Raditude. Sounds freakin’ awesome doesn’t it? Well, despite the name, Weezer’s new album isn’t fantastic but it’s not awful either. I’m sort of on the fence with this one. When I first gave it a quick run through, I didn’t like it at all; it felt like The Red Album’s retarded sister. As I write this review now, it’s growing on me more and more. I guess that’s what happens when alternative rock and power pop are so skilfully meshed together by Rivers Cuomo.
There’s no doubt about it, this is an extremely catchy album. There’s really no resisting getting caught up in all the fun and energy that Raditude has to offer. Coincidently enough, I think this is my main problem with this whole affair. It feels like rather than giving the listener some tender yet happy go lucky heartfelt tracks Weezer are just throwing pop song after pop song at us in the hope of something finding itself into the headphone of someone who never knew that the Blue Album or Pinkerton ever existed and would possibly turn their noses up at.
Maybe I’m just being too hard on Raditude, there’s no doubt that there have been some changes in popular culture and I know Weezer are all growing up and eager to experiment with new sounds and they’re good at what they do but I can’t help lament the loss of the original sound that I feel in love with and connected with all those years ago.
On the whole, yeah it’s not all that bad. Their new single ‘(If you’re wondering if I want you to) I want you to’ is proudly placed as track number one; it’s a fantastic song, probably one I’d associate the most with the Weezer I know and love. The next few songs bare the traits of the alternative rock, power pop ballad. I genuinely don’t know weither to appreciate these from a lover of alt rock stance or to just shut the hell up and dance mindlessly, nonetheless they’re decent enough songs to listen to if you’re in the mood to party. Speaking of parties ‘I can’t stop partying’ featuring Little Wayne comes up fourth in the track listings. This is really a guilty pleasure, like finding a Lady Gaga album hiding behind your Rage Against the Machine albums. This one will defiantly appeal to the masses. Again; we continue with our league of funky, bubbly tunes cascading together to create a fusion of jiving and swaying your head back and fourth, not heavily, not softly but somewhere in between. ‘Love is the Answer’ is pretty nice, I like the atmosphere that’s generating from the sitar and seemingly traditional Indian vocalisation. It’s a nice change from everything else going on. The last few tracks aren’t anything overly special from the rest of what you’ve probably heard or I’ve talked about.
This is a Weezer album I don’t think I’ll ever really care about or fall in love with. It’s something to take out when you’re in the mood for something light hearted and even funky for a jive around your bedroom but I don’t think, in the long run, that it will stick. I’m not sure if any other big fans are disappointed by this musical turn out or if I’m just being melodramatic. This hasn’t diminished my love for the band in the slightest; I’m just hoping that they adopt another change soon that I might be able to connect to. For now, I’ll keep Raditude close to my stereo, learn the lyrics to the songs, choreograph my own dances and just wait for my next Weezer album to see if their sound gets better. We’ve come along way from ‘My Name is Jonas’.
No comments:
Post a Comment