 As one of the most popular groups to emerge in the post-grunge alternative
rock aftermath,
Weezer received equal amounts of criticism and praise for their hook-heavy
guitar pop. Drawing from the heavy power pop of arena rockers like
Cheap Trick and the angular guitar leads of
the Pixies,
Weezer leavened their melodies with doses of '70s metal learned from bands
like
Kiss. But what set the band apart was their geekiness. None of the members
of
Weezer, especially leader
Rivers Cuomo, were conventional rockers -- they were kids that holed up in
their garage, playing 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 like "Undone (The
Sweater Song)," "Buddy Holly," and "Say It Ain't So" into big modern rock hits
during 1994 and 1995. All the singles were helped immeasurably by clever videos,
which may have made the songs into hits, but they also made many critics believe
that the band was a one-hit wonder. Perversely,
Cuomo began to feel the same way, and decided that the band would not rely
on any visual gimmicks for their second album, 1996's Pinkerton. Simultaneously,
Cuomo took control of the band, making them into a vehicle for his
songwriting. While the album didn't sell as well as their 1994 eponymous debut,
it did earn stronger reviews than its predecessor.
Cuomo's assumption of the leadership of
Weezer wasn't entirely a surprise, since he had been the band's primary
songwriter since their inception in 1993.
Raised in Massachusetts,
Cuomo moved out to Los Angeles to go to college in the late '80s. During
high school, he had played with a number of metal bands, but once he arrived in
college, he became interested in alternative and post-punk music. By 1993, he
had formed
Weezer with bassist
Matt Sharp and drummer
Patrick Wilson. Over the course of the next year, they played in the
competitive Los Angeles club scene, eventually landing a deal with DGC during
the post-Nirvana
alternative signing boom. Three days before the band began recording their debut
with producer
Ric Ocasek, they added guitarist Brian Bell. Upon completing the record,
Weezer went on hiatus temporarily --
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 hit 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 hit 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,
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 album 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 band contented themselves to be a supporting
group for
Cuomo, largely because each member had their own solo project scheduled for
release within the next year. DGC, however, had the band make one last chance 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 to
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
dismal reaction to their sophomore effort (ever-fickle Rolling Stone 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 side projects (Bell:
Space Twins,
Wilson:
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
recording studio to record their third release,
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" (a title given by
fans since it was their second to be self-titled). Issued in May of 2001, the
album was an immediate hit, debuting at number four on Billboard and camping out
in the upper reaches of the charts for much of the spring/summer, during which
such songs/videos as "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. That fall and winter the group busied themselves with touring with
bands like
Tenacious D and recording their next album Maladroit, which arrived a year
after "the Green Album." 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. In 2004 Weezer returned to the studio, working with Rick
Rubin on their fifth full-length album. Make Believe appeared in May 2005,
prepped by the single "Beverly Hills." ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine & Greg Prato,
All Music Guide
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