Weezer
Van Weezer

In production for a full two years and released almost a year later than the original announcement, "Van Weezer" (the fifteenth studio work by the American band led by Rivers Cuomo) is finally out, and it is exactly what it promised to be.

Designed and composed to be a brazen homage to the bespectacled frontman's childhood heroes (primarily Van Halen, as the title suggests—the entire album is also dedicated to the memory of the late Eddie—but also Kiss, Black Sabbath, and Metallica), the new work arrives a few months after the previous "OK Human," an album where Weezer successfully ventured into orchestral pop à la Bacharach (or if you prefer à la "Pet Sounds"). The order of album releases should have been reversed, and above all, the release of "Van Weezer" was supposed to be accompanied by a mega tour together with Green Day and Fall Out Boy, but the pandemic disrupted all plans.

We thus find ourselves listening to this new album with a slightly different tracklist than initially planned, and with a very clear idea of the sound proposed, given the release of no less than four singles spread over twelve months of waiting. Weezer have a blast throughout the thirty-one-minute duration (a wise choice, given the high risk of gaudiness), and they deliver a heartfelt and sincere homage to that certain stadium hard rock that brought success to the aforementioned bands.

In truth, it starts in an overly Weezerian manner with the steroid-laden power pop of the second single "Hero" and with the blatant self-reference of "All The Good Ones," essentially a first cousin of the old hit "Beverly Hills," before moving on to what was promised.

Starting with the lead single "The End Of The Game," we indeed enter a world of relentless riffs, solos, and self-indulgent guitar strumming, culminating in an almost cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Crazy Train" ("Blue Dream," which practically uses the same guitar riff) and a blast clearly inspired by Slayer (with due proportions of aggressiveness) like "1 More Hit." Things partially calm down towards the end, with melodies highly inspired a bit like Fountains Of Wayne on "Sheila Can Do It" (a piece composed in the days of the now-classic "Pinkerton") and the acoustic closing of "Precious Metal Girl." Also noteworthy is the third extraction "Beginning Of The End," already on the soundtrack of "Bill & Ted Face The Music" and present here in a slightly different version.

The most sincere and inspired Weezer are probably these ones. It was not easy to combine such rampant citationism with a return to the origins halfway between the "Blue Album" and "Maladroit," but Cuomo and company have perfectly succeeded in the feat, gifting us two excellent albums in a single year.

Best track: "1 More Hit"