So what did you think of Weezer in 1994

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I loved the videos, thought the album was tremendous except for "Holiday" and "In The Garage," both of which I found hokey for some reason (don't now). One of my favorite albums to play air guitar to for years (man I haven't done that in ages, probably cuz I dance around rather than rawk out these days). One night when DJing at a local club I ended the night with "Only In Dreams" (I like ending with depressing stuff), inspiring at least one guy to burble about how this song meant SO MUCH to him back in the day, and all could do was nod in agreement and join him in an air-guitar raveup.

I'm really curious what people who WEREN'T teenagers at the time thought of Weezer too. And how does everybody feel about this album getting a 10th anniversary 2cd repackaging? I'm cool with it since it's my favorite album of that year (though at the time I would have said that REM's Monster was the year's obvious peak).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

to fix the contradiction in there, I haven't air-guitared by myself in ages, though I'm betting the last time I did was to "Buddy Holly" (which I probably like now more than ever)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:28 (twenty-two years ago)

i was...6 at the time and i loved it. i listened to it yesterday and i still love it. pretty sure i'm gonna buy the 2cd Thing....too bad they suck now

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:32 (twenty-two years ago)

also, which of the three videos did you find the most appealing? Juliana Hatfield voted for "Say It Ain't So" in Rolling Stone, but "Undone" was the one that made me wish I had a band back in that fantastically assy freshman year of high school.

Were Weezer the Pavement that rocked?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:37 (twenty-two years ago)

(and I say that as someone who considers Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain his second favorite album of 1994. And it sure meant more than Weezer to me back then...they were "indie")

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:38 (twenty-two years ago)

i liked the video for undone but their best video is probably el scorcho

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i loved them, but of course i would.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I was completely unaware of them.

― Rockist Scientist (rockistscientist), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought they were pretty boring/lame, although "Say It Ain't So" was good.

― Al (sitcom), Saturday, 20 March 2004 22:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought they were awful, feckless corporate rock mediocrity played by boring chancers who weren't doing anything interesting with their instruments. Completely average and unmemorable in every way. But then in 1994 I was heavily into jazz and blues and improv and old 70s stoner metal and funk, so they probably weren't for me anyway.

― Broheems (diamond), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:02 (twenty-two years ago)

this is going to turn into the "will you admit you were into proto-emo" thread, i just know it.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I've never liked emo, then or now. Unless Fugazi count as emo. I suppose they probably do; I like them a lot. They play their instruments in interesting ways. I remember when a copy of the Sunny Day Real Estate record first came into the record store where I was working at the time. I was really excited to hear it, because I was generally still pretty receptive to Sub Pop stuff - you know, that fun, funky riff-oriented rock music. I put that SDRE thing on and was like "what the fuck is this garbage?" One of the worst things I ever heard.

― Broheems (diamond), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't really like the whole new emo rock thing thats going on.

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I had a very cliched "this is everything bad about the post-alternative explosion" sort of response. I still don't like them at all, so hey.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 11 at the time and was only vaguely aware of Buddy Holly. I'm now a pretty big fan, but only have been for about the last two years.

― Chris Jones (Crackity Jones), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 12 and thought they were OK, no specific memories. At the time I was shifting from pop-radio and Ini Kamoze/Sheryl Crow as favorite CDs to the Dead Kennedys and Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Weezer, along with REM, were one of the few bands I liked who other kids in school had heard of (my hopeful cries of "have you heard of Pavement?" were always met with shrugs). Friends I made later recognized me as "that kid in the Sebadoh t-shirt" but I didn't know them at the time cuz they were in the alternative education program.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:41 (twenty-two years ago)

oddly, my response is the same as matos'.

