[Miscellany]

(I just realised this is my 500th post - probably should have prepared something more poignant oh well)

By the time this band hit the scene the music industry was in the middle of a change. Grunge was dying a slow death and pop was coming back in a big way. In terms of Weezer, people started calling it geek rock, which I supposed was a reference to their attire but apart from that, there wasn't anything particularly geeky about them. If they had gone to your school they probably would have been pretty popular don't you think? Real geeks don't form bands and end up with multi-million copies of their album sold. I'm just sayin'. But despite the inconsistencies with image and sound I loved Weezer. A squishy; close my eyes and imagine myself floating in between the quavers on the music staff, kind of love.

I don't know where the time goes but I never get the chance to listen to whole albums of music anymore like I did back when I was a teenager. To be fair, I don't think the industry supports the art of a balanced and beautiful album anymore. They are few and far between. The iPod and iTune generation picks and chooses the songs they want from a line up and the rest fall away - unlistened and undiscovered. But that's only part of the problem anyway. Way back then it felt like I had all the time in the world to really fall in love with an album. I'd get it home, slip it into the player and spend hours playing the album back to back while pouring through the liner notes. These days the liner notes get a courtesy flip and quick read - back then I'd memories the 'thank you' section. I really can't remember the last time I put on an album and listened to it all the way through - waiting for the secret track at the end like I used to. I don't know where my priorities went but "growing up" is surely overrated if it means that I don't listen to music the way it should be listened to anymore.

I listened to Weezer's blue album like it was my best friend and we were settling down to a really long chat on the telephone where EVERYTHING was discussed. I put it on, I read through the notes, I imagined myself in the music. It was the first album in a while that I identified as happy music and that was something else entirely to what I'd been doing previously. Until then the musical landscape was inspiring but a little depressing - Kurt was dead, Eddie was mournful, Courtney was being bitter, Nick was - as always- deliciously black - but Weezer was just...fun and charming.

That is not to take away from the art. Every. single. song. on their blue album is a prize. I'm not really all that interested in Weezer's other stuff to tell you the truth. THIS album, THIS one is the one that really captured my imagination and heart. It's not serious, political or complex - but forget all of that. It's just a GOOD album and that in itself is an awesome thing. It made me laugh and imagine and my heart skip a beat.

This album also spawned what is in my opinion the best video clip of all time.

Buddy Holly - Weezer


Please, try the fish.

My Name is Jonas - Weezer

Labels: geek rock, ipod generation, memories, musical monday, the death of the album

posted by M at 7:33 pm 12 comments