Weezer
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner. They have sold 10 million albums in the United States and more than 35 million worldwide.
After signing to Geffen Records in 1993, Weezer released their acclaimed self-titled debut album, also known as the Blue Album, in May 1994. Backed by music videos for the singles "Undone – The Sweater Song", "Buddy Holly", and "Say It Ain't So", the Blue Album became a multi-platinum success. Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, featuring a darker, more abrasive sound, was a commercial failure and initially received mixed reviews, yet achieved cult status and acclaim some years later. Both the Blue Album and Pinkerton are now frequently cited among the best albums of the 1990s. Following the tour for Pinkerton, the founding bassist, Matt Sharp, left the band and Weezer went on hiatus.
In 2001, Weezer returned with the Green Album with their new bassist, Mikey Welsh. With a more pop-oriented sound, and promoted by singles "Hash Pipe" and "Island in the Sun", it was a commercial success and received mostly positive reviews. After the Green Album tour, Welsh left for health reasons and was replaced by Shriner. Weezer's fourth album, Maladroit, incorporated a hard rock sound and achieved mostly positive reviews, but weaker sales. Make Believe received mixed reviews, but its single "Beverly Hills" became Weezer's first single to top the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and their first to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 2008, Weezer released the Red Album. Its lead single, "Pork and Beans", became the third Weezer song to top the Modern Rock Tracks chart, backed by a Grammy-winning music video. Raditude and Hurley both featured more modern pop production, along with songs co-written with other artists, receiving further mixed reviews and moderate sales. Everything Will Be Alright in the End and the White Album returned to a rock style that was reminiscent of their 1990s sound, mixed with modern alternative production, and achieved more positive reviews, while Pacific Daydream returned to a more mainstream pop sound. In 2019, Weezer surprise-released an album of covers, the Teal Album, followed by the Black Album. In 2021, they released OK Human, which featured an orchestral pop sound and received acclaim, followed by the hard rock-inspired Van Weezer. In 2022, Weezer released SZNZ, a series of EPs based on the four seasons.
History
Formation and first years (1989–1994)
Lead vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo moved to Los Angeles from Mansfield, Connecticut, in 1989 with his high school metal band, Avant Garde, which was later renamed Zoom. After the group disbanded, Cuomo met drummer Patrick Wilson, a native of Buffalo, New York, and moved in with him and Wilson's friend Matt Sharp. Cuomo moved away from metal and explored alternative rock influences such as Nirvana, the Pixies and Sonic Youth. He and Wilson formed a band, Fuzz, and enlisted Scottie Chapman on bass. Chapman quit after a few early shows; the band reformed as Sixty Wrong Sausages, with Cuomo's friend Pat Finn on bass and Jason Cropper on guitar, but soon disbanded. Cuomo moved to Santa Monica, California, and recorded dozens of demos, including the future Weezer songs "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" and "Undone – The Sweater Song". Sharp was enthusiastic about the demos, and became the group's bassist and de facto manager.Cuomo, Wilson, Sharp, and Cropper formed Weezer on February 14, 1992. Their first show was on March 19, 1992, closing for Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar. They took their name from a nickname Cuomo's father gave him, which was based on a character called "Wheezer" from the Our Gang short films. Cuomo gave Sharp one year to get the band a record deal before Cuomo accepted a scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley. In November, Weezer recorded a demo, The Kitchen Tape, including a version of the future Weezer single "Say It Ain't So". The demo was heard by Todd Sullivan, an A&R man at Geffen Records, who signed Weezer in June 1993.
The "Blue Album" and ''Pinkerton'' (1994–1997)
Weezer recorded their debut album with the musician and producer Ric Ocasek at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Cropper was fired during recording, as Cuomo and Sharp felt he was threatening the band chemistry. He was replaced by Brian Bell. Weezer's self-titled debut album, also known as the "Blue Album", was released in May 1994. Described by Pitchfork as integrating "geeky humor, dense cultural references, and positively gargantuan hooks", it combined alternative rock, power pop, polished production and what AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called an "'70s trash-rock predilection... resulting in something quite distinctive".Weezer's first single, "Undone – The Sweater Song", was backed by a music video directed by Spike Jonze; filmed in an unbroken take, it featured Weezer performing on a sound stage with little action, barring a pack of dogs swarming the set. The video became an instant hit on MTV. The song reached No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jonze also directed Weezer's second video, "Buddy Holly", splicing the band into footage from the 1970s television sitcom Happy Days. The video achieved heavy rotation on MTV and won four MTV Video Music Awards, including Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Music Video, and two Billboard Music Video Awards. "Buddy Holly" peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100 Airplay and No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The song is included on Rolling Stone's 500 Best Songs Of All Time. A third single, "Say It Ain't So", followed. It was met with critical acclaim and later Pitchfork ranked it No. 10 on the top 200 tracks of the 90s list. The song reached No. 51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. Additionally, the track was included in Rolling Stone's list of "The Top 100 Guitar Songs of All Time".