― jack cole (jackcole), Saturday, 20 March 2004 23:42 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Weezer open for Lush (of all bands) at what eventually became the Hammerstein Ballroom (this is when it was basically two performance spaces, one up and one down, before they made it one huge room) on 34th street. The blue album had just come out. I hadn't been wildly impressed with "the Sweater Song", but they played "Buddy Holly" that night and I liked it enough that I went out and bought the album.....annoyed to find out that their live version of the song was much faster and harder.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 21 March 2004 00:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 16, and a dubbed tape of the record was one of only two tapes I had in my car (the other: a bluegrass comp). I don't remember what was on the other side of the tape, except that cuz of the length, it cut off midway through "Only in Dreams" and I'd have to flip it to hear the end. I screamed along HARD to the "stepfather" line in "Say It Ain't So" (my stepdad and I hated each other then). The record definitely meant a lot to me at the time. That and Definitely Maybe.

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Sunday, 21 March 2004 00:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked the way they looked. I thought "Sweater Song" was catchy but too goofy/novelty and subconsciously decided to wait for the next single before I'd actually buy the album. Turns out every Weezer song is goofy/novelty and I grow bored of them.

WHEN WILL WEEZER MAKE A SERIOUS SONG MAN

― Aaron A., Sunday, 21 March 2004 00:31 (twenty-two years ago)

"In Dreams" was pretty serious. And Pinkerton, in a way.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 21 March 2004 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 21 in 1994; going to college in Saint Paul and working at a day-treatment program in scenic Eagan, Minnesota. I spent a lot of time in the car, listening to the "modern rock" radio stations. Weezer just seemed like another band that got a lot of radio play -- like Green Day, Offspring, Crash Test Dummies, Liz Phair, etc.

― subgenius (subgenius), Sunday, 21 March 2004 00:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 16. I liked them okay. I sang along to "The Sweater Song" and thought the "Buddy Holly" video was pretty neat. But I remember on the way back from Lollapalooza '95, the indie-rock/punk kids I went with (who were there for Sonic Youth and Hole) asked me what I thought of Weezer. And I thought the correct answer (because I really wanted to impress them) was that they were, I dunno, maybe catchy but ultimately not worth taking seriously at all, a novelty band. Because that summer, I was starting to get interested in the weird side of alt-rock -- two CDs I remember very specifically buying that June or July were Shudder to Think and Tricky (both of whom were in fact played on the radio still). And so what was Weezer but big dumb pop songs? And then one of punk kids said, maybe this girl who liked Morrissey and ska, in that order, "Oh, I don't know, I kinda like 'em."

But it wasn't until college that I realized that a lot of indie-rock and emo kids liked 'em, and not in any kind of guilty-pleasure way. What I thought of Weezer in 1999 was that I couldn't go to any goddamn house party without the Blue Album being put on the stereo at, like, 2 AM, when everyone's drunk and nostalgic. But I just never had that connection to the band.

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 21 March 2004 01:28 (twenty-two years ago)

1994 was a weird summer, to be sure.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 21 March 2004 01:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm this close to posting the lyrics of "Only In Dreams" here. In italics.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 21 March 2004 01:48 (twenty-two years ago)

(in...the...air...)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 21 March 2004 01:52 (twenty-two years ago)

get the hook

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Sunday, 21 March 2004 01:56 (twenty-two years ago)

I bought blue and Pinkerton when the latter came out, promptly forgot about them until I started listening to Jets to Brazil and Jawbreaker, etc., and then got caught up in the wave when they began touring clubs again.

I promptly stopped caring again after seeing them on the Yahoo tour, though. Worst live show I ever saw. Even Ozma(!) was better.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 21 March 2004 02:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 14, I believe, when I finally broke down and bought the blue album (all my friends had it!) and it was probably among the first 10 cd's I ever bought (Pearl Jam's Vs.! Automatic for the People!) and, yeah, one of my first major air guitar experiences, I'm sure. I played the living shit out of this record and burnt out on it pretty hard after just a few months. I think even at 14 I was aware of the emotional shallowness (and totally turned to In Utero when I wanted to like, you know, really FEEL something).

― cws (cws), Sunday, 21 March 2004 02:32 (twenty-two years ago)

They meant about as much in Britain in 1994 (and now for that matter) as Oasis did in the US in errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, well any time really. Didn't realise they were of any significance to anyone, anywhere, really - friends and family aside of course.

