Weezer White Album Review
Review of the newest album from Weezer, the White Album. Similar colorful name with similar terrific results in the band’s 10th studio album.
To start, I would like to say how much I like the Google Play purchasing experience. I pre-ordered this album earlier this week and when I wake up, I have an email that says stream it now and it was pretty much immediate. I was very impressed.
Now to business though. The Weezer White Album is exactly what I wanted out of a Weezer album. It had the rock I was expecting with the melody that I now associate with the band.
It opens with the very melodic “California Kids.” It is just musically one of my favorite songs on the album and is slightly less deep lyrically than some of their other songs. However, that doesn’t take away from how much I like this song.
“Wind in Our Sail” has that soft summer sound to it. It also has some of the smart lyrics we have come to expect from Rivers:
We got the wind in our sail
Like Darwin on the Beagle
Or Mendel experimenting with a pea
We got the wind in our sail
Maybe not the strongest song musically on the album, but definitely in line lyrically with what you hope to hear from a Weezer album. The next song on the album is the first single, “Thank God for Girls.” Check out my review of this song.
“Good Thing” definitely has that West Coast vibe to it and is a nice little, but maybe not memorable song. Next up on our journey through this album is probably my favorite song from the album in “Do You Wanna Get High.” It has a richer melody with it and has some of the Pinkerton album feel to it that some of the rest of it just doesn’t have. If I had to pick one song that I will come back to over and over from this album, this will be it. Definitely quickly becoming a top Weezer track for me.
The next track is another single, “King of the World.” It definitely has that narrative feel in the lyrics that we have become used to with the band. It also has a deeper message in it than some of the other songs mixed in with kind of goofy lyrics. Kind of a love conquers all sort of motif that is a lot of Weezer love songs, but this one stands out amongst the rest and perhaps may be an example of Cuomo getting better with age.
“Summer Elane and Drunk Dori” will probably go down as an album song to me. A nice change of pace song but definitely will have no staying power. Every album seems to have them anymore and it appears Weezer is no exception. It leads into the last single from the album in “L.A. Girlz.” This song has a Green album feel to it but doesn’t feel like a departure from the rest of the White album. Definitely still has that West Coast feel to it (not just lyrics) that I will identify with this album above the others.
“Jacked Up” may go down as my least favorite track. Cuomo pulls that squealy thing he does from time to time trying to go to a higher register and in this song, it didn’t work for me. Musically, it is very strong with a nice piano track laid underneath the rest of the song, but the rest of it doesn’t do a lot more for me. With that, we get the final song from the album in “Endless Bummer.” A sort of melancholy summer anthem. It definitely caught my attention with it being an acoustic song that ramps into an electric solo for the end of the album – almost like an anti-Beach Boys sort of thing.
Overall, I really like the White Album and definitely feel it is way better overall than Everything Will Be Alright in the End. It has the quirkiness in lyrics that I really hope to hear in Weezer albums but doesn’t miss out on the opportunity to experiment musically which is what you have come to know from the band. While I don’t see it topping Pinkerton or the Blue Album anytime soon, I must say I am happy and pleased with the product this time.
To grade the album, a solid A- as there were a couple songs that will disappear to me.
