I have been a hardcore WEEZER fan since the age of 12. I spent many a night in high school pining over a girl listening to "Blue", many a night hating a girl listening to "Pinkerton", and many a night not giving a fuck listening to "Green".
Even when "Maladroit" came out, while people were talking shit about it being too "bro-ish", I was digging it. Loud guitars, crunchy power chords, slick ass guitar solos, and catchy songs. It was anthemic rock music, but it was played by nerds who managed to get somewhere by staying nerds.
Rivers Cuomo proudly cites YNGWIE MALMSTEEN as one of his biggest influences. Nerds.
After "Maladroit", however, things got really bad. The music turned into decidely un-rock n' roll slabs of sugary pop bullshit marketed solely for radio play.
What's wrong with being played on the radio? I listen to the radio, I dig music on the radio, so there's nothing wrong with that in my book, but THESE FUCKING SONGS SUCKED.
"Beverly Hills" what the holy fuck? It's catchy and I will sing along to it, but WHAT THE FUCK? How did THAT song come out of such an awesome band like WEEZER?
It left myself and tons of fans in a daze, but it didn't stop with "MAKE BELIEVE".
Then came "RED", which many hoped would be a huge redeeming platter of rock n' roll in the WEEZER fashion. I mean, another untitled "color" themed album? They HAVE to step up for that one.
Not true.
While "RED" was more interesting than "MAKE BELIEVE", as it seemed to be one of the more diverse albums the band had done, it was still a big pile of shit.
Then came "RADITUDE".
The first single for "RADITUDE" is a badass song called "I WANT YOU TO" and gave me hope for this album. But what happened next is nearly unforgivable; AUTOTUNE.
Autotuned vocals in a WEEZER song?
I was done. WEEZER was dead to me. Never again would I venture to hear a new WEEZER song for fear of utter disbelief and disappointment.
Then comes "HURLEY". The stupidest album cover in the history of music. An album that just HAD to suck because the band had seemingly just given up on any attempt at art, but...it doesn't.
"HURLEY" is a solid album. It is not "BLUE" or "PINKERTON", but if I had to compare it to a previous WEEZER album, it is closest to "GREEN".
Strong hooks, crunchy guitars, big on the melody and a little on the raw side, "HURLEY" is a gigantic beam of hope for WEEZER fans.
I'm sorry for this massive rant, but I needed to let you know that it's okay to take a chance on this one. Give it a shot.