― Dadaismus (Dada), Sunday, 21 March 2004 03:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Matos sez it all.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 March 2004 03:26 (twenty-two years ago)

"Weezer just seemed like another band that got a lot of radio play -- like Green Day, Offspring, Crash Test Dummies, Liz Phair, etc."

This was my experience with them. I was 18 at the time. 10 years later, my feelings still haven't changed - just replace the other radio bands with Audioslave, Blink-182, etc. I still don't really "get" them. Maybe it's because I never heard Pinkerton or something....???? I was actually shocked when, a few years ago, I realized their Blue Album was so highly thought of (I hadn't paid so close attention to music/music writing in general for about 5 years).

They had cool videos, though.

― kickitcricket, Sunday, 21 March 2004 03:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I like Phair and Green Day, the Offspring had their moments before novelty songs became their bread and butter, so maybe that's why I still like Weezer. I never had a personal mainstream-alt-rock backlash because I skipped that era completely, outside of the radio.

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 21 March 2004 03:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I never really had a alt-rock backlash either. I had Dookie and Superunknown, etc, at one time, for example. I guess I just didn't think that Weezer would stand the test of time out of all those bands that I heard back then.

What I want to know is, when are they coming out with the 10-year anniversery CD of Sponge's "Rotting Pinata".

― kickitcricket, Sunday, 21 March 2004 03:43 (twenty-two years ago)

haha i just threw away my copy of rotting pinata man what a horrible album.

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Sunday, 21 March 2004 06:52 (twenty-two years ago)

my detailed study of weezer over time

I was 13 in 1994...didn't like the sweater song...loved buddy holly. got the blue album and played it constantly...loved its consistency.

― MerkinMuffley (MerkinMuffley), Sunday, 21 March 2004 08:15 (twenty-two years ago)

er...the link to the study is here

― MerkinMuffley (MerkinMuffley), Sunday, 21 March 2004 08:16 (twenty-two years ago)

in 1994 i'd never heard of them.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Sunday, 21 March 2004 11:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 11 for most of 1994 and had only seen the "Buddy Holly" video a couple of times. I thought it was cool and I'd never even heard of Happy Days. I then heard nothing of them until The Green Album (I wasn't really into music when Pinkerton came out), I borrowed my friend's copy of Pinkerton and fell in love with them.

― Nick H (Nick H), Sunday, 21 March 2004 12:42 (twenty-two years ago)

They didn't really make it over here until 1995. When they did the line on them was "the Beach Boys crossed with the Pixies" which I didn't buy even aged 14. I mostly like 'em though

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Sunday, 21 March 2004 13:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I liked them, never saw the videos. They were like the pop-band I liked.

― jel -- (jel), Sunday, 21 March 2004 13:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I was a 30-something magazine editor then and Weezer didn't really speak to me but seemed like something 'the kids' might be digging. Rivers Cuomo was kind of nutty and provided great copy, and they had that Happy Days-quoting video that reminded me how shitty high-school was in 1974. All very calculated and cynical sounding now -- my reaction, I mean. The music sounded unobjectionable, though too cute and self-conscious for my rarified tastes. Though it sure seemed like Weezer struck a chord w/its demographic. Hence this thread. Jesus, I'm a geezer.

― lovebug starski, Sunday, 21 March 2004 14:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i remember his hair changed quickly.

― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 21 March 2004 15:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I was a newlywed and was surprised when my wife brought home the cd. I was convinced that they were just a one-hit wonder with "Buddy Holly." I thought the sweater song was such a blatant, popped-up rip off of the Pixies' "I Bleed" that I couldn't even believe it. But then I listened to the album and as soon as I heard "No One Else," I was hooked. "I want a girl who will laugh for no one else / When I'm away she puts the make up on the shelf." They were a guilty pleasure of mine. I remember whispering to a friend at the time, "Dude, don't tell anyone, but I REALLY like that Weezer album."

