Weezer

As one of the most popular groups to emerge in the post-grunge alternative rock aftermath, Weezer merged the heavy power pop of arena rockers like Cheap Trick and the angular guitar leads of the Pixies while injecting their melodies with doses of ’70s metal gleaned from bands like Kiss. What truly set the band apart, though, was their geekiness. None of the members of Weezer, especially leader Rivers Cuomo, were conventional rockers: they were kids who holed up in their garage to play along with their favorite records when they weren’t studying or watching TV. As a result, their music was infused with a quirky sense of humor and an endearing awkwardness that made songs from their debut, Weezer (aka “The Blue Album”), into big modern rock hits during the mid-’90s. Weezer’s early singles turned into hits with immeasurable help from clever videos, and the quickly canonized 1994 debut was followed by a more artistically than commercially motivated 1996 sophomore effort, Pinkerton, which was adored by critics and set the tone for what became the band’s long and winding career. As years turned into decades, Cuomo’s idiosyncratic personality seeped more and more into his songwriting, resulting in albums that ranged from the catchy nerd rock of 2009′s Raditude to the enduringly tender orchestral pop songcraft of 2021′s OK Human, as well as their ambitious four-part EP series SZNZ in 2022.
Raised in Massachusetts, Rivers Cuomo moved to Los Angeles to attend college in the late ’80s. During high school, he had played with a number of metal bands, but upon his move out west, his interests broadened to include alternative and post-punk music. By early 1992, he had fused such interests together and formed Weezer with bassist Matt Sharp and drummer Patrick Wilson. Over the course of the next year, the group played in the competitive Los Angeles club scene, eventually landing a deal with DGC during the post-Nirvana alternative signing boom. Three days before Weezer began recording a debut album with producer Ric Ocasek, they added guitarist Brian Bell to the mix. Upon completing the record, Weezer went on hiatus; Cuomo was studying at Harvard when their eponymous debut record came out. With the support of DGC and a striking, Spike Jonze-directed video, “Undone (The Sweater Song)” became a modern rock hit in the fall of 1994, but what made Weezer a crossover success was “Buddy Holly.” Jonze created an innovative video that spliced the group into old footage from the sitcom Happy Days and the single quickly became a hit, making the album a multi-platinum success as well.
By the time the album’s final single, “Say It Ain’t So,” was released in the summer of 1995, the group had gone on hiatus once again, with Cuomo returning to Harvard. During the time off, Sharp and Wilson formed the new wave revival band the Rentals, who had a hit later that year with “Friends of P.” During the hiatus, Cuomo became a recluse, disappearing at Harvard and suffering writer’s block. When Weezer reconvened in the spring of 1996 to record their second album, he had written a loose concept album that featured far more introspective material than their debut. Ironically, the band sounded tighter on the resulting album, Pinkerton. Released in the fall to generally strong reviews, the record failed to become a hit, partially because Cuomo did not want the band to record another series of clever videos. Grudgingly, the remainder of the bandmembers contented themselves being a supporting group for Cuomo, largely because each member had his own solo project scheduled for release within the next year. DGC, however, had the band make one last stab at a hit with “The Good Life,” but by the time the single was released, MTV and modern rock radio had withdrawn their support not only of Weezer but their style of guitar-driven punk-pop in general.
Shortly after the tour in support of Pinkerton was completed in 1997, it appeared as though Weezer had fallen off the face of the planet. Stung by the public’s initial reaction to their sophomore effort (Rolling Stone even named Pinkerton the Worst Album of 1996), the band took time off to regroup and plan their next move. Unhappy with the sluggish rate of the reassessment period, Sharp left the group to concentrate more fully on the Rentals, fueling rumors that Weezer had broken up. But a funny thing happened during Weezer’s self-imposed exile — while their copycat offspring were falling by the wayside (Nerf Herder, Nada Surf), a whole new generation of emocore enthusiasts discovered Weezer’s diamond-in-the-rough sophomore effort for the first time, and their audience grew despite not having a new album in the stores.
