Weezer

Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1992. Initially, the band consisted of Rivers Cuomo (lead vocals, guitar), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Matt Sharp (bass, backing vocals), and Jason Cropper (guitar, backing vocals).

Jason Cropper was later replaced by Brian Bell. They have released six full-length albums, three EPs, and a DVD. Weezer has sold more than six million records in the US to date.

The band is most known for singles such as "Undone - The Sweater Song", "Buddy Holly" and "Say It Ain't So" from its eponymous debut album Weezer; "El Scorcho", from Pinkerton; "Hash Pipe" and "Island in the Sun" from 2001 album Weezer; "Beverly Hills", "We Are All on Drugs" and "Perfect Situation" from Make Believe; and most recently "Pork and Beans" and "Troublemaker" from the band's third eponymous album Weezer.

Weezer's first gig was opening for Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar. Weezer recorded its debut album with producer Ric Ocasek at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. During the recording, Jason Cropper left the band and was replaced by Brian Bell, then bassist for the band Carnival Art.

The band released Weezer in May 1994. "Undone?The Sweater Song" was released as the first single. The music video was directed by Spike Jonze. Weezer performed on a sound stage with various amusing studio antics, including a pack of dogs swarming the set which became an instant hit on MTV.

In late December 1995, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Cuomo traveled back east to his home state of Connecticut, and using an eight-track recorder, he began piecing together demo material for Weezer's next album.

Cuomo's original concept for Weezer's second album was to be a space-themed rock opera, Songs from the Black Hole. The album was intended to feature songs that flowed together seamlessly and end with a special coda that briefly revisited the major musical elements of the piece. The band began demoing and working on Cuomo's concept through intermittent recording sessions in 1995.

Weezer's second album, Pinkerton, was released on September 24, 1996. Three singles were taken from the album: "El Scorcho", "The Good Life", and "Pink Triangle". The album's title sparked a legal challenge.

The album failed to gain traction in the mainstream music world, perhaps due to a darker, more abrasive sound on the album. Pinkerton was labeled "one of the worst albums of 1996" by a Rolling Stone Magazine reader poll. However, word-of-mouth kept the trickle of sales going, and the album eventually achieved a cult status.

Weezer completed their touring for Pinkerton in 1997. The members of the band took a break, with drummer Patrick Wilson returning to his home in Portland, Oregon to work on his side project, The Special Goodness; Matt Sharp left to complete the follow-up album for his group The Rentals; and Brian Bell went to work on his group, Space Twins.

The band took an experimental approach for the recording process by allowing fans to download the demos from their official website in return for feedback.

After the release of the album, the band stated that this process was somewhat of a failure, as the fans did not supply them with cohesive, constructive advice. Cuomo eventually delegated song selection stating the Weezer fans chose the "wackest songs." Only the song "Slob" was included on the album due to general fan advice.

The fourth album, Maladroit, was released on May 14, 2002, only one year after its predecessor. The album served as a harder-edged version of their trademark catchy pop-influenced music, and was replete with busy 1980s-style guitar solos.

Although met with generally positive critical reviews, its sales were not as strong as those for "The Green Album", and it remains their lowest-selling album to date. Two singles were released from the album.

As soon as Maladroit had wrapped up, the band immediately began work on their fifth album, recording numerous demos between tours. These songs were eventually scrapped, and Weezer took a break while Bell and Wilson released LPs from their respective Space Twins and The Special Goodness side-projects.

Weezer released their much-delayed first DVD on March 23, 2004. The Video Capture Device DVD chronicles the band from its beginnings through Maladroit's Enlightenment Tour. The DVD was certified "gold" on November 8, 2004.

Weezer's Weezer (also referred to as "The Red Album") was released in June 2008. Rick Rubin produced the album and Rich Costey mixed it. The record is being described as "experimental", and according to Cuomo, includes longer and non-traditional songs.

Pat Wilson stated the album cost around a million dollars to make, contrasting it with the $150,000 budget of "The Blue Album". The album's singles were produced by Jacknife Lee, the album's lead single "Pork and Beans" topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks charts for 11 weeks, and the album's second single, "Troublemaker", debuted at number 39 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Billboard.com also reported that Weezer will be heading into the studio in early November to cut Weezer album 7 with Jacknife Lee who recorded two songs on The Red Album, most notably, "Pork and Beans."

Drummer Pat Wilson stated the band is wasting no time cutting a new record because they are all going to continue to write songs and since they no longer rely on one person for the songs, they culminate an album's worth of songs much more quickly. After all they value their listeners more than anything.

Blink 182 & Weezer Tickets