably very busy with his schoolwork. The rest of the band was also very busy in the meantime with Matt Sharp working on his side bad The Rentals, Pat wilson working on The Special Goodness, and Brian Bell working on Space twins. During Rivers' breaks, however, the band would get together to record. I've talked for long enough, next up is going to a triple showing with Why Bother, followed by Across the Sea, and then The Good life.
Why Bother?
Across the Sea
The Good Life
Just on were three songs. First was Why Bother? Followed by Across the Sea, and just playing was The Good Life. River's recorded pinkerton with the intention of the production being more raw. In fact, they deliberately avoided hiring a producer in order to mimic the live feeling as best they could. He wanted the songs to be incredibly straightforward and reveal the embarrassing and frankly bad parts of himself. I'll get to more of the contents of the album when I give my reflections on it, but some more on the recording and writing process. Rivers wrote "It was a big change in the way we worked. I decided not to make any demos and instead just write the basic melodies and chord changes without orchestrating everyone's parts at all. So we went into the studio without really knowing what was going to happen. And it gave everyone a lot more room to be creative and spontaneous on their instruments."
I've also mentioned that Rivers wrote this while being a student at Harvard but another logistical issue is that he was having a leg lengthening surgery to make his legs have equal length, this led to all of his songs being written in the 1st position, this is closer to the head of the guitar, away from where you strum for the non guitarists so his hand wouldn't have to move so much.
Now that's a fun fact, but I'll get to some more juicy stuff in a minute after Our next two songs which are going to be El Scorcho and Pink Triangle.
El Scorcho
Pink Triangle
Just on was Pink Triangle and right before that was El Scorcho. By now after hearing Across the sea, El Scorcho, and Pink Triangle, it's time to face it: Pinkerton has a lot of sexist, rude, and mean themes. Rivers responds to this by saying "I really wanted these songs to be an exploration of my 'dark side' – all the parts of myself that I was either afraid or embarrassed to think about before. So there's some pretty nasty stuff on there." I don't think that calling Pinkerton a super rude or sexist album is a fair assessment, in fact I'll go as far as to say that it's an example of bad media literacy. Some individual songs, when taken on their own, might have a bad reading, but these were all released as part of an album that was written by a person. I'll get to my thoughts on this, but critical and public reception was a real flop. The first single did not do very well, they were sued by Pinkerton's Inc. the second single did worse than the first, and they rushed together a video that MTV execs enjoyed. It was broadly considered a critical and commercial failure, but if you're familiar with the modern state of Weezer discourse, it's in nearly everyone's top two weezer albums.
As for me, It's certainly in my top two, but more on my thoughts in a minute. Next up is "Falling for you"
Falling for You
Just on was Falling for you. I'll say on the onset that pinkerton is a tough one for me. It's one that, when I listen to it, I recognize how good it is. It just isn't really on my rotation. For me, it's great music but it's not really what I'm looking for when I listen to Weezer. It's a bit sad, and it's intentionally written as a reflection of Rivers' low point
And that's just why I don't often spin this one. [Adlibbing from here oopsies]
Butterfly
With that last track Butterfly we've listened to and gone through Weezer's pinkerton. Next week we'll be taking a tour through Weezer, also known as the Green album. This has been weezkly, and I'll be sending you off with Dreamin. Thanks for listening.
Weezk 2 - Blue
Station ID
PSA 1
PSA 2
Hello and welcome back to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, weezk 2, we're going through perhaps the greatest weezer album? titled Weezer. But if you know any Weezer album you probably know this one, it's the blue album. I'll be talking about this album a lot in later episodes of this show, but first let's hear a little bit. Next up is My name is Jonas and No one Else
My name is Jonas
No One Else
Alright our last two songs were My name is Jonas and No One Else. We heard about the band's beginnings last show but with the recording of this album i want to give a particular shout out to Ric Ocasek who was the producer for blue. Ric Ocaskec was the lead of the band the Cars, and in order to secure him as their producer the guys sent over a demo of them covering the car's song "Just what I Needed." I'd really love to hear this demo, but I don't think it survives anywhere. Instead what I have for you is Scott Shriner's cover of the song when he performed it live with the surviving members of the Cars when they were inducted into th eRock hall of fame.
Next up is Just What I Needed, The World has turned and left me here followed by buddy holly
Just What I Needed (youtube)
The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
Buddy Holly
Just on was Just What I Needed, The World Has Turned and Left Me Here, and Buddy Holly. Now a fun fact about the blue album is that there were originally more songs planned for the album. The other songs "I Swear It's True" "Getting up and Leaving" "Mykel and Carli" "Jamie" and "Lullaby for Wayne" were tried, but didn't end up making the cut. And guess what I'm not just going to tell you what was recorded, but also where it was recorded. The band recorded the album at Electric Lady in New York. Studio work happened in Studio A, and nights happened in studio B. Studio C did most of the vocals and the album was mixed in a smaller studio on the third floor. Trouble was brewing in weezertown but I'll get to this trouble in a minute. Next up is going to be Undone and one of the unreleased songes Mykel and Carli, which ended up as a B side to the single release of Undone -sweater song.
