Weezer (Red Album)
| Weezer (Red Album) | |||||
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| Studio album by Weezer | |||||
| Released | June 3, 2008 | ||||
| Recorded | April 2007–February 2008 | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 40:31 | ||||
| Label | DUI | ||||
| Producer(s) | Rick Rubin, Weezer, Jacknife Lee | ||||
| Weezer chronology | |||||
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“This album is more red than my lightsaber!”
Weezer (commonly known as the The Red Album) is the sixth studio album, as well as the third self-titled album defined by a color from American rock band Weezer. It was released on June 3, 2008, and is the second Weezer album to be produced by Rick Rubin — with co-producer credits given to the band themselves, along with a guy with the coolest name ever; Jacknife (is he a Jack with a knife, or a knife named Jack?).
Background and recording[edit]
After the harsh backlash against Make Believe by both fans and critics, Rivers Cuomo went back to the drawing board. He entered his Man Cave and emerged five weeks later. He pitched the idea of a third self-titled Weezer album but instead of being Blue or Green, this time, it would be Red. The band agreed to Rivers' pitch; only because they knew it was gonna make a shit ton of money, no matter how shit the music was.
Cover art[edit]
For the album cover photo, the band was asked to dress up what they wanted to be when they were younger. Rivers, of course being a weirdo, became a Marty Robbins-esque cowboy and would wear his cowboy hat at live performances when touring. He also grew a pedo-stache which pissed fans off even more, although I quite liked it.
Reception[edit]
“This is better than my Red Album.”
The Red Album was released to high appraise, but fans were still heard saying "Blue and Pinkerton are the only Weezer albums that matter". Music videos were made, with the "Pork and Beans" one starring Internet celebrities/memes, most notably the Chocolate Rain Guy, the Numa Numa Guy, and Charlie the Unicorn. For the music video for "Breadmaker", Rivers tweeted out that he wanted to get the largest gathering of people to make the biggest plate of tacos and to play a game of tug-of-war.
Track listing[edit]
The Red Album had three tracklistings. The standard version only contained ten songs (as is the custom with Weezer self-titles), but a majority of Red Album purchases came from the Standard+ editions, which, depending on your country (except the United States — as they only got the Standard and Deluxe editions) came with a cover of a British band, or a cover of a weird Japanese song, and both with "You're Overweight" (a personal message from Cuomo telling the listener to lose some weight). The Deluxe edition came with four extra songs, that can only be described as the Weezer equivalent of the Abbey Road medley. However, this four-part musical masterpiece has not been heard by many due to the Deluxe edition costing about ten dollars more — as well as being over-shadowed by Weezer's modern day four-part masterpiece; SZNZ.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Breadmaker" | 2:44 |
| 2. | "The Greatest Nerd That Ever Lived" | 5:52 |
| 3. | "Porn and Bees" | 3:09 |
| 4. | "Liver Poems" | 4:05 |
| 5. | "Everybody Get Naked" | 4:02 |
| 6. | "Dreamin' (About Your Sister)" | 5:11 |
| 7. | "Thought You Knew (I Was Gay)" | 3:01 |
| 8. | "Hot Bright Planet" | 3:51 |
| 9. | "Manual" | 3:07 |
| 10. | "The Devil And The Two" | 6:45 |
| 11. | "It's Hard" | 3:09 |
| 12. | "I Can Hate" | 3:48 |
| 13. | "You're Overweight" | 4:30 |
| Total length: | 53:22 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Mr Sweetnips" | 4:01 |
| 12. | "Cow" | 4:02 |
| 13. | "The Moth" | 4:42 |
| 14. | "Queen" | 5:11 |
Personnel[edit]
- Rivers Cuomo – vocals, guitar, Cowboy
- Patrick Wilson – drums, vocals, Middle-Aged Man
- Brian Bell – guitar, vocals, Hipster
- Scott Shriner – bass, vocals, Cool Dude
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