Weezer - Weezer - Deluxe Edition
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Free Music Notes for Weezer - Deluxe Edition
Free Music Review: none more blue.
Hit: 4 Stars
To be honest, I've had this album in some form or other for such a long time that I can't really objectively critique it. I will say it's probably Weezer's best work (Pinkerton is strong enough to warrant it's cult following, but has a few moments that bring it down for me), and holds up quite well for now being 10 years old. Not groundbreaking at all of course, but in my opinion still one of the best pop/rock album of the 90's. The sound is noticably improved, but the real incentive for people who already own the album is the bonus disc. Admittedly most of it consists of b-sides, so if you're enough of a fan to have hunted all the singles down, it's a bit redundant, but if you haven't, it's a great addition thanks to strong should-have-been-on-the-album tracks like "Mykel And Carli" and especially "Jamie", and the acoustic stuff nicely shows off the band's melodic approach. The live cuts I'm not so sure about (sure it's nice to hear a pumped-up energetic "My Name Is Jonas", but "Surfwax America" is marred by some idiot shouting "Smoke dope!" over and over again over the quiet bridge). The outtakes are pretty interesting as well: In addition to a much shorter version of "Only In Dreams", a weird rough version of "Undone", there's also 3 previously unreleased songs. "I Swear It's True" is a little sloppy in performance and has filler lyrics, but shows potential and is surprisingly Pinkerton-esque for something that was written in 1993. "Paperface" is probably the loudest the band has ever gotten save "Tired Of Sex", very reminiscent of The Pixies circa Surfer Rosa, and finally there's "Lullabye For Wayne", which I can see didn't make the cut because it ultimately comes off like a less-good "Surfwax America", but is pretty catchy anyway.
Ultimately, this might be a bit much to pay for someone who hasn't heard the album itself (not to complain too much, but Pavement's recent Slanted And Enchanted deluxe version had much more extra material and yet generally costs around the price you'd pay for one cd), but if your original copy is looking a bit ragged and/or you never got around to getting the b-sides, it's worth getting.
Free Music Review: Pretty good, but not the best it could have been
Hit: 4 Stars
Considering the $30 price and the potential 160 minutes of available digital media space, I was expeciting to be really wowed and knocked out by the package. It's good, but not the best it could've been.The first disc sounds good, but only marginally better than my original disc. I don't know why they didn't think younger audiophiles wouldn't appreciate a dually-playable SACD version of this (as is the deluxe Who's Tommy), but the difference doesn't hit you that hard. And I was rather miffed that they used the latter-version of the album with the remixed Say It Ain't So, although they include the original on the bonus disc.
The bonus disc is okay, although the b-sides were quite accessible all along. The newer, rare demos are the best treat of the discs. And notably missing is the original "fuzz" mix of Suzanne, so don't go selling your import singles off just yet.
The packaging is very nice, with handwritten lyrics for the whole album and the b-sides, and some nice pics (sometimes too small to appreciate).
On a whole, this is okay, gives a greater enhanced glimpse of a fresh new band who're still on top today. Perhaps a cheaper, single disc version would've been more appropriate, and cost effective. Definetly get the DVD, too.
I would greatly encourage the Weezer fans to push Geffen for a deluxe version of Pinkerton, with all the b-sides on the first disc and a full live 1996 show on the second disc, when they played the entire Pinkerton album in its entirety.
Free Music Review: Same old Classic with a few Surprises
Hit: 4 Stars
I was initially drawn to this album because
A. I am a huge fan of the Blue album as well as Pinkerton and
B. My old copy of the blue album was wearing so crappy that the songs had skipped even on my Mp3 player.
If you are simply replacing a faded cd with a new one, go for the deluxe edition-- it's worth it. If on the other hand you are searching for that little bit extra, languep as those along the Mississippi say, then this may or may not be worth it. Granted, it has two versions of Jaimie, which are only available as downloads. I personally prefer owning a cd rather than a download. it also has a fantastic acoustic version of "No One Else" which is so immaculately endearing as compared to the regular album version. The former increased my appreciation for both songs, however. Get it used from an amazon seller, and it will doubtlessly be worth it. The live stuff on the second disc isn't mind blowing or amazing, but it satisfied me. The last couple songs left me confused, containing rough earlier versions of songs from the blue album, as well as "Say it Ain't So (original studio mix)" which threw me off why they would but the same song on two cd's. However, if you are in fact THAT weezer fan of incredible caliber buy it. Who knows, perhaps the song "Mykel and Carli" will strike a chord from your own youthful memories as the entire blue album is attached to mine.
Free Music Review: Some very catchy songs...
Hit: 4 Stars
Don't like Rivers Cuomo (seriously the guy is a misanthrope with an Asian fetish) and not a big Weezer fan, but barring "My Name is Jonas", "Surf Wax America", and "No One Else," the material on the original Blue album is relatively excellent. Very catchy songs that will stick in your head for days. The one disagreement I have with many other reviewers is that this is an upbeat peppy, album. Interviews with the Cuomo will reveal the same. I'd say about half of the songs here relay quite a bit of sadness, disillusionment, and heartbreak (which make them better than the throwaway lyrics on some other songs). This album is more sludge metal-pop than punk-pop (which I can't stand today).
The additional material on this album- some of it is worthy like "Suzanne" and "Jamie," but other tracks seem added just for curiousity factor. Check out the Deluxe edition of Slanted & Enchanted as a model for how additional material on reissues should be done.
Free Music Review: With the Blue Album and more, ya can't go wrong.
Hit: 4 Stars
I'm a big fan of the Weez. Out of all their albums this one is probably the best. It's got a good balance of the laid-back (Say it Ain't So, the Sweater Song) and the just plain aggressive rock (Buddy Holly, Only in Dreams) thats kinda got a 50's vibe in there somewhere (or maybe its just me). The b-sides on disk 2 are also pretty good as a whole, very eagerly awaited by a lot of fans who never had the bootleg connections to get them earlier. All in all this is a great collection of songs, both disks. But why 4 stars? The packaging. For me personally, I bought this CD only for the 2nd disk. I already have the first cd, but because of this, I had to buy it again. For a lot of weezer fans this will be the case, but there's nothing we can really do about that unless they start releasing the b-sides separately. If you are a newcomer to the weezer music, by all means, buy this set instead of the regular blue album, and you will thank yourself later and save youself a few bucks too.