― elvissinatra (elvissinatra), Sunday, 21 March 2004 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I always thought "No One Else" was creepy. I liked Weezer a lot, but I was about 12 then (so I liked novelty songs, but had progressed beyond Weird Al). They were purposely marketing their 'nerdiness' which was novel I guess (they stole the album cover from the Feelies didn't they?). I really liked Pinkerton when that came out because I heard them on Modern Rock Live and thought they were clever young lads or something. Far better than Bush at any rate. As this was 1996 they said they were going to vote for "whoever the libertarian candidate was" which was an unusual thing to say. Weezer is more ubiquitous than Nirvana for people my age (as I hear the Special Goodnes blasting out of my radio) I am now pretty burnt out on them and I cannot for the life of me understand the obsessive fandom that can be found on the internet. Will kids 5 years from now still be drawing that W-thing on their notebooks? I hope not. But I am giving the Deluxe Edition of the first album a listen. Some of the songs on the second disc are pretty good.

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Sunday, 21 March 2004 16:46 (twenty-two years ago)

You can't resist her
She's in your bones
She is your marrow
And your ride home
You can't avoid her
She's in the air
In between molecules
Of Oxygen and carbon dioxide
Only in dreams
We see what it means
Reach out our hands
Hold on to hers
But when we wake
It's all been erased
And so it seems
Only in dreams

You walk up to her
Ask her to dance
She says "hey, baby I just might take the chance"
You say "It's a good thing
That you float in the air
That way there's no way I will crush your pretty toenails into a thousand pieces."
Only in dreams.

― ModJ (ModJ), Sunday, 21 March 2004 16:52 (twenty-two years ago)

What's on the second-disc, B-sides?

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Sunday, 21 March 2004 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Dusty Gems and Raw Nuggets
1. Mykel and Carli b-side
2. Suzanne b-side
3. My Evaline b-side (this is like barbershop quartet shit)
4. Jamie originally on DGC rarities
5. My Name is Jonas live b-side
6. Surf wax America live b-side
7. jamie live acoustic b-side (this is the superior version I think)
8. No One Else live acoustic b-side
9. Undone - The Sweater Song previously unrealesed kitchen tapes (judging by these I think I'd like an album of 'kitchen tapes' better than any actual Weezer album - they aren't all Ocasekized)
10. Paperface previously unrealed kitchen tapes
11. Only in Dreams previously unrealed kitchen tapes
12. Lullaby for Wayne previously unrealed pre-production recording
13. I Swear It's True previously unrealed pre-production recording
14. say it Ain't So original album mix

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Sunday, 21 March 2004 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

What other early 90s albums have gotten a 10th-anniversary reissue like this, besides Slanted and Enchanted?

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 21 March 2004 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Skipping 58 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

I've never been interested in Stipe-the-mumbling-poet, so the glamminess of Monster was v. appealing.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 22 March 2004 16:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I think part of the reason why I like Monster and Hi Fi more than the other REM albums is because they are so much more sexual.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 22 March 2004 16:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I think that's the same reason why Pinkerton has my favorite Weezer songs on it.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 22 March 2004 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

i didn't watch mtv or listen to rock or really any music in 1994. i was in eighth grade. i remember my friends saying that this one guy in our grade "looked like the guy from 'buddy holly.'" i knew who buddy holly was and roughly what he looked like so i was confused cuz this guy didn't resemble him. he didn't even wear glasses.

a few years later when i got into that stuff i saw the buddy holly video and thought of brian bell, "gee, he looks kinda like that one guy i used to know" and then everything sorta slid into place and i had one of those weird moments where you suddenly figure out something that you had given up as inscrutable long ago. i kinda live for those moments.

― j. pantsman (jpantsman), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 02:04 (twenty-two years ago)

My older brother had and loved the cassette and I knew most of the words to "My Name is Jonas" before I even heard the song. Then I heard him perform "Undone (The Sweater Song)" with a band at camp. I dug. Then I started to listen to alternative radio and it all came together.

