Review Summary: Rivers Cumo channels superpop to his highest potential and the band follows suit making for one fun rock ride and one of the most fun albums of the group.
There are some bands that get better and better as they go along and I think that mostly has to do with the experience that they pick up along the way, as well as a desire to change. As good as Make Believe is, after two albums of silly pop punk, Weezer had to change it up a little bit if they were going to stay relevent to the public and to fans in general. And change they did. Weezer managed to take the anthem qualities of old classic pop bands like the 80s and mesh it with their own unique style to create one of the most fun and versatile albums of the career. Rivers Cumo channels superpop to his highest potential and the band follows suit making for one fun rock ride and one of the most fun albums of the group.
The album starts off with a down beat strum acoustic track called If You're Wondering If I Want You To (I Want you To), a Fallout Boy like title signifying what's to come and then as it escalates into a full on silly pop album, I'm Your Daddy kicks in and really starts the show with a really cool electric drum beat and some bouncy vocals. There is even a section of the bridge and a catchy as hell chorus with great harmonies. From here on out the album gets a little goofier with The Girl Got Hot and Can't Stop Partying but the catchiness factor never lets up until the end of the album. The lyrics on this are something to truly be commended; Rivers is at the top of his game in terms of silliness as well as vocally. His voice has never been beautiful like Freddy Mercury's but his delivery is truly hilarious on some songs and his funny lyrics only multiply the fact. The lyrics of In the Mall are both stupid and self aware and I don't think they've ever written a song that is more vapidly entertaining. After writing about it for several years, they finally mastered it with this song.
Another great thing about this song is that it has virtual no duds, even though its all across the map as far as genre goes. If there is a weak song, its probably Love Is the Answwer although the song itself isn't to blame: it's the over long Indian section that really gets this one started off on the wrong foot; other than that it's a great song, like the rest. I disagree with the song Put Me Back Together as a single because it's a little too ballady to be, I would have made the Let It All Hang Out, the fun song, the single, but then again, I'm not Weezer. But what I do know is that they truly have created a fun album with this one, and will likely never match the silly tone that this album provides.
