Weezer – Pinkerton – 1996 (iTunes – Amazon)
At first Pinkerton was so massively maligned by the press and fans that it took me almost 10 years to pick it up. When I did I realized that all the pundits who, in retrospect, put the album at the top of their “albums of the decade” lists were absolutely right.
I can’t address, truly, why Pinkerton was such a perceived failure. I can only suggest that, maybe, just maybe, it’s because the album took the angst and desperation of Blue and wrapped it in even less accessible pop angles and breaks. It’s no secret that, after this album, Matt Sharp, the original bassist, left the group (and many say he was as important to the songwriting as Rivers), there was great acrimony, Cuomo retreated to his hole (and back to college) and, as far as fans were concerned, Weezer was over. They had their day in the sun and they would be, like Nirvana, over too early, though this time not by suicide. In both cases, though, it was due to the mercurial nature of the front man who wore his pain in his songs and on the stage.
Pinkerton, it’s been said, is based, in part on Madame Bovary. I don’t know if that’s true. I’m sure it’s not totally apocryphal, it’s just that I haven’t read Madame Bovary. What it is, though, is one of the most aggressive and powerful power/pop/rock albums of all time.
“Tired of Sex”, “Getchoo”, “No Other One”, “Why Bother”, the songs titles sum up the songs, just remember that they are all about girls, sex, distance (both literal and figuratively) and they are each as blood-letting as the last. (Why bother? It’s gonna hurt me. It’s gonna kill when you desert me?”)
The melancholic longing in “Across the Sea” is as intimate as Cuomo has ever gotten.
“The Good Life” is, perhaps, the catchiest tune of the decade. (Yes, it’s better than “Buddy Holly”. It’s not cute or clever, but it’s honest and smart.) And the mini-breakdown after the (brilliant) chorus at 1:32 tells the entire story of why this album was a flop. Who comes up with that? On a pop album? Clearly the boys are trying something new. Different. (My money is on Sharp who, with The Rentals, proved that he was more interested in experimentation than popularity and, given what Cuomo’s later offerings sound like, I think I’m right)
Cuomo has all but abandoned this record. It’s barely acknowledged. I think some of the songs make it into setlists, but what’s a real shame is that is has been relegated to almost a footnote in the pantheon of rock albums. It shouldn’t be. It’s brilliant.
Grade A+
A Side: The Good Life, Tired of Sex, Getchoo, Why Bother, El Scorcho,
BlindSide: Across the Sea, Pink Triangle
DownSide: Nothing.
