Ringside Report Puts the Spotlight on Weezer

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By Geoffrey Huchel

“What’s with these homies dissin’ my girl? / Why do they gotta front?” Yep, one of my favorite opening lyrics to a song. The song is “Buddy Holly”. The band is Weezer.

Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992. The band consists of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums), Brian Bell (guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), and Scott Shriner (bass, backing vocals). Since blasting onto the music scene Weezer released 13 studio albums and spawned several hit singles including “Say It Ain’t So”, “Undone-The Sweater Song”, “Troublemaker”, “Hash Pipe”, “Beverly Hills”, ”Pork and Beans”, “Perfect Situation” and “Island in the Sun”.

The band signed a recording contract in 1993 and released its self-titled album, known as the Blue Album in 1994. The album became a multi platinum success. Weezer won four MTV Video Music Awards in 1995 including Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video for the single “Buddy Holly”. Rightfully so. Director Spike Jonze made a brilliant video for the 1994 track that made it seem the band was part of an actual HAPPY DAYS episode. The band’s second album, Pinkerton, was released in 1996. It was a commercial failure, however it achieved cult status years later.
The band took a two-year hiatus between 1997-1999 and reunited to make a comeback, the result being the release of the Green Album in 2001 and was promoted by the singles “Hash Pipe” and “Island in The Sun”. The album was a commercial success and received positive reviews. Weezer’s fourth album, Maladroit, was released on May 14, 2002. Two singles were released from the album: “Dope Nose” and “Keep Fishin’”. As of December 2007, the album was certified Gold.

For their 2005 album Make Believe, the single “Beverly Hills” was the band’s first single to top the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and the first to reach the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. “Beverly Hills” was also nominated for Best Rock Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the first ever Grammy nomination for the band. The third single “Perfect Situation”, spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. In 2006 the album was certified platinum. In 2008, Weezer released the Red Album. Its lead single “Pork and Beans” became the third Weezer song to top the Modern Rock Tracks chart and in 2009, won the Grammy for Best Music Video. Weezer’s seventh album Raditude was released on November 3, 2009, followed by Hurley on September 10, 2010. Both albums received mixed reviews. The band’s ninth and tenth albums, Everything Will Be Alright in the End and the White Album achieved more positive reviews. Everything Will Be Alright released the singles “Thank God for Girls”, “Do You Wanna Get High” and “King of the World” and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. In support of the White Album, Weezer performed on the Weezer & Panic! at the Disco Summer Tour 2016.

Soon after the release of the White Album, Weezer discussed plans for their next album, with the potential title being the Black Album. Ultimately, it would be called Pacific Daydream. On March 16, 2017, Weezer released a new song, “Feels Like Summer”, the lead single of the album.

Pacific Daydream was released on October 27, 2017.

Weezer released a cover of Toto’s song “Africa” on May 29, 2018. “Africa” reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August 2018, becoming the band’s first number-one single since “Pork and Beans”, in 2008. I am a huge fan of the original “Africa” by Toto, however, Weezer’s cover of the hit song has struck a chord and ultimately has become one of my favorite covers. The success of “Africa” led Weezer to record an album of covers, the Teal Album, released on January 24, 2019. Weezer’s latest album, the Black Album was released on March 1, 2019, featuring the singles “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, “Zombie Bastards” and “California Snow”.

On any given day you can find me rockin’ out to this remarkable band with fellow Weezer fan, and best friend and brother, Matt.

Discography:

Weezer (Blue Album) (1994) Pinkerton (1996) Weezer (Green Album) (2001) Maladroit (2002) Make Believe (2005) Weezer (Red Album) (2008) Raditude (2009) Hurley (2010) Everything Will Be Alright In The End (2014) Weezer (White Album) (2016) Pacific Daydream (2017) Weezer (Teal Album) (2019) Weezer (Black Album) (2019)

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