Showing posts with label Weezer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weezer. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

There May Come a Day When We Have Nothing Left to Say


Raditude - Weezer

Listening to their debut a lot recently, it is easy to see why Weezer’s latest album Raditude falls flat, and it is not just the silly title (almost as silly are some of the song titles I’m Your Daddy and The Girl Got Hot). With all its geek tendencies the original Weezer just rocked with shredworthy licks throughout every song while most of Raditude, the guitars are just blended into an overproduced wall of sound. Their first album was chalk full of songs that were sing-a-long-worthy even after one listen, whereas on the latest Rivers Cuomo’s voice is also victim of the overproduction and just fades into the music.

As embarrassing as some of the song titles are, there are some songs on the disks that are even more cringeworthy. The Polow da Don produced (yes you read that right) Can’t Stop Partying featuring Lil’ Wayne (“It’s Weezer and it’s Weezy, it’s upside-down MTV,” seriously) sounds like a darker version of Beverly Hills after Cuomo got accepted by the culture. Hearing Cuomo talking about homies a decade and a half ago was quirky; hearing the forty year old version do so on Let it All Hang Out is just corny. Then there is Indian influenced Love Is the Answer which is just too tree hugging hippieish for a Weezer song. I don’t know if they were trying to make a U2 song, but whatever the case, it fails miserably.

There are some sparkles of hope on the disk; Put Me Back Together is classic Weezer, from the love gone wrong lyrics to the guitar feedback that ends the track. Trippin’ Down the Freeway bounces along in typical Weezer fashion with Rivers sounding like Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day at certain points of the song. And first single (If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To may be the greatest Cheap Trick song they never wrote. But that isn’t enough to save a lackluster album.

Song to Download – (If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To

Raditude gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.



Weezer on iTunes


Monday, November 02, 2009

I Want My Music Television vol. LXVII


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I thought I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


(If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To – Weezer



Coming off their induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame, Weezer has a new album out tomorrow which means we get another thoughly entertaining video from the band. And the Weezerville theme certainly doesn’t disappoint thanks in part to the moderately attractive Odette Yustman.


Who'd Have Known - Lily Allen



Keep in mind the public feud Lily Allen had with Elton John a year or so ago. Too bad Elton was up for actually appearing himself.


Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys




Doesn’t Mean Anything – Alicia Keys



Alicia Keys is pulling doubles duties with her first single off her upcoming album and providing the hook for Jay-Z who definitely has the better video of the two. But if Jay goes back to the black and white video, it should have been for a song on par with 99 Problems, one of his best ever.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Do You Believe What I Sing Now?


Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album)

After suffering through three years of grunge, fun started to creep back into rock in 1994. Beck made everyone who didn’t select Spanish as their foreign language requirement regret it, the Beastie Boys picked up their guitars (and ill fitting wigs) to Sabotage us. Then there was Weezer who were one of the few rock bands that didn’t mind choosing glasses over contacts. Hey, it even gave then a good idea for a song considering the glasses made them reminiscent of the last famous male rocker who wore them, Buddy Holly.

Sure the band sang about Dungeons and Dragons and twelve sided dice, but don’t lump them in with other nerd rock of the nineties like Barenaked Ladies. What set them apart was their love for hard rock (Rivers Cuomo even calls Kiss his favorite band during In the Garage). Sure there are quirky songs (Buddy Holly), bizarre songs (Undone – The Sweater Song), and the depressing sort (Say it Ain’t So) but in every song the band makes sure there is at least one shredworthy solo with crushing guitars throughout most of the songs.

All the while each and every song is power pop heaven with required sing-a-long lyrics no matter if they are upbeat (No One Else) or not (The World Has Turned and Left Me Here). “I made love to your memory one thousand times in my head,” a lyric from the latter, made the former teenager hit repeat multiple times. But it is those singles that will stand the test time.

Even at the height of alt-rock, you are not to find much bigger hits more odd then Undone –The Sweater Song with its two word per line verses with background voice splitting them up and its spastic ending. Not that it matter because when it came to the chorus, it all became who could shout it the loudest. Buddy Holly instantly because one of the greatest video of all time thanks to its Happy Days infusion. And for whenever your parents kept you up fighting, all you had to do was to slip on your headphones and let Say it Ain’t So (which was inexplicably was flipped recently by Asher Roth for his ode to college) and down them out. Which is why the original Weezer album is this month’s induction into the Scooter Hall of Fame.



