Pinkerton

Product Details

• Published on: 1996-09-24
• Released on: 1996-09-24
• Running time: 0 seconds

Customer Reviews

FANTASTIC DEAL!
This is my favorite Weezer album and at $2 it's a STEAL! If you're looking to get more into Weezer buy this album! It's awesome.

Avoiding the sophomore slump
I am going to get this out of the way right at the start: I think Weezer's self-titled debut, or "The Blue Album", is arguably song for song one of the more perfect albums that I've listened to with nary a song that I'd consider cutting (even In the Garage which initially I didn't care for). "Pinkerton", the follow-up, is often considered the definitive Weezer release and the best of their entire career but most didn't feel that way and the album got mixed reviews though people now see it as classic over time. While it is certainly a stellar record, I always hold "the Blue Album" in higher regard though "Pinkerton" more than holds its own.

Tired of Sex: About the frustrating easyness of sexual encounters without love, the song is gritty and rocks hard with a great solo. 9.5/10

Getchoo: A great singalong and though the verses are simply okay, the chorus makes up for it and I even prefer the bridge out of all of it with the syncopation going on. 8.5/10

No Other One: Not as raucous as the last one but it's good though it's a bit repetitive so it's not really excellent though strangely that weird lead riff is catchy. 8/10

Why Bother: A bit more punk-rock in its sound and one of my favorites on the album. A bit on the short side but it's a perfect length: get in, get your feet bopping and get out. 8.5/10

Across the Sea: Strangely, people always call this the best song on the CD and while I don't mind it, I never thought it was the best. Very lyrically honest about a letter Rivers received, the song is strong in and of itself and I'd recommend listening anyway. 8/10

The Good Life: Ah, here we go. Catchyness all over the place from its main riff, the beat and of course its chorus. Hell, even the slide solo can be hummable. Definately one of the stronger songs on the album. 9/10

El Scorcho: The first single and the one that practically turned people off immediately. Lyrically it works, it's fun to sing along to chorus and it's got a fast-paced breakdown. Why was it panned? "Buddy Holly II" it wasn't, I guess. 9/10

Pink Triangle: The third single and one of the best on the album as Rivers finds a crush is actually a lesbian. Catchy in its own way and a highlight from their career as well. 9.10

Falling For You: Rivers mentioned this as one of his best songs he's written and while musically complex and a strong hook, it's sandwiched between Triangle and the next song after this so I usually skipped it but it's good anyway. 8/10

Butterfly: Not as heavy or loud as the others but I consider this my favorite on the record. There's quite a lot of emotion in the singing, the lyrical metaphor for relationships, it's kind of befitting that the heaviest song on the record can be the most tender. 10/10

Sure the record shouldn't have gotten that much hatred as it did and while I still prefer the debut, I'd heartily recommend checking out the cd.

rock your socks off, young fella
Wow, where to begin? This is the best Weezer album, with the possible exception of the never completed often mythologized Songs from the Black Hole. Only 10 songs long, it is a snappy jangle of rock and roll wistfulness. Lyrically renown as Rivers' most brutally honest and revelatory album, it is hard to pick out a single song that sticks out. One of those albums that you just put in the player and enjoy; no need to hit the skip button. Personal favorites include Tired of Sex (even if for the title alone), Across the Sea, the Good Life, and El Scorcho.

Whoa, Rivers, that's pretty good...

Pinkerton... where to begin? Most Weezer fans favor either this album or the Blue Album as Weezer's best (the Green Album is generally accepted as inferior to these two). The majority of them favor Pinkerton. But why? Pinkerton was a commercial failure, at least compared to the Blue Album. When it was first released, no one liked it. Not even me.

But time changes everything. When I first heard Pinkerton, I thought, "Whoa, Rivers, what do you think you're doing?" (Rivers Cuomo is the band's frontman.) On the surface, Pinkerton sounds like a desperate, overly emotional and possibly even annoying this-is-my-life-story kind of album. With time, it evolves into one of the most mind-blowingly awesome rock albums of the nineties.

To what do we owe this bizarre transition? All that I can figure is that people tend to hear without listening. When they first hear Pinkerton, they think, "Man, this doesn't sound cool." They don't really pay attention to what they're hearing.

After a while, they begin to pay attention to the words, the rhythms, the infectious melodies, and then they're hooked. To everyone's surprise, the music all of a sudden sounds really, really good. I'm talking good enough to bring about vicarious happiness, anger, longing and sadness - maybe even enlightenment. Trust me, it's happened with a lot of people.

so this is it..,

here it is - this is the album that drove Rivers into seclusion for several years, writing songs for himself in his room and throwing them away.

this is the album where he felt liberated, where he would be creating this new sound for everyone. the emotional nakedness he hinted at in Weezer (funky blue cover) became fully realized here. not only his voice showed his emotions, you can hear it in every note of his fractured guitar - the soaring, pins and needles feeling it elects out of you with every solo, every vibrato. the music drove you because he sang about a pain not only secular to him, it's an album he made for YOU just as much as him. you almost wanted to grab cuomo and tell him everything will be alright by the end of Butterfly, crying and muttering to yourself how your girlfriend/boyfriend is an idiot.

a funny thing happened. about the time this album came out, power-pop/punk was going on it's way out. this cd was left on the side, pushed away in favor of nameless bands long forgotten. only making gold (as opposed to the 4 million weezer sold), cuomo freaked and closed the door on his musical career for awhile to sort through it all.

earlier this year, cuomo and company came out just enough to hammer enough songs to make a new album, one just released earlier this month. Weezer (funky green cover) seems to be poised as a new beginning for this band. the switch from blue to green, the retro-funky clothes - you can tell from the beginning that this is the same weezer you loved...but...somethings...just...different. something doesn't add up, that's only confirmed when you come back and listen to Pinkerton right after dispensing Weezer (green) out of your cd player.

Pinkerton's emotional beauty, the harsh nakedness and razorblade rhythm cuts deep. every song makes you want to sing, not only because of the melody (which is outstanding), but because you FEEL his pain. Tired of Sex, Across the Sea, Good Life - these are the songs i yell while i'm driving to work, cd-player blasted up, anger and energy thrown on top of it. critics blasted this at first because they expected meandering pop w/o substance. they bought into spike jonzes' videos about weezer - the geeky sensibility, the happy-go-lucky charm. it took critics years before they realized how amazing this album truly is - after rivers locked himself into his room, after everyone forgot who weezer even were.

the green album that was released but only a few days ago. where pinkerton soars and climaxes, green takes a calculated approach and just bops. cuomo hasn't the power anymore to show us what he feels in his music. for better or for worse, pinkerton scared him off that path. from now on, it seems as if cuomo will become another faceless/nameless songwriter who hides behinds his lyrics (albeit still VERY good songs).

so here is pinkerton - on one hand one of the best albums released in the 90s, yet simultaneously something which drove its creator to the brink of depression. the weezer you see now is 1/2 of their former self. here they are at their height.

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