“I had another Nightmare… Go back to sleep honey, everything will be alright in the end.”
That short exchange between a mother and her daughter is how Weezer’s new album, “Everything Will Be Alright in the End,” begins. In a way, that opening dialogue perfectly parallels Weezer’s career.
Every album from “The Green Album” on was a nightmare, and after a four-year gap following Weezer’s 2010 album “Hurley,” fans can wake up to see “Everything Will Be Alright in The End.”
Perhaps calling the six albums sandwiched between 1996’s “Pinkerton” and 2014’s “EWBAITE” a nightmare is a bit harsh. Granted, each of those albums had at least a couple choice cuts (except for maybe 2009’s “Raditude”). In no way could any of those albums be considered good, though, especially compared to Weezer’s first two albums, “The Blue Album” and “Pinkerton,” whose sound curated a new era of nerdy indie rockers and are widely considered two of the greatest albums of the 90’s.
Life has been rough for Weezer fans living in a post-Pinkerton world. Frontman Rivers Cuomo is no longer the sad, lonely, nerdy kid that he was in the mid-90s, so he no longer writes songs like he used to. But who can blame him?
Rivers has always made the music he felt like making, that he was in the mood to make. He wrote songs that made the world laugh, cry and that were uncannily relatable.
As Rivers grew older and as Weezer became hugely successful, Rivers stopped writing those songs of heartbreak, angst and frustration. He wrote what he felt, and what he felt did not always translate into quality music.
And now here we have “EWBAITE.” Rivers seems apologetic; he knows that he turned his back on the fans that loved Weezer’s first two albums, and he feels for them.
“EWBAITE” is a return to classic Weezer form with powerful crunching guitars and catchy melodies. Weezer even brought back Ric Ocasek, who produced their debut album “The Blue Album,” to produce this record.
Rivers is extremely self-aware on this album, and has clearly put a lot of thought and work into creating a solid record, something that can’t be said for the previous three Weezer Albums.
There are a few songs that miss (“Back to the Shack,” “Go Away”) but overall “EWBAITE” is a solid album. It is by no means as good “The Blue Album” or “Pinkerton,” but I don’t think it will ever be possible for Weezer to recreate the magic of those classic albums.
Thankfully, the band managed to rekindle its former glory much better than “The Simpsons” did.
“EWBAITE” makes me look forward to what Weezer is going to do next, and that is something that I have not been able to say for as long as I’ve listened to Weezer.
“Everything Will Be Alright in the End” will be available for physical purchase Oct. 7 on Republic Records.