Undone - The Sweater Song
Mykel and Carli
Just on was Undone - The Sweater Song and Mykel and Carli. Now I mentioned some trouble in weezertown and that trouble ended up being Founding guitarist Jason Cropper left the band during the recording process on September 12. Current guitarist Brian Bell was called the next day, the day after, Bell recorded an audition tape, with hasty, made-up guitar parts and backing vocals to send to the band. Bell was invited to join Weezer on September 15. After a few days of Brian practicing, it was decided that while Bell would re-record all of Cropper's vocals, Cuomo would re-record all of Cropper's guitar parts.[4] According to Ocasek, all ten tracks were laid down by Cuomo in one day, each in one take. Band archivist Karl Koch has corroborated this story,[5] and since claimed the specific date of this event as September 24. Which it's technically the 25th where I am, but I haven't gone to bed yet so in my head it's the 24th and the 30th anniversary of when most of the album was recorded. In my opinion, a very fun fact. More fun facts coming soon after "Surf wax america", "say it ain't so, and "in the garage.
Surf Wax America
Say It Ain't So
In the Garage
Just on was "Surf Wax America" "say it ain't so" and "in the garage" Now that we've heard most of the album, let's talk about the reception of the album. "I think our music on the first record was written to be heard by a smaller, not quite as mainstream audience, kind of a post-modern audience that had been through the whole punk thing and was again willing to accept some more innocent pop-sounding music and be able to listen to it with a sense of irony. Now when those songs are heard by millions of people and on all the radio stations and MTV, they take on a totally different meaning which they were never really meant to have…"
And to Rivers' point, a fact that I talked about last time whenever we heard some of the bands that inspired them, Rivers thought that Weezer would be the next Nirvana. While Blue was absolutely a commercial success, they weren't taken as seriously as Rivers liked. I'll get more into the discrepancy between how Rivers wanted them to be perceived and how they were actually perceived because this dissatisfaction is a big part of why pinkerton is the way that it is, but for now we'll listen to the second to last track of the album "Holiday"
Holiday
Just on was Holiday and Only in Dreams. And we have come to the end of the show but one thing I haven't talked about is how I feel about blue. I love blue. Weezer is often called "Incel music" and "Virgin rock" and quite frankly it's kinda true. I'll deny the incel label because there's some nuance there. To me Blue is special because it's sincere, it's raw, and Rivers showcases many of his insecurities and vulnerabilities. Sincere music is a dime a dozen but Blue manages to do this on these excellent pop rock melodies, and on top of that managed to find commercial success and mass appeal. I love this album because quite frankly I relate to Rivers tremendously. I have historically felt like a jealous asshole like in No One Else, I have similar niche intrests I retreat to like in In the Garage. I love blue I saw this album in concert 2 weeks ago. It might be my favorite weezer album, and I totally get it if it's yours.
Next week, we'll be taking a similar tour through pinkerton. This has been weezkly, and I'll be sending you off with ONly in dreams. Thanks for listening.
Only in Dreams
Weezk 1 - Musical background
STATION ID: This is WBOR, Brunswick
PSA 1: "WBOR welcomes submitting Public Service Announcements that DJs will read over the air to publicize issues and events that affect the Brunswick and Midcoast community. For more information on how to submit a PSA, visit wbor.org/psa. That's: (W - B - O - R - .org - / - P - S - A)"
You are listening to Weezkly a weekly walk through the history of Weezer. This week, weezk 1, I'll be taking you through the beginnings of the band.
Now I just said this is a weezer show but up next is Feed the Tree by Belly and I'll explain why after.
[4:20]
Just played was Feed the Tree by Belly. If you're curious why I played a non weezer song on a weezer radio show, well it's because Feed the Tree was at the #1 spot of the US alt rock charts for 3 weeks beginning on March 6, 1992. On March 13, 1992 in a little club called Raji's in Los Angeles California Weezer played their very first show.
Their first album, and perhaps their best known, self titled Weezer but more commonly known as the blue album wouldn't come out for another 2 years on May 10, 1994. In between this time, the band was refining their discography and debuting some of their biggest songs to tiny shows in the LA club scene. I'll get to some of these early demos in the back half of this show, so stay tuned but next up I'll be continuing on with the theme of alt chart toppers with Break it Down again by Tears for Fears which charted for 3 weeks starting on July 24, 1993.
[9:40]
Just on was Break it Down again by Tears for Fears, which Rivers cites as an influence and went on Jimmy Kimmel together in April of 2019. Rivers Cuomo, Weezer's frontman, cites many other bands for songwriting inspiration, but something I'll get to more next week when we listen to the Blue Album is that Rivers truly viewed Weezer as the next Mirvana. As such up next is Heart Shaped Box by Nirvana which charted #1 on the US alt charts for 3 weeks beginning on October 16, 1993.
[14:50]
We just listened to Heart-Shaped Box by Nirvana. Of course Weezer had many influences, but because of how important Nirvana was to Rivers, I'll be giving them some more airtime. Up next is All Apologies by Nirvana.
