Hey Maria! Hope you are feeling better since you were “sick.” You missed our Jazz Band in the quad during break. I bet that was on purpose, huh? It’s okay, lots of other people didn’t donate.
If Weezer (Blue) is Nevermind, then their sophomore album Pinkerton is In Utero. While the Blue Album and Nevermind were both huge commercial successes and revolutionary, when Pinkerton was released, it was a commercial and critical failure, and the readers of The Rolling Stone voted it the 2nd worst album of 1996 (jazz hands!). I assume part of this reason is that Pinkerton was self-produced (they recorded the album by themselves, Leonard) and has rougher mixing than their first album (similar to In Utero). It was also originally going to be a “rock opera” like the Green Day things called “Songs from the Black Hole.” Either way, Pinkerton ended up much more personal than the Blue Album, and thus, much better (in a less accessible way).
First is the song “Tired Of Sex,” which immediately shows how much different the album is going to be. Instead of singing to entertain the listener, Rivers seems to be yelling out his frustrations with pointless groupies and trying to find true love, while his band mates echo his sorrows. The recording has very good dynamics (although in the “tracking rough” version, included on the deluxe edition of the album, the band sounds tighter, specifically the bass and drums), and is a surprisingly good start to the album.
If “Tired Of Sex” didn’t scare away the ignorant, casual listener that bought it because they liked the first album, then “Getchoo” almost certainly will. It is certainly the darkest song on the album, with the title viciously repeated during the chorus. But dig a bit deeper, and you will find some cool melodies.
“No Other One” is a bit slower than the first two, and a bit poppier also. It’s a bit boring at times, but the verse is pretty. Yes, pretty. But because the rest of the album is so great, this is designated as filler(ish).
If you bailed out already, you missed out the best part of Pinkerton; the next 5 songs. “Why Bother starts out with a dark sounding bass and drums, but is the first actually “pop-rock” song on the album, and would fit in on the Blue Album quite nicely, if the production was cleaner. In the song, Rivers sings (happily, for some reason) about a very short sexual relationship that will inevitably end up with the girl leaving him. The song is almost Green Day-ish, and could even be part of Dookie, with a few changes here and there. And it’s one of my favorites.
“Across The Sea” is actually the most emotional song on the album. There’s a piano thing, then the piano plays the same notes that Rivers sings, creating a cool effect. The song has a hopeful/longing tone as Rivers sings about a love in Japan that he will never see, and it combines the elements of a love ballad and the epicness (fail word) of an electric anthem into one package. The solo is just as poignant as the vocals, and the little “pretty” interlude after it sets you to be blindsided by the final verse and chorus, which sound even better than the others.
It’s hard to follow a song on an album like “Across The Sea,” but “The Good Life” does it rather well. It is a well-made single that never hit it’s mark (Pinkerton was a commercial failure, remember?). The verse is distinguished by a punchy bass that is sadly kind of muted in the “radio remix” version, and the chorus is a very good pop sing-a-long, that has a message of wanting to go back to when times were better. And that seems completely relevant now.
If there is one “stupid” song on the record, it is “El Scorcho.” The tile almost says it all. Somebody gargles at the beginning of the song, the riff is a joke, someone else crows the title like a rooster, and the first lyric of the song is “Goddam you half-japanese girls.” But it is very catchy. The chorus is just as good of a sing-a-long as “The Good Life,” and the solo is funny.
“Pink Triangle” is probably a tie with “Across the Sea” (and to a certain extent, “Why Bother) as my favorite song on Pinkerton. It starts out with a lullaby guitar jangle, and then turns into a humorous, yet still emotional story about a guy who falls in love with a girl. The problem is, that the girl is a lesbian, and she will never love him back. Eat your heart out Glee.
After “Pink Triangle,” the album kind of fizzles out. “Falling For You” is mostly memorable for the guitar riff before the verses, and the last chorus. Otherwise, it is in the same vein as “No Other One,” is also kind of boring. It’s kind of filler as far as I am concerned.
Now the album closes with “Butterfly,” a typical acoustic ballad with a few bass drum beats that accent the song. But I’ve heard better ones. It’s not bad, but it’s not mind blowing either. It’s pretty.
So I like Pinkerton, a lot. It’s worth getting, but it’s only worth buying the Deluxe Edition if you really like it. The rest of the material isn’t THAT good (although there’s the “Pink Triangle” remix and good acoustic versions of stuff). Now I have to get off. My mom is getting pissed.
No comments:
Post a Comment