Is post-Pinkerton Weezer redeemed by its self-titled, colour-monikered albums? No:
- There is a couple of noteworthy albums with no colour-oriented alt title – see Everybody Will Be Alright in the End and OK Human.
- Some of those colour albums really aren’t very good.
But there is some quality within those albums, not to mention, The White Album is likely Weezer’s best album of the twenty-first century, and one of my personal favourite records of 2016, a year packed with great music.
I know I shouldn’t begin by besmirching Weezer so heavily, but it’s just so easy. I mean, look at that ^ I can’t not insult them without also praising them, and I doubt I could praise them without insulting them.
And would you look at that? Call it a cash-grab, but Weezer have now released a box set of each colour album, entitled Colo(u)ring Book, from Blue to Teal. Teal is a better shade, but worse album, ill-fated by boring covers, with no representatives making for entries on this list: top ten Weezer songs from albums with colours in their titles, excluding The Blue Album, because not only would we then be talking about the stuff everyone always talks about, but almost all the songs would be from that album. Let’s begin…
#10 – High as a Kite (Black)
Escapism in the face of modern struggle, High as a Kite serves as a preview, of sorts, to OK Human – which is a much better window into what Weezer are still capable of than The Black Album. A floating, symphonic chorus pictures Rivers at his most idyllic, meditative and pure-hearted.
#9 – O Girlfriend (Green)
Pinkerton was an urgent album that beautifully presented Rivers’ mid-‘90s unease. The Green Album would immediately shed such emotional fluidity, but O Girlfriend is one of the few album representatives that retains. Still, where Pinkerton chose unease, O Girlfriend chooses love in its urgency.
#8 – Jacked Up (White)
Jacked Up is evidence, if it was ever needed, that Weezer can still supply a sense of anxiety whilst opting for pop music. Brandishing the mixed aftereffects of devotion, Rivers’ confessions of hurt amid love are backed by a glossy piano that joyfully directs the weight of his words, and falsetto!
#7 – L.A. Girlz (White)
Rivers Cuomo is strangely funny whilst juggling affection with some of his less pretty thoughts, not to mention, dead passionate. Whether telling the female inhabitants of Los Angeles to act their age or dedicating “does anybody love anybody as much as I love you, baby?” to them, he’s pretty darn engaging.
#6 – Hash Pipe (Green)
Weezer have always been a pretty hard band, favouring overdrive despite playing fairly poppy music, but it still would have been a surprise to hear them come out with a heavy metal riff in 2001. Even in its simplicity, Hash Pipe’s riff is killer, and its descending falsetto vocal line is so good, it was stolen by Gwen Stefani.
#5 – King of the World (White)
King of the World, on its own, declares The White Album the spiritual successor to The Blue Album’s mix of agony and sentiment, featuring a little bridge section that emulates Only In Dreams. More than that, it is one of the sweetest dedications ever offered by Cuomo, promising to make up for the shit his wife has had to go through.
#4 – Wind in Our Sail (White)
Wind in Our Sail is another White Album representative that overcomes the potential setbacks of overproduced Weezer – I’ll take overproduced Weezer over poorly-produced Weezer (Make Believe), anyway. A gargantuan chorus will do that, wonderfully capturing the feel-good journey Rivers depicts in its lyrics.
#3 – Pork and Beans (Red)
In the era of Beverly Hills, and umm, mostly Beverly Hills, Weezer were bound for some memedom. If the meme/viral video-heavy music video of Pork and Beans doesn’t validate, its self-deprecating lyrics certainly do, looking to Timberland for a snazzier sound before busting through with a classic power pop chorus.
#2 – Island in the Sun (Green)
Island in the Sun is the best result of Weezer’s 2000s makeover. Fans of Pinkerton surely appreciated the sheer dirtiness of the album’s guitar lines, but Island in the Sun favours a cleaner sound; a serene distortion that glides a guitar solo like a plane over an…island in the sun. Very blissful, very tropical, mission accomplished.
#1 – California Kids (White)
The White Album’s opener is perhaps too idealistic on surface, glamorising the inhabitants of California as go-to Samaritans who will lend you a hand whenever. But I can’t fault the conviction that these California Kids are promoted with. The song’s chorus is stunning; a wrench of startled, but roaring, voices, and classic Weezer distortion that washes our fears.