God, I can't believe it's been 10 years already. And yes, yes, yes this album merits the two-discer.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember what I thought of Weezer in 1999, too. I was at a coffeeshop when someone working there was playing the debut and I was thinking, "This is the worst fucking album I've ever heard. God, this is EVERYTHING bad about the '90s in one fucking go. This is the reason irony is a bad idea! Who the FUCK still listens to this shit?!"

Naturally, a year later, they were back and big again. My opinion hasn't changed all that much although their comeback has made for some fairly fascinating cult-studs-type spectacle.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 02:15 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.bigalcartoons.com/images/illustration/baseball_bait_fish.gif

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 02:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Monster got 4 1/2 stars in Rolling Stone

has anything REM ever done gotten less? LIke Neil Young and U2, there is some kind of rule at that magazine that dictates that no matter how shitty, these bands albums will always be given the benefit of the doubt. (Maybe not anymore, I haven't looked at RS in five years at least).

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 03:05 (twenty-two years ago)

that's still the case with all of 'em (though I think Broken Arrow only got three stars).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 03:07 (twenty-two years ago)

uh, no bait intended, Anthony--I'm not you. I was just pointing out how incredibly surprising Weezer's comeback/critical rehab was for people who didn't like them.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 04:06 (twenty-two years ago)

That's for sure. After Rivers fucked off to Harvard I sorta thought that was the end of that...

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

i remember hearing advance word about Pinkerton on the local alt.rock station, a few months before it was to be released, and thinking "Somebody out there is actually *waiting* for Weezer to make another album? HA HA HA".

then i got to college.

― Dave M. (rotten03), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 07:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Yup.

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 07:23 (twenty-two years ago)

uh, no bait intended, Anthony--I'm not you.
sorry, but when you post again days after you already said you didn't like them to note that you think (or thought) it was the worst album ever and a bad example of "irony" (which actually I'd like you to elaborate on, I've never quite understood what's so ironic about the album itself - irony in the videos is obvious though), it seems like you're aiming to rile.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:38 (twenty-two years ago)

plus I find it ironic you consider me a baiter (but not yourself) when my infamous comments about folks like Dizzee Rascal and Basement Jaxx were a lot more fleshed out than "worst ever" and "yuckkk GBV sucks!"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

(haha except for that one about Dizzee having to suck on Squier to get on the Wal-Mart intercom. Forgot about that one.)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I hated weezer even before this incident.

― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Ouch.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 16:39 (twenty-two years ago)

haha! I too have been horrified by a band repeatedly covering "Say It Ain't So." There was this Beach Boys cover band in my high school who threw that in song in their set list and I had to hear them soundcheck it repeatedly. I must admit it's not the song I'd would have picked for someone to play endlessly.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 18:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I never really listened to Weezer in '94. I had some idea in my head that they were a boring, corporate alternative knock-off so I never really bothered to check them out. They might have had more of a chance with me if they had been on an indie label. At the time I was mainly getting into avant-garde, noise, improv and the like, so they were kind of off my radar screen anyway.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I heard "The Sweater Song" and thought, "Oh, another guitar band I don't need to pay attention to." Since then, the only song of theirs I've warmed to is "Hash Pipe".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:44 (twenty-two years ago)

thought they were crap then, still think they are crap now, although somehow not surprised that so many of my "peers" have been suckered into liking them.

― hstencil, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:45 (twenty-two years ago)

haha, one of my neighbors taught himself guitar by playing "say it ain't so" over and over again one summer. I hated him. What was weird is that I couldn't even remember where I'd heard the song before until after he finally moved out.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthony, get over yourself last month.

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:56 (twenty-two years ago)

(Miccio not Monday)

― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 19:57 (twenty-two years ago)

ther recorded their demos at the studio next to the radio station i dj-ed at and i thought they sounded teh suck. ~6 months later they were all over MTV and Sam Goody. it was, as they say, a "rapid ascent". i think they made a video before they played a club.