Friday, February 20, 2009

I Want My Music Television vol. XLIV


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.

I Love College - Asher Roth



I never thought anyone would ever beat out Puff Daddy for most inappropriate sample ever when he turned a song about stalking (Every Breathe You Take) into a song about a fallen friend (I'll Be Missing You), but Asher Roth now wins that title taking Weezer's song about an absentee father (Say it Ain't So) and flip it into a party jam. Yet I cannot hate on a dude for starting a song "I wanna go to college for the rest of my life." I feel you bro. Except who has enough money to drink Miller Lite? Natty Lite is the beer of college.


Welcome to Heartbreak - Kanye West



As proven by his attempt at singing, Kanye West is proving to be too ambitious for his own good. Like in his new video where which looks like when my cable box starts to read the cable bad and gets that off color, streaming effect. Instead of going off to work in the fashion industry, Kanye needs to go back to college and rediscover his roots. And destroy his auto tuner.


Love, Save the Empty - Erin McCarley



I may have my man card revoked for writing this but He's Just Not That Into You looks almost watchable, not that I am rushing to the cinema to watch it. Granted when I say it looks watchable I am really only talking about the scenes with Ginnifer Goodwin and the Mac Guy in an Ed reunion. The other parts look like your token romantic comedy drivel. For more on Eric McCarley, check out my review of her debut album: You Hold Your Head Up to the Sky and Say What Kind of Blue Are You.


He's Frank - The BPA featuring Iggy Pop



I can typically get behind videos with puppets, and the last video from The BPA landed at number one of the Best Videos of 2008, but the Iggy Pop puppet just scares me a little. Of course the real one kind of has the same affect on me so I guess the video works on that level.

Friday, December 26, 2008

30 Best Music Videos of 2008


This may have been the easiest list to make ever because lets face it, there is nothing more entertaining than boob pong. After that it was a race for the other twenty-nine. I have embedded the first couple videos, the rest you can click the link to follow to YouTube and if you are interested in buying the videos, click the iTunes links.


1. Toe Jam - The BPA Toe Jam (feat. David Byrne & Dizzee Rascal)



2. Who's Gonna Save My Soul - Gnarls Barkley



3. Honey - Erykah Badu Honey



4. Champion - Kanye West

5. All I Need - Radiohead Radiohead - In Rainbows - From the Basement - All I Need



6. Strange Times - The Black Keys

7. Pork and Beans - Weezer Pork and Beans

8. American TV - Ben Lee

9. Good Morning - Kanye West Good Morning

10. Going On - Gnarls Barkley Going On

11. Chasing Pavements - Adele Chasing Pavements

12. Your Song - Kate Walsh Your Song

13. Viva la Vida (Anton Corbijn Version) - Coldplay Coldplay - Prospekt's March (Bonus Video Version) - Viva la Vida (Anton Corbijn Version)

14. Oxford Comma - Vampire Weekend Oxford Comma

15. Just a Dream - Carrie Underwood Just a Dream

16. Cath... - Death Cab For Cutie Cath...

17. Birthday Girl - The Roots & Patrick Stump Birthday Girl

18. House of Cards - Radiohead Radiohead - In Rainbows - From the Basement - House of Cards

19. Love Lockdown - Kanye West Love Lockdown

20. Picture to Burn - Taylor Swift Picture to Burn

21. Get Busy - The Roots, Dice Raw & Peedi Peedi

22. The Fear - Lily Allen The Fear

23. Violet Hill - Coldplay Violet Hill

24. The Weight of Her - Butch Walker The Weight of Her

25. Soon We'll Be Found - Sia Sia - Some People Have Real Problems - Day Too Soon

26. Boys With Girlfriends - meiko Boys With Girlfriends

27. The Resolution - Jack’s Mannequin The Resolution

28. Lovers in Japan - Coldplay Lovers In Japan

29. Love Story - Taylor Swift Love Story

30. Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects Gives You Hell

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

I Want My Music Television vol. XXXVI


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Another Way to Die - Alicia Keys and Jack White



It is becoming clear that Alicia Keys should stay away from the rockers. Here duet with John Mayer was the weakest track on her last album, and this track is not much better. And as a James Bond theme this may rank near the bottom.


Where I Stood - Missy Higgins



There is an other, arguably better version of this video, released earlier this year but the song is worth showing again because the Missy Higgins song is one of my favorite of the year.


Troublemaker - Weezer



This decade, for the most part the music Weezer makes is vastly hit or miss, but their videos are always at the very least entertaining.


The Resolution - Jack's Mannequin



The first album from Jack's Mannequin was solid and if The Resolution is any indication, the new album, out this week, will be worth the listen.


It should also be noted that yesterday Kanye West released his video for Love Lockdown. I could not find an embed code anywhere but you can see it on his website Kanye Univerity or you can download Love Lockdown on iTunes.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

I Want My Music Television vol. XXVII


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Pork and Beans - Weezer



What is sad is that I was going to blast the latest Weezer video since Barenaked Ladies already did the internet phenomenon video until I realized that there has been so many new cross over sensations in the year since that video there really not much over lap. And I didn’t realize how attractive Miss South Carolina was when she wasn’t talking. But the Leave Britany Alone guy needs go back to obscurity and stay there.


All Summer Long - Kid Rock



For a second there I though Kid Rock was playing himself as the younger version. It is creepy thinking there is a dead ringer for Rock out there.


Warwick Avenue - Duffy



Mercy is a nice upbeat throwback. The latest from Duffy is simple and effective, the song and the video. I am very close to putting her above Amy Winehouse in the latest import category.


Chasing Pavement - Adele



Speaking of which the latest is Adele who, see if this sounds familiar, is a big hit in her native England, has a retro yet modern feel and is Mark Ronson approved. Nonetheless, a cool looking video, but are there any British people out there can explain what Chasing Pavement means to a Yank?


Download some of these somgs DRM free at Amazon MP3:



Wednesday, April 30, 2008

2008 Spring Music Preview


The first quarter for music is pretty boring but the past winter saw surprise releases from Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, Gnarls Barkley and The Raconteurs that came out without the usual months long hoopla, instead coming out within days of their announcement. Hopefully that trend continues because there isn’t much on the docket for the spring that really piques my interest that much. Wait, apparently the trend has as you can expect an album from Foxboro Hot Tubs (i.e. Green Day’s garage band side project) “any day” now. Here is a list of the albums that at least caught my eye.

If you are interested in preordering the albums from Amazon, the link on the album name will take you their, the links on artists names will take you to their iTunes page. If I left one of your favorite artists off the list with an upcoming album feel free to drop me an e-mail or feel free to wax poetic in the comment section on which albums you are looking forward to. (Note: release dates subject to change):

May 6
Home Before Dark - Neil Diamond: Yet another round of songs from the Diamond created with the help of Rick Rubin. You can preorder Home Before Dark on iTunes and get a bonus preorder-only track.

Gavin DeGraw - Gavin DeGraw: His first album was listenable in an easy listing kind of way. But that was five years ago. DeGraw says the new batch is more rock as evident from the first single, In Love with a Girl. But how rocking can something be when working with Daughty’s producer? You can pre-order Gavin DeGraw on iTunes.

Snack Time - Barenaked Ladies: It has been a while since they have created a great song, but rarely do they put out anything bad.


May 13
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie: If the eight minute opus of I Will Possess Your Heart is any indication, the new album will be a big departure from the breakthrough of their last album. You can preorder Narrow Stairs on iTunes and receive a bonus track.

Blame it on Gravity - Old 97’s: Maybe the best band no one outside of Texas has heard of is back for some more southern rock.

Rockferry - Duffy: The latest Bristish import who is like Amy Winehouse without the modern feel, potential drug overdose, or jail time. The more I listen to Mercy, the more I am looking forward to the whole album. You can pre-order Rockferry on iTunes.


May 20
3 Doors Down - 3 Doors Down: Third time wasn’t the charm for the band as Seventeen Days was a huge disappointment. Hopefully they can rebound. You can pre-order 3 Doors Down on iTunes and get a bonus pre-order only track.

Anywhere I Lay My Head - Scarlett Johansson; Julianne Hough - Julianne Hough: Julianne Hough is what I like to refer to as moderately attractive, but I couldn’t make it more than a minute into her video before I had to turn it off. Johansson’s stab at Tom Wait songs do not fair much better. Hopefully the two stick to their day jobs.


May 27
Lay it Down - Al Green: Hopefully ?uestlove of The Roots can do for Green what Rick Rubin was able to do for Johnny Cash. John Legend, Corinne Bailey Rae and Anthony Hamilton also guest on the album.

Same Old Man - John Hiatt: Simply one of the best songwriters of the past couple decades.