Once Weezer’s members wrapped up work on their side projects (Bell with Space Twins; Wilson with the Special Goodness), the band recruited former Juliana Hatfield bassist Mikey Welsh to take the place of Sharp and began working on new material. Before they could enter the studio to record their third release, however, Weezer tested the waters by landing a spot on the 2000 edition of the Warped Tour, where they were consistently the day’s highlight. Hooking up again with the producer of their 1994 debut, Ric Ocasek, Weezer recorded what would be known as “The Green Album” (an informal title given by fans, since it was actually their second self-titled release). The album was an immediate hit, debuting at number four in May 2001 and camping out in the upper reaches of the charts for much of the spring/summer, during which such songs like “Hash Pipe” and “Island in the Sun” became radio and MTV staples, reestablishing Weezer as one of alt-rock’s top dogs. During their tour that summer, Welsh fell ill and was replaced by Scott Shriner, also of the band Broken. (Welsh died in Chicago in October 2011 at the age of 40.) That fall and winter, the group busied itself with touring alongside bands like Tenacious D and recording their next album, Maladroit, which arrived a year after The Green Album’s release.
Just before Maladroit’s release, former bassist Matt Sharp sued Weezer, seeking compensation and songwriting credit for songs such as “Undone (The Sweater Song),” “El Scorcho,” and “The Good Life.” The band eventually reconciled with Sharp, though he didn’t rejoin, and Weezer continued on with the lineup of Cuomo, Bell, Wilson, and Shriner. The limited-edition live EP Lion and the Witch appeared in May 2002, and Maladroit’s “Keep Fishin’” was released as a single. Most of 2003 was spent on side projects; Cuomo did some hired-gun songwriting, Bell’s band the Space Twins put out End of Imagining, and Wilson’s Special Goodness project issued Land Air Sea. Weezer returned to the studio in 2004, working with Rick Rubin on their fifth full-length album. Make Believe appeared in May 2005, prepped by the single “Beverly Hills,” and eventually went platinum in multiple countries. Weezer (Red Album) followed in 2008 and featured a more collaborative approach, with several bandmembers contributing songwriting ideas and lead vocals to the tracks. One year later, the group returned with Raditude. Greeted with mixed reviews, Raditude marked Weezer’s last album for Universal. They jumped to the indies in 2010, releasing Hurley on Epitaph. The new album was quickly followed by two archival releases: an expanded deluxe edition of Pinkerton and the outtakes collection Death to False Metal.
Weezer took their time returning to the studio, finally re-emerging in the autumn of 2014 with Everything Will Be Alright in the End, a record produced by Ric Ocasek and released on Republic Records. Greeted by generally good reviews, the album debuted at five on the Billboard 200 upon its October 2014 release. In the fall of 2015, the band delivered a pair of new singles — “Thank God for Girls” and “Do You Want to Get High? — the first fruits of their sessions with producer Jake Sinclair. One other single, “King of the World,” appeared in January 2016, timed to arrive at the announcement of their tenth studio album. Another self-titled, color-coded (this time, it was white) album saw release in April. Weezer’s White Album peaked on the Billboard 200 at number four and was followed by an extensive tour with Panic! At the Disco.
A year after the release of the White Album, the band returned with “Feels Like Summer,” the first single from their 11th LP, Pacific Daydream. Released in October 2017, Pacific Daydream boasted a more modern sound than its predecessor and rose into the Top Four of the Billboard Alternative and Rock charts. Months later in 2018, the group placated social media fan demand by delivering a faithful cover of Toto’s classic “Africa,” but not before they first issued a cover of that band’s “Rosanna.” “Africa” became Weezer’s first Hot 100 hit since 2009′s “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To,” entering the chart at number 89. Toto returned the favor by covering “Hash Pipe” in August 2018.
“Africa” turned out to be the cornerstone of the surprise January 2019 release Weezer (The Teal Album), a collection of covers. Two months after The Teal Album, Weezer finally delivered Weezer (The Black Album), a record Cuomo began teasing during the promo cycle for Weezer (The White Album). Produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, The Black Album appeared in March 2019. In 2020, the band issued the singles “Hero” and “The End of the Game,” both of which were slated to appear on their forthcoming album and return to huge, Van Halen-inspired guitars, Van Weezer. After multiple setbacks related to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the completion of Van Weezer, the band returned to material they’d first conceptualized and started work on several years earlier. A collection of songs inspired by Harry Nilsson and the Beach Boys, complete with string parts played by a 38-piece orchestra, OK Human was released in January 2021 as Weezer’s 14th full-length album, with Van Weezer pushed back for a release later that year when touring could resume. Van Weezer wound up appearing in May 2021, just prior to their summer tour.
Weezer quickly followed their twin albums of 2021 with a four-EP project called SZNZ. A mock abbreviation for “Seasons,” each of the four EPs is pegged to a different season in the calendar; the intent is for the music to match its respective season. SZNZ: Spring arrived in March of 2022, followed by SZNZ: Summer in June, SZNZ: Autumn in September, and SZNZ: Winter in December. Each EP consists of seven new songs. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine