Mate's Takes - The Weezer Discography

[Kory]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

[matedog]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

No "1"s coming with that one although it is going to be a lot more negative than anything I have done thus far. Oh and there is one "1" point review coming in the future.

[Still216]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

No "1"s coming with that one although it is going to be a lot more negative than anything I have done thus far. Oh and there is one "1" point review coming in the future.

I'm probably the only one on here waiting anxiously for a review of the Extreme discography.

[Heston]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

No "1"s coming with that one although it is going to be a lot more negative than anything I have done thus far. Oh and there is one "1" point review coming in the future.

I'm probably the only one on here waiting anxiously for a review of the Extreme discography.

Get the funk out!

[Still216]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

No "1"s coming with that one although it is going to be a lot more negative than anything I have done thus far. Oh and there is one "1" point review coming in the future.

I'm probably the only one on here waiting anxiously for a review of the Extreme discography.

Get the funk out!

There's a hole in my heart that can only be filled by Matedog's Extreme discography review.

[Marky Dread]

This review is spot-on. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Maladroit.

No "1"s coming with that one although it is going to be a lot more negative than anything I have done thus far. Oh and there is one "1" point review coming in the future.

I'm probably the only one on here waiting anxiously for a review of the Extreme discography.

Get the funk out!

Extreme Noise Terror would be better.

[matedog]

I just downloaded all of the Maladroit demos to make this a complete review. Ugh, this is going to be a chore.

[Still216]

I just downloaded all of the Maladroit demos to make this a complete review. Ugh, this is going to be a chore.

I look forward to your review of Maladroit, or as I call it, "The Keep Fishin' EP With Twelve Or So Completely Unnecessary B-Sides"

But then the green album is my favorite Weezer album, because I like big, stupid, loud arena-rock love songs.

Apropos of nothing - I was knocked out of the third round of a statewide spelling bee when I was 12 because I spelled "maladroit" wrong. Mind you, the asshole orator pronounced it "maladrite" and I spelled it as such. Oh well.

[matedog]

I just downloaded all of the Maladroit demos to make this a complete review. Ugh, this is going to be a chore.

I look forward to your review of Maladroit, or as I call it, "The Keep Fishin' EP With Twelve Or So Completely Unnecessary B-Sides"

But then the green album is my favorite Weezer album, because I like big, stupid, loud arena-rock love songs.

Check out the new one. It is worthwhile.

Apropos of nothing - I was knocked out of the third round of a statewide spelling bee when I was 12 because I spelled "maladroit" wrong. Mind you, the asshole orator pronounced it "maladrite" and I spelled it as such. Oh well.

Fucking bastard.

[matedog]

Intro -

Following the success of Green, Rivers balls began to fall back down into their normal place. Guitar solos make a welcome return (which was foretold by them creeping back into the live Green album tracks on tour), structures became more inventive, and the band broke from their sacred ten song format. Interestingly, the band posted demos of the tunes as they were working on them on their website to get fan feedback. I don't think I have ever seen a band of such stature do this to this day. For me this was great because I got new tunes on a regular basis. As with the Summer 2000 demos, I am not going to review all the tunes not used on Maladroit but I will say that for the most part, they are uninspired songs and jams without much to differentiate them from each other and for the most part are inferior to what made the album. One of the notable exceptions is "Saturday Night" which reminded me a bit of El Scorcho with its yelping background vocal looseness and catchy as hell 1-4-5 progression. If you are to check it out, go for the DC demo as opposed to the odd demo that appeared during the proper album sessions. The DC demo begins with Brian Bell saying something like "That's the way Let it Be was...." As for the album itself,

