Fans have raved over Weezer since their start in 1992. Many have been inspired by the fact that Weezer is a band of nerds, but their lyrics are inspiring.
“Weezer’s music speaks to me, especially [the line] ‘Beverly Hills, that’s where I want to be!’” said sophomore Caroline Pinsky.
On November 3rd, 2009, Weezer’s 7th studio album, Raditude, was released.
Surprisingly, Raditude was not highly anticipated by long time fans. In online forums, most fans agreed that Weezer’s song quality started declining after the release of Make Believe in 2005.
“(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” was released August 18, 2009. The song channels a nostalgic feeling about an awkward date with the parents through references to the movie Titanic or jokes about meatloaf, “We watched Titanic, and it didn’t make us sad… Your Mom cooked meatloaf even though I don’t eat meat; I dug you so much, I took some for the team.”
This song is a typical Weezer single; it’s very upbeat and catchy. After a few listens the song will get stuck in your head, but not in the annoying way.
“I Don’t Want to Let You Go”, the last song on Raditude, was a decent way to end the album. It is a love story about a guy that doesn’t want to let go of a girl who doesn’t like him. The song is fast paced with Rivers Cuomo’s singing, yet has soft acoustics and almost no drumming until the last verses of the song.
The songs “Love is the Answer” and “Can’t Stop Parting” were the songs in the album that just ruined everything. The lyrics to “Love is the Answer” have great meaning, “Love is the answer, Makes no difference what you have hear / Love is the answer / You have got to trust in the world.” On the other hand, the Hindi singing, which is nothing like the original “Jai Ho” from the movie Slumdog Millionaire, causes the song fell apart.
The Weezer and Lil’ Wayne collaboration for “Can’t Stop Parting” was the worst of the worst. Where did this idea even emerge from? Lil’ Wayne is a rap artist whose style is definitely far from Alternative Rock, but being featured on a Rock album is nothing new. He has rapped on another Rock album last year for Fall Out Boy’s Folie a Deux.
“He gave it the edge I was looking for. You can hear in his voice, it sounds so dark, like he was gonna get shot or something when he walks out of the studio. So I was real happy that everyone involved got what we were going for” said lead singer, Rivers Cuomo, in an interview for MTV. Lil’ Wayne’s rap solo was relevant to the song because it was about partying, but the song would have been much stronger without it.
Overall, Raditude was more of a miss, with one or two songs that really stuck out.
“I like Weezer, but the songs I like are limited. They are mostly from the older albums,” said sophomore Steven Urcinoli.
If you’re new to Weezer, the album “Pinkerton” or the singles “Pink Triangle” and “Say It Ain’t So” are better introductions to Weezer’s unique sound.
