Album: Weezer (Black Album)
Artist: Weezer
Record Labels: Crush Music and Atlantic Records
Notable Tracks: ” Track 1- “Can’t Knock The Hustle”, ”Track 6: “I’m Just Being Honest”
Rating: ⅗
At one point in time Weezer was at the top, releasing new and unique music, but that was 25 years ago when they released their first (and best) self titled album. Now Weezer is predominately used for memes and comedic entertainment, despite this o.g. Fans (including myself) were still hoping, maybe this could be the comeback. Sadly, this was not Weezer’s comeback, not even close. The album consists of some good songs, but the majority of the album is cringeworthy and repetitive lyrics and synthesized instrumentals.
The first track, “Can’t Stop The Hustle” (no not the Jay-Z song), kicks off the album with a new sound. The track is very experimental and different than its counterparts, but somehow still has the original Weezer feel. The lyrics are simple and slightly repetitive, stating “Can’t knock the hustle /Leave a five star review and I’ll leave you one, too /Can’t knock the hustle/ Hasta luego, hasta luego”. Cuomo lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter seems to be writing about his craft and a reflection on his evolution as an artist.
One of the most notable tracks, and most listened to is Track 6, “I’m Just Being Honest”. This song displays the the new ‘radio culture’ sound that older bands are all adapting to. This song is fun, upbeat and really catchy. The chorus states, “So, here we go/ Don’t get mad at me, I’m just being honest/ I should have lied”. This song is probably one of my favorites of the album, not because of cool transitions or deep meaningful lyrics, but because of its simplicity. This song is easy to listen to and could find its way into a beach roadtrip playlist.
Weezer followed suit with their other self released albums, using 10 songs- but I almost feel as though that is too many. There feels as though some songs are used as fillers because while there are good songs like the ones I discussed, there are also some pretty bad ones. It is not that it is horrible, I just expect more from Weezer. I am not saying that Weezer needs to go back to their roots, they have already done that (really well) I was just expecting more than synthesized instrumentals and repetitive lyrics. Regardless, this album is a steady ⅗, not amazing but definitely not going to be a big part of the Weezer’s discography.