June 3
Perfectly Clear - Jewel: Her last album bombed now Jewel is trading in her van for a cowboy hat for a country album.

The Glass Passenger - Jack’s Mannequin: Shortly before the first album was released, Andrew McMahon was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Natually they were not able to promote the album since he was recieveing cancer treatments so the gem was widly unnoticed. Now that his treatments are over, hopefully the new disk will reach a larger audience.

Rock My World - Bret Michaels: No, seriously, that is the name of his album.


June 10
Seeing Things - Jakob Dylan: The Wallflowers are basically a one album wonder, a decade after that hit; Bob’s son has hooked up with Rick Rubin for a solo album.

Seeing Sounds - N.E.R.D.: When not producing for other people Pharrell William is pretty hit or miss with his solo outings and trio N.E.R.D. You can download the first single Everybody Nose for free over at Spinner.com.

Self Portrait - LaLah Hathaway: All I know is that her dad is named Donnie whom you may know best as the dude that was referenced by Amy Winehouse, “There’s nothing you can teach me that I can’t learn from Mr. Hathaway.”


June 17
Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay: There has been nothing more disappointing this decade that X&Y to the point where the album almost sounded like a Coldplay cover band. The band has said to have broadened their musical palette this time around with lead singer Chris Martin, taking a break from singing hooks for rappers, discovering lower register for his vocals this time around. This week only, you can download their first single, Violet Hill on their website, Coldplay.com.


June 24
Weezer - Weezer: Just start calling it The Red Album now to avoid confusion with their two other self titled albums. You can pre-order Weezer on iTunes and receive a pre-order only track and a unique password to purchase Weezer concert ticket on Ticketmaster.com before the general public.


July/August
(Expletive Deleted) - Nas
Life, Death, Love and Freedom - John Mellencamp
Everything Comes and Goes - Michelle Branch
TBA - Ben Folds
TBA - B.B. King
TBA - Ray LaMontagne

Saturday, January 14, 2006

It's All About the Hamiltons


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form. First I like to mention the latest addition to the iTunes library, classic Saturday Night Live skits. Granted they seem a little overpriced because the price of a skit is the same as the price of a whole episode of Lost, $1.99. They are also selling Best of… collection at $9.99 a pop and even have one for Jimmy Fallon which must be over an hour of dead air. Unfortunately you cannot buy the skits here separately so you can just get the Cowbell skit from the Best of Christopher Walken. So if you want to take a look at what they have, including the great Lazy Sunday rap from a couple weeks ago from where I stole the title of this post, click on the ad in my sidebar. For the other videos, I advise you to watch them first (the links to the video are the bold headers, inside the post will lead you to iTunes) before you read my reviews so I don’t ruin things.

Fiona Apple – Not About Love

Just when you think it’s going to be yet another pretentious, self involved video, the camera jerks as comic ends up lip syncing the words. The best part of this is that he didn’t even bother learning the lyrics and is blatantly reading them off his paper. The best is when the lyrics get over pretentious and Zach turns to Fiona and gives the “what the hell does this even mean” look. Then the video gets even better when they hit the streets. Absolutely brilliant. Fiona even manages to crack a smile during the video. Now if there were a video outlet that would actually play this.


The White Stripes – The Denial Twist

This is another video with a little comedic help this time from Late Night’s Conan O’Brian. But O’Brian is the side note to a mind trip of a video. No matter how many times I see it, I can’t quite figure it out even though they scan the whole set at the end. No wonder why O’Brian got self conscience with his expanding head. But in the end, another great addition to the already impressive video library of .


Weezer – Perfect Situation

Even though their music has been spotty in recent years, still puts out some of the best videos. Here we get an alternative universe where an earlier version of Weezer, named Weeze, was fronted by the token hot chick from 24 and Rivers was just a roadie. The hot chick does a great job channeling but I was a little disappointed that they don’t explain how Weezer got the “R” added to their name. But maybe there will be a sequel.


Ray-J – Clocks

Okay this is just live footage but his performance of the great song goes into the "so bad it becomes entertaining" category. Listen at your own risk.