― gygax! (gygax!), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:07 (twenty-two years ago)

let's see, I was in college when this came out, the videos for "Buddy Holly" and "Sweater Song" were all over the airwaves. The first time I heard "Sweater Song" I was convinced it was the crassest corporate Pavement-ripoff possible and it *really* bothered me. "Buddy Holly" I liked more cuz it was catchy and had that neat little guitar riff break... but in general they just leave a bad taste in my mouth. They really don't have any good ideas. As time has gone on I've grown to resent them more. In that I think there are other bands they stole from who did things much better and more creatively. Every time I hear them I get irritated that they've distilled the most commercial elements of other, better bands while leaving out all the interesting or challenging bits. Plus there was this interview w/Rivers conducted by Joe Matt - dealing w/groupies and underaged asian girls in particular - that was one of the most offensive things I've ever read, at which point I decided I would probably hate Rivers on a personal level if I ever met him, he came off so goddammned creepy and lecherous, akin to Gene Simmons.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I was lukewarm at first, although I though the fonzie video was funny.. But when Pinkerton came out, I started to like them more .. until I read an article about modern CDs using too much compression and it hit me how guilty Weezer was. I haven't enjoyed them since.

ergo, reading is bad.

― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

for example: "Buddy Holly" = pale imitation of the same joke used in Pavement's "Silence Kit", only with easier-to-digest lyrics and cleaner playing. LAME.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I thought of them as decent post-Nirvna alternarock, fit easily in rotation with Filter, Breeders, Mad Season, The Presidents of the USA, etc. Never wanted to buy the album, still haven't heard it outside the singles (which I liked OK).

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Shakey, would you mind explaining the "Silent Kid"/"Buddy Holly" connection for me? I have no idea what you are talking about.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

the verses of "Silence Kit" use the chords and melody to Buddy Holly's "Every day, it's a little closer, goin faster than a rollercoaster..." song. The tune is a reapppopriation of Holly and his pretty 50s pop ouevre distorted thru the lens of the "slacker" generation. Weezer's song does the same thing (especially w/the video), only stupider.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, okay. I was fixated on the lyrics, which is how I missed the obvious shared reference. Thanks!

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember about a month where I pretended to like them way more than I actually did just cuz my friend Josh was on and on about how "corporate" they were and that seemed like such a retarded reason to hate a band.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 21:42 (twenty-two years ago)

In 1994, I thought, 'Oh, that's what happened to Rivers.' Hadn't seen him since we were both 4-year-olds and he lived across the street from me.

― spittle (spittle), Tuesday, 23 March 2004 22:24 (twenty-two years ago)

I just remembered. Back in '94, me and my friend used to get a big kick out of this part of the Sweater Song. It reminded me of folks I knew growing up in Orange County. To this day, it still makes me chuckle when I hear it....

[Matt:] Hey bra, how we doin' man?
[Karl:] All right.
[Matt:] It's been a while man, life's so rad! This band's my favorite man, don't ya love 'em?
[Karl:] Yeah.
[Matt:] Aw man, you want a beer?
[Karl:] All right.
[Matt:] Aw man, this is the best. I'm so glad we're all back together and stuff. This is great, man.
[Karl:] Yeah.
[Matt:] Hey, did you know about the party after the show?
[Karl:] Yeah.
[Matt:] Aw man, it's gonna be the best, I'm so stoked! Take it easy bra'.

― kickitcricket, Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:18 (twenty-two years ago)

i don't believe i have ever heard them

― mullygrubber (gaz), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey.. hi there... can i buy you a drink? a margarita...or maybe a daiquiri.... what do you think about this band? they're kind-of New Wave.. riding the Crest, so to speak... Oh, oh-- you don't want to dance w/ me? oh, i guess it's true you can't really dance to that kind of music now, can you..oh.. i mean, billy idol says you can dance all by yourself-- but- oh, you don't want to...

