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Rating: And after the blue and green, it's time for red.
A color certainly not chosen randomly by the revived Weezer; the days following the great success of "Make Believe" were not easy at all. The band was on the brink of breaking up, while the leader Cuomo recently indulged in a solo diversion with a collection of "homemade" demos.
So we arrive at this "Red Album," the sixth studio effort of the Los Angeles quartet, breaking a three-year record silence. The new album is announced by the leader Rivers as a fresh breath of novelty (even in production, considering the seasoned Rick Rubin is joined by Jacknife Lee, recent creator of the "R.E.M. miracle"): it's true, everyone always says that when a new work comes out, but these four have certainly kept their promise.
If "Troublemaker" throws smoke in the eyes with a catchy and viscerally Weezerian melody (which would have worked much better as a single compared to the already overused "Pork And Beans"), eyes pop out with the thunderous "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)," six and some minutes where Weezer blend everything and more; Eminem-style rapping, syncopated rhythm, hard-hitting guitars, choruses, police sirens, and an acoustic interlude dominated by the convincing falsetto of a Cuomo in great shape. The four seem to want to escape from the "prison" of the barely three-minute killer track, and they sometimes succeed well (as in this case) and sometimes fail ("Dreamin'," which starts like a leftover from "Make Believe" to end in a pop-punk worthy of the worst Green Day, or the tedious finale of "The Angel And The One").
Other surprises come from "Everybody Get Dangerous," a blatant theft from the most flashy Peppers, and "Cold Dark World," which manages to find a magical balance between melody and dark side. Bell also tries his hand at songwriting (and singing), signing and singing the convincing "Thought I Knew," and Wilson, who instead fails with a perfectly useless "Automatic."
The days of the "Green Album" are obviously a distant memory, but Weezer demonstrate they are still alive and kicking and have a certain desire to renew a wardrobe that risked appearing slightly stale.
Key Tracks: "Troublemaker," "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)," "Cold Dark World"
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