Life lately has been missing something. The world has been hollow and vacuous, and the skies grey and uninspiring. A sense of abject despondence has slowly overtaken the entirety of the human race. But today the clouds are clearing. The light is reappearing over the horizon. The tuneful hum of birds are re-emerging in the trees overhead. Smiles are returning on the faces of the public.
Yes, that’s correct. After four long years, there is a new album by Scott Shriner, Rivers Cuomo, Pat Wilson, and Brian Bell, better known as the legendary group Weezer.
For their first album in almost half a decade, the band have chosen to work with Klaus Åhland, known for his work with the rock band Ghost, and Kenny Beats, who recently won acclaim for his collaboration with indie band Geese. Thanks to these new creative influences, these songs are by far the best that the band have sounded in several years. The guitars are huge, the riffs are fuzzy and Cuomo’s ever-boyish voice is presented in a new, breathtaking clarity. After years of cycling through different producers to varying results, the band seem to have finally found a duo who can present their songs in the absolute best light possible.
This is important for Weezer, because the reality is that on any of the band’s albums, even at their absolute worst, the songs are always there. Cuomo is a genius, and if one thing is for sure, he knows how to write a pop song. That is almost never the problem. The common thread between all the group’s worst efforts is that they have chosen a producer who doesn’t understand them. This is not the case for the Gold album.
As well as the inclusion of new producers, this album is also a departure for the band in that it features significant songwriting contributions from almost all members of the band. While Cuomo typically rules the group with the narcissistic despotism of a 1969 Paul McCartney, Gold sees other band members take a central role in the overall creative process.
Cuomo does naturally remain the supreme songwriter of the group, providing instant classics like ‘CEO’ and ‘We Might As Well Be Strangers’ to the middle section, and yet it is undeniable that the other members songs are arguably just as strong. Wilson’s tracks ‘Shine Again’ and ‘Nowhere’ are highly promising efforts which are perfectly in-keeping with Cuomo’s tracks, while Brian Bell’s ‘The LA Sound’ is an excellent finisher, up there with the group’s absolute best songs.
Superfans will also note the inclusion of legendary Weezer demo ‘Up in the Clouds’, a song which many Weezer fans have been waiting to hear officially for over a decade. This is a promising sign for those who hope to see more of the gems in the Weezer vault unearthed.
While not every song on the album is an essential contribution to the Weezer discography, it is overall a very solid selection of songs from a band over three decades into their career, who are still leagues ahead of many of the hip, young bands coming out today. It is their best album in five years, and among the best work they’ve produced this side of the millennium. Overall, the band’s twentieth album is proof that when the stars align, there’s still no beating Weezer.
4/5
Image credits: @weezer on Instagram
