Written Before Listen
Weezer is a band that is very popular in the scene of pop and rock music. They also have a very small part of personal history with my reviewing career as my review for “OK Human” was my OTB debut. Ever since then, I have improved as a reviewer and listener of music. My stance on OK Human hasn’t changed on the other hand. I still think OK Human has its highs and lows. We now have our second 2021 release from them, Van Weezer. This album has been anticipated since 2019 and didn’t get released until now due to the pandemic. With that being said, I hope Van Weezer is as good if not better than OK Human.
Contrast Between OK Human and Van Weezer
There seems to be a huge contrast between OK Human and Van Weezer. First off, OK Human was basically avoiding all instances of electric guitar. This record takes the chamber orchestra away and cranks the guitars back up and a little more than usual. I don’t know about you but Weezer going the more chamber-route works for them a little more than going back to this sound.
Influences
Usually, the bands’ influences on a record are similar. On this record, some influences become more prevalent as others kind of go away. For example, the Van Halen influence (obviously) gets turned up a little but now there are new and unexpected influences here to the point where it gets insanely derivative. We all know the “Blue Dream” riff is note for note with the riff for Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train”. There is also “All The Good Ones” which is very similar to Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me” but The most unexpected and hilarious is the song “1 More Hit” where the opening and ending sounds like something straight out of the Metallica playbook. Overall, its unfortunate because on OK Human, they used their influences nicely but this is not the case for Van Weezer.
Lyrics
Rivers has always been a questionable frontman. This album is an example of it. The line on “I Need Some Of That” that says “Even if we blow up/We're never gonna grow up” basically sums up the album and Weezer’s career in general. There is also some very terrible lines such as that line in “Blue Dream” where “Everyone gets lei’d” or the already infamous “pump it up into me please, daddy” line on “1 More Hit”. Yeah, the lyrics are easily the worst part about this album.
Production
Although the lyrics were the worst part about this album, I think the production might be the best. It’s not anything impressive and sure it’s underwhelming but nonetheless, it’s still high budget. The rhythm guitars are crisp, the drums are clear and the vocals are always clean as a whistle. There are definitely some instances where the guitar solos are buried but other than that, the production isn’t half bad
Favorite Tracks
Yes. I don’t like this album. It does have some good tracks on it though. First off, I loved “The End Of The Game”. This song is probably the most Van Halen influenced song on the album when it comes to the tone and riff. I also enjoyed “Beginning Of The End” too. Another track that surprised me in the best way possible was the last track “Precious Metal Girl”. I actually think the ballad at the end factor worked in Weezer’s side of the court. I know the lyrics are kind of corny due to the fact that Rivers is older than my dad but c’mon…it’s Weezer. What do you expect? Other than that, If this wasn’t called Van Weezer, I probably wouldn’t see the arena rock influence that clearly.
Verdict
Well, not listening to a lot of Weezer with the exception of Blue, Pinkerton and OK Human, this album is probably the worst out of the four I’ve listened to. I know that Rivers isn’t the most mature guy in the book but c’mon…you need to at least have some limits when it comes to songwriting.