[18:50]
I'll be taking a break from the #1 hits for now because the next three songs are going to be from some other influences weezer has cited. One of the most important, up there with nirvana, was the Pixies and fun fact, weezer covered a song of theirs on a tribute album. Up next is Where is my mind by the Pixies.
[22:55]
Just on was Where is my mind by the Pixies. We've played some nirvana and some Pixies so the third cited influence I'll be playing is going to be Green day. They have a fantastic catalog and I could play any of their bits but up next I'll be going with Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day.
[27:30]
Just on was Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. I've been playing the influences for the past 30 minutes but last but not least I couldn't talk about Weezer's influences without playing some KISS. Quite honestly I don't listen to KISS but with over 1 billion streams on spotify up next is I was made for lovin you by KISS.
[32:15]
That was just I was made for lovin you by KISS. ‚ÄãBefore we get to the main event in Weezer's Demos, Bowdoin's department of Environmental Studies will host a talk with Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (Bowdoin's Roux Distinguished Scholar) this Friday, September 20th entitled: What If We Get It Right? Climate Change, Politics and the Election.
Dr. Johnson is a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and teacher working to help create the best possible climate future. She co-founded and leads Urban Ocean Lab, a think tank for the future of coastal cities, and is the Roux Distinguished Scholar at Bowdoin College. Above all: Ayana is in love with climate solutions.
Alright, with that let's finally get to the main event. We've covered Weezer's early influences and listened to what was popular at the time. So, without further ado let's begin with our first true weezer song. Recorded January 1, 1992 to quote Weezerpedia "It is notable for being the earliest song recorded by the band as well as the first song to be performed live at the band's first concert." Up next is I can't forget the way by Weezer.
[36:50]
You just heard the first official weezer song I can't forget the way by weezer. That song, and the songs I'll be playing are from a project called the 50 song project where Rivers Cuomo, the lead vocalist and guitarist and Patrick Wilson, the band's percussion, tried to write 50 songs for their still unnamed band. They ended up with 29 songs of which I'll be playing small collection. Up next is Theif, You've Taken All That Was Me by Weezer.
[40:50]
Just on was Thief, You've Taken All That Was Me by Weezer. I think it's time to introduce the founding members of Weezer. I've already mentioned Rivers Cuomo, but it's worth talking about Rivers' life leading up to the founding of the band. On June 13, 1970, Rivers Cuomo was born to a small family in Manhattan to Frank Cuomo and Beverly Shoenberger. He was a somber young boy who dreamed of being a soccer player, but he eventually followed in his Fathers footsteps and became a musician. Prior to Weezer he had a few small projects here and there and met the founding members of weezer Pat Wilson, Jason Cropper, Matt Sharp, and the weezer historian Karl Koch.
But more on those other guys later. Up next is My Name is Jonas off the Kitchen Tape demo by Weezer
[44:45]
Last on was My Name is Jonas off the Kitchen Tape Demo by Weezer. Another song on the 50 song project, the opening song on Blue, this demo of My Name is Jonas is one of the only surviving demos written by Patrick Wilson. Patrick Wilson was born on February 1, 1969 in New York, but was raised nearby in Clarency NY. He was introduced to music very early on in his life and while he went to Community College for a few years, he dropped out to pursue music. He moved into an apartment with Pat Finn, Jason Cropper, and Karl Koch and after playing in a few bands with Rivers was one of the founding members of Weezer. Expect more on him as he's my favorite Weezer member, having the same name as me and all. Next up, not off the 50 song project sorry for lying, is the third and final song on the kitchen tape demo Let's Sew our Pants together by Weezer.
[50:05]
Last on was Let's Sew our Pants Together by Weezer. The last member of Weezer I'll be talking about is Jason Cropper. Born on June 27, 1971 in Oakland, California, he met the other founding members of Weezer through mutual acquaintance Pat Finn—the aforementioned roommate of Patrick Wilson. The 50 Song Project was Patrick and Rivers' project, but Jason Cropper helped out in writing them. Which, speaking of, next up is another song from the project, The World has Turned and Left Me Here by Weezer.
[55:05]
Just on was The World has Turned and left Me Here by Weezer. Finally we get to the last of the four founding members of Weezer Matt Sharp. Born on September 22 in 1969 in Bangkok Thailand during the Vietnam war, Sharp was the band's founding Bassist. After Patrick Wilson showed him some of the songs in The 50 Song Project and moved in to the Amherst House to join the Project. Matt Sharp is the only founding member who departed from the band, so trust that we'll hear more from him. Next up, our final song of the night, Wet Dog by Weezer.
[58:58]
With that right there Wet Dog by Weezer, I'll be ending the first episode of Weezkly. We took a journey through the bands contemporaries, the bands influences, some of the band's earliest demos, and met the founding members of the band. I hope you enjoyed and will consider joining me next Weezk where I'll be covering the blue album. Thank you and goodnight
(2:07 in Buddy Holly)