As a reminder, tomorrow is the 15th of the month so it will be time for a new Lyrics Quiz. As a hint, Best of 1996 will be the themes so make sure you study up on the songs from that year. I should have the quiz posted by noon, so make sure you show up before all the one you know are guessed so you can get on my winners list and a free plug. Also I would like to congratulate myself as this is my 300th post on the 9th Green. Hopefully my next 300 are more entertaining.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Best Videos of 2005


Luckily I have this best/worst lists to fall back on this week because there is very little else to talk about. We are still about three weeks until we get new television shows. There doesn’t look like any music worth reviewing in the near future as the were the big release this week and the next and I’m too old to like the Ying Yang Twins and not pretentious enough to listen to The Strokes. Even though I didn’t get any DVD’s for Christmas (well a concert and , which is not to be confuesed with the movie that I will never see, don’t really count), I’ll probably still have a few DVD reviews next week as I most likely pick up the Extended Version and I believe comes out next week. And I plan on watching Star Wars Episodes I-III on New Years Eve and Episodes IV-VI on New Years and have a complete review of the series too. But I have to check to make sure I can get all the movies in without messing with other festivities because Dick Clack would be disappointed if I miss his party this year. As for today, I’m counting down the best videos of the past year. To view the videos, click on the artist’s name and it will lead you to their video page in Yahoo or AOL where you can click to play it. If you click on the song name it will lead you to the song in iTunes. Feel free to leave your favorite videos of 2005 in the comment section.


1. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing -
2. Diamonds From Sierra Leone -
3. World On Fire -
4. All These Things That I've Done -
5. Doesn't Remind Me -
6. - Beck
7. Wake Me Up When September Ends -
8. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
9. Heard 'Em Say (Department Store Version) - Kanye West & Adam Levine
10. Original of the Species -
11. Perfect Situation -
12. O' Sailor -
13. Soul Meets Body -
14. Beverly Hills - Weezer
15. Girl - Beck
16. Gold Digger - Kanye West & Jamie Foxx
17. Dreamgirl -
18. Get Back -
19. Take Me Out -
20. Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own - U2
21. Since U Been Gone -
22. Sugar, We're Going Down -
23. Helena -
24. Walk Tall -
25. These Words -
26. We Are All On Drugs - Weezer
27. American Baby - Dave Matthews Band
28. Heard 'Em Say (Cartoon Version) - Kanye West & Adam Levine
29. - Ben Folds
30. Talk -

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Just as I Find My Footing Here You Come Again


The MTV Video Music Awards are tonight and I thought I would wax poetic about some new videos that were too late for consideration for this year’s show, but maybe you see them come next year. Click on the bold-faced names to follow a link to the video.

Dave Matthews Band – Dreamgirl Dreamgirl

The most interesting part of this video is that it is the first time we see Julia Roberts on film of her twins, insane baby name #1 and insane baby name #2. The video follows Matthews watching a movie of a blank faced man who turns into various members of the band and a surprise ending. What I find odd about the video is the inclusion of Roberts who appears in her first video months after her older brother got some recognition after appearing in a pair of Mariah Carey videos and the Killers' . Did she really need to undercut her brother’s thunder? Eric had some success in the early 80’s, but Julia quickly became America’s sweetheart and Eric then became relocated to B-movies. I even recent read an article in TV guide talking about Eric’s daughter starting in a new show, but she was regarded as Julia’s niece and Eric wasn’t even mentioned. The least Julia could have done is let Eric corner the video market in the Roberts household.


Wake Me Up When September Ends

A poignant look at how the war can affect today’s youth. I like how it subtly highlights that some people have to join the military because it’s the only work they can find. The video also does a good job at not really picking a pro-war or anti-war stance. It just put the images out there and lets you decide. , who has taken over role as go to teenager in indie films but without on her imdb page, gives a tour-de-force performance as the girlfriend. Too bad MTV doesn’t give out best acting awards at the VMA’s. And for anyone who says that you can’t be anti-war and pro military need to pay attention to the end when the Wood’s character says, “I just want you to know, no matter what, you always have some one here for you. I’m never gonna leave you.”


Just Want You to Know

An interesting faux-documentary following heavy metal fans of the 80’s going to a concert of the faux-band Sphynkter. I mean it was interesting a couple years ago when American Hi-Fi had the exact same concept for their Flavor of the Week video. But it’s not like the Backstreet Boys have ever done anything original before, so why should they start now?.


Weezer – We are All on Drugs
We Are All On Drugs

A nice commentary on suburbs today where everyone seems to be on drug, and I don’t think the band is talking about the illegal variety, but as in Ritalin, Zoloft, Paxil and the like have everyone medicated these days. Rivers runs into many of those people throughout the video.