Their debut album gained critical and commercial success. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it number 294 on The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. Weezer is certified quadruple platinum in the United States as well as Canada, making it Weezer's best-selling album.
In 1994, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Cuomo traveled to his home state of Connecticut and began recording demos for Weezer's next album. His original concept was a space-themed rock opera that would express his mixed feelings about success. Cuomo conceived the story as a metaphor for his conflicted feelings about touring in a successful rock band. Weezer developed the concept through intermittent recording sessions through 1995. At the end of the year, Cuomo enrolled at Harvard University, where his songwriting became "darker, more visceral and exposed, less playful", and he abandoned Songs from the Black Hole. While attending Harvard, Cuomo experienced loneliness and frustration while also undergoing an extensive surgery for his left leg. These experiences influenced his songwriting for the next record. The other members of Weezer decided to embark on their own side projects during this time. Sharp started The Rentals, who released their debut album, Return of the Rentals, in October 1995, also featuring Wilson on drums.
Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, was released on September 24, 1996. Pinkerton is named after the character BF Pinkerton from Madama Butterfly, who marries and then abandons a Japanese woman named Butterfly. Calling him an "asshole American sailor similar to a touring rock star", Cuomo felt the character was "the perfect symbol for the part of myself that I am trying to come to terms with on this album". It produced three singles: "El Scorcho", "The Good Life", and "Pink Triangle".
With a darker, more abrasive sound, Pinkerton sold poorly compared to the Blue Album and received mixed reviews; it was voted "one of the worst albums of 1996" in a Rolling Stone reader poll. However, the album eventually gained a cult following and came to be considered among Weezer's best work; in 2002, Rolling Stone readers voted Pinkerton the 16th greatest album of all time. In 2004, Rolling Stone gave the album a new review, awarding it five out of five stars and adding it to the "Rolling Stone Hall of Fame". Pinkerton was certified platinum in 2016. It is credited for influencing a number of emo bands in the 2000s.
In July 1997, the sisters Mykel, Carli, and Trysta Allan died in a car accident while driving home from a Weezer show in Denver, Colorado. Mykel and Carli ran Weezer's fan club and helped manage publicity for several other Los Angeles bands, and had inspired the "Sweater Song" B-side "Mykel and Carli". Weezer canceled a show to attend their funeral. In August, Weezer and other bands held a benefit concert for the family in Los Angeles. A compilation album, , was dedicated to their memory. The album included "Mykel and Carli", as well as songs by Ozma, That Dog, and Kara's Flowers. In 2001, Jimmy Eat World released "Hear You Me", dedicated to Mykel and Carli.
Hiatus (1997–2000)
Weezer completed the Pinkerton tour in mid-1997 and went on hiatus. Wilson returned to his home in Portland, Oregon to work on his side project, the Special Goodness, and Bell worked on his band Space Twins. In 1998, Sharp left Weezer due to differences with the band members. He said of his departure: "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." Sharp's departure left Cuomo and Wilson as the two remaining original members.Cuomo returned to Harvard but took a break to focus on songwriting. He formed a new band composed of a changing lineup of Boston musicians, and performed new material. The songs were abandoned, but bootlegs of the Boston shows are traded on the internet. Wilson eventually flew to Boston to join Homie, another Cuomo side project. The members of the band were composed of Greg Brown, Matt Sharp, Yuval Gabay, Adam Orth, and future Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh. Although a Homie album was being recorded, they ended up only releasing one song, called "American Girls", for the 1998 film Meet the Deedles.
In February 1998, Cuomo, Bell and Wilson reunited in Los Angeles to start work on the next Weezer album. The group hired Welsh, who had played with Cuomo in Boston, as their new bassist. Welsh was also previously a bassist for Juliana Hatfield. Weezer continued rehearsing and recording demos until late 1998. Frustration and creative disagreements led to a decline in rehearsals, and in late 1998, Wilson left for his home in Portland pending renewed productivity from Cuomo. In November 1998, the band played two club shows with a substitute drummer in California under the name Goat Punishment, consisting entirely of covers of Nirvana and Oasis songs. In the months following, Cuomo entered a period of depression, unplugging his phone, painting the walls of his home black, and putting fiberglass insulation over his windows to prevent light from entering. Eventually during this time, Cuomo started experimenting with his music and ended up writing 121 songs by 1999. In the meantime, Wilson continued to work with the Special Goodness while Bell again worked with Space Twins. Welsh continued to tour with Juliana Hatfield.