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:21 (twenty-two years ago)

gygax is that from some specific song? or does it just register w/me for some more mysterious, undefinable reason...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:26 (twenty-two years ago)

it is the intro to the descendents' "sour grapes" (search: the hallraker live! version)

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:35 (twenty-two years ago)

aha - yes it's all coming back to me. I was always a big "Milo Goes to College" fan.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Wednesday, 24 March 2004 00:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Confused 'em with Ween.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 25 March 2004 13:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw Weezer open for Lush (of all bands) at what eventually became the Hammerstein Ballroom (this is when it was basically two performance spaces, one up and one down, before they made it one huge room) on 34th street. The blue album had just come out. I hadn't been wildly impressed with "the Sweater Song", but they played "Buddy Holly" that night and I liked it enough that I went out and bought the album.....annoyed to find out that their live version of the song was much faster and harder.

-- Alex in NYC (vassife...), March 21st, 2004.

HOLY SHIT ALEX I WAS AT THIS SHOW!!!!!

― Jeanne Fury (Jeanne Fury), Thursday, 25 March 2004 15:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I just caught "The Good Life" on The Wedge. It's awesome! Is all of Pinkerton like that?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 27 March 2004 05:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I was like, 15 when the blue album took over my highschool. (Eerily, I think I know the same Micah as a previous poster, except I don't think mine was old enough to drive when he was in his blue album phase, maybe I'm wrong though. Delta Secondary or no?) Presented with the choice of this or Aerosmith (the only two choices afforded those attending my school in 1994), I chose Weezer, but only because I sorta liked 'Surf Wax America'. I later saw Tricky's cover of 'Black Steel' at like 3 am on Much Music and was saved, although I picked up Pinkerton on a whim a couple of years later and really, really liked it. (Enough to keep it to this day. It's not quite as consistently rocking as The Good Life, mr previous poster, but it's worth a listen if you liked that track).

I guess you could say I liked them, but only out of some vague sort of peer pressure, not any sort of real affinity.

― minolta (minolta), Saturday, 27 March 2004 05:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I was 20 and a sophomore in college. I liked the "Buddy Holly" single/video, so I bought I copy of the Blue Album. For some reason, I found the other songs uninteresting (compared with "Buddy Holly," they seemed kinda dry), so I didn't listen to it very much ("Slanted and Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" were more appealing). When "Pinkerton" came out during my senior year, I was unimpressed with "El Scorcho" -- the musings of a hypersensitive guy with an obsession for Asian women didn't seem like the sort of thing that I wanted to listen to. In October 2000, word of mouth -- and Chuck Eddy's favorable mention in the "Stairway" update -- inspired me to pick up a copy of "Pinkerton," and I've been a major Weezer fan ever since. I agree with the above poster who opined that listening to "Pinkerton" is essential to understanding Weezer's greatness.

― John Fredland (jfredland), Saturday, 27 March 2004 11:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Their first single arrived on our uni jukebox at the same time as Boyzone's first single ("Love Me For A Reason"). We hated "Buddy Holly" and when some guys 2 years younger kept putting it on the jukebox we responded with repeated plays of the Boyzone record, in fact we worked out a dance to go with it. At the time it felt like striking a blow for HAPPY POP FUN over GEEKY KNOWING FUN but then we were rather drunk. Nowadays I like Weezer a little more but not much and I still dislike that song but I have to admit they've made better records than Boyzone.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Saturday, 27 March 2004 11:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I just caught "The Good Life" on The Wedge. It's awesome! Is all of Pinkerton like that?

get the album, Sundar. You'll love it.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 27 March 2004 18:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember Columbia House sent me Monster instead of some Slayer album by mistake. Man, was I ever disappointed when I opened up that package...

― original bgm, Saturday, 27 March 2004 20:13 (twenty-two years ago)

can u fax my popopooooooooppoooppoopioiiiooppipppiiioioppppoioioipoipoipooiipipoooooooiopipoipoipiioioioipoiopioioiooiippins without a doubt. i thought i'd bend u ova. they luv it pushd reet up.

― scoob, Sunday, 28 March 2004 02:41 (twenty-two years ago)

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