1. American Gigolo - 4. Maladroit begins with this lurching riff heavy tune. I still have no idea why the chose to open with this sludgy song beyond the first lyric. I guess it is an appropriate introduction to the world of Maladroit - snazzy drumming, heavy riffs, awful lyrics, occasional melodies, general half baked compositions.
2. Dope Nose - 7. Badass tune and one of the best of the post-Pinkerton era tunes. It is as nonsensical as the rest of the album lyrically without even an attempt at wit. Ignore that and have fun - it's catchy and has tons of "whoa"s. This is where the return of Rivers, Guitar God first and maybe best comes in play on this album. The solo here is ripping and concise, just what it needs to be. Further credit should be given to Pat Wilson's nifty syncopated beat during the riff. The demo version has a much more straight forward beat which is not only less interesting, but less effective. A worthy addition to their catalog.
3. Keep Fishin - 6. This one was the big single from the album. It's biggest merit is its clever structure alternating from a swung 8th note beat verse to a driving straight rock chorus. It even features some classic Weezer off kilter vocals. And the less than coherent lyrics kinda work on this one. With all that it has going for it, I wish I could like it more. The chorus is decent when it needed to be great in order to solidify the tune as a great, clever Weezer song.
4. Take Control - 4. Another sludgy riff rock song. Bits I enjoy (the "won't be coming back..." line), while other stuff I don't (pretty much everything else). The solo is uncharacteristically clunky but beyond that, there is nothing more overtly negative to add.
5. Death and Destruction - 2. This song first appeared on their website in demo form as an instrumental. Musically, it is quite nice and a good change of pace from the up beat rockers that preceded it. The main problem is the vocal that Rivers added. This is probably the worst offender of the "Rivers writing generic lyrics" era. Not only that, but the vocal delivery reinforces his lack of giving a shit. The melody is completely unmemorable throughout which does the rest no favors. I read a review when the album came out that said this song was his most personal since Pinkerton. That reviewer is wrong for so many reasons and it makes me hate the song oh so much more. It's a shame because instrumentally, it is a decent tune (save for the tastefully unsound solo). And god, he spells out "I love you" at the end. Just awful.
Showing some gained wisdom with age, the song returned on the Make Believe tour back in instrumental form.
6. Slob - 6. I was surprised to find this one has held up rather well. This is the second and final of the Summer 2000 tunes to be included on a proper album and hasn't changed much in execution from the demo. The strength of this song lies in a surprisingly inspired vocal from Rivers. Of course the lyrics are stupid (although they do seem to make sense), but the melody and the double time/regular time transitions bolster Rivers' vocal.
7. Burnt Jamb - 5. Nice contrasting mellow jam with hard rock out. The lyrics are an after thought which is further reinforced by the fact that this song first surfaced in demo form as an instrumental. Neither good nor bad, but pretty forgettable.
8. Space Rock - 3. Awkward falsetto lead vocal from Rivers and the lyrics are about...the weezer message board and his difficulty dealing with fans criticisms on the board. Ugh. Nothing much else to bring the song up after that except for a serviceable melody on the chorus and some good drumming from Pat.
9. Slave - 6. Decent little tune. The non sensical lyrics actually work well with the strong melody. It is interesting that bands like The Killers can get away with lyrics that don't really make much sense, yet the phrasing can convey or evoke a certain emotion regardless of the actual meaning of the words as a group. To a lesser extent, this works with this song. Mate factoid: I ripped off one of the fills in this song unknowingly for a demo I did with one of my bands.
10. Fall Together - 4. Maybe the hardest rocking tune on the album, certainly the most metal solo Rivers on the album. Good drumming, so so riff, so so lyrics, vocals, melody, etc. Beyond the solo and the drumming, there is nothing good or bad about this one which ultimately leaves it as substandard but not awful.
11. Possibilities - 5. This one sounds like it starts in the middle of the song with some driving guitars and drums followed by an awkward solo with some awkward backing vocals. Once the verse gets going, things sail by better. This is a pretty spirited performance which overcomes the lack of development of the song itself. Decent.
12. Love Explosion - 6. Very odd rewrite of Locomotion with some above average riffs. Being that it uses the same winning melody as the aforementioned classic, this one is easy pretty damn catchy. Zero points for creativity, plus points for it being a snappy tune.
13. December - 4. Another alright tune with a superior demo version. When it came time to record this for the album, Rivers deemed it necessary to eschew all the subtleties of the demo for a more ham fisted arrangement. Gone are the 1-3-8 harmonies and musical sparseness, and its place are the usual Maladroit...noise. Like the previous albums, this is another ballad closer. Better than O Girlfriend, but not by much.

B Sides - Mercifully, most b-sides were live takes of Green album material
14. Living Without You -4. This appears to be taken from the later demo sessions and is completely untouched. Consequently some pieces are a bit rough (the back up vocals for example). This driving rocker lacks the hooks to make it memorable in anyway.

Conclusion: This was a drastic stylistic departure from the Green album in many ways. Rivers' confidence made the album a bit more fun but clearly the intent here was to jam and knock out an album a year and a tour after a previous album. Of course the biggest victim is the god awful lyrics. But at least on a musical level it is, for better or worse, more interesting than its predecessor if less well thought out.

[matedog]

Hey Flex, party time?

[Flex]

Hey Flex, party time?

Party time indeed.

[Kory]

Hey Flex, party time?

Party time indeed.

So what's going to be on it? There's no listing of tracks beyond the album proper, plus the hilarious mislabeling of "Scorcho."

[matedog]

Hey Flex, party time?

Party time indeed.

So what's going to be on it? There's no listing of tracks beyond the album proper, plus the hilarious mislabeling of "Scorcho."

I think it's just a place holder of sorts.

[matedog]

A mere shell of my former weezer fandom of the turn of the millennium, I rarely search youtube for weezer related videos but whenever I do, I turn up some weird shit -
[youtube][/youtube]
Weezer with Kenny G doing a solo

[youtube][/youtube]
Rivers with some acapella group doing Don't Worry Baby. His pitch isn't very good but he gives it a good effort.

[youtube][/youtube]
Undone live/acoustic with some dude named Tim Levitch doing these really bizarre raps throughout. Must see even for non-weezer fans.