WHAT? A blog-based listening project that will involve going through (just about) every single Weezer song, in chronological order, and charting the evolution (or, in some cases, devolution) of the band’s songwriting and recording styles.

WHY? My favourite band for over a decade, Weezer continue to fascinate me even as they continue their slide towards being one of the music industry’s biggest running jokes. Their recent recording output has been baffling, bizarre and – in the main – borderline unlistenable, yet there’s something about them that means they can never wholly be written off, and even the worst albums contain nuggets of merit. I want to examine why that is, as well as looking at why and how they’ve got to this stage in the first place. I also find it fascinating to look at the surprisingly high number of “albums that never were”, and compare them with the official eight albums that have seen release.

HOW? Rather than taking each song on a detailed one-by-one basis (it’s been done, and with over 150 songs to get through it’d take bloody ages), I’ll look at blocks of songs in separated “eras” – each centred around a particular album but also taking in things that might have gone on in the year or so either side of it.

WHEN?

• Part One: Into the Blue (June 2012)
• Part Two: The Butterfly Effect (February 2013)
• Part Three: Bein’ Green (August 2014)
• Part Four: For the Masses (February 2015)
• Part Five: Beyond Belief (August 2015)
• Part Six: Seeing Red (July 2016)
• Part Seven: Baditude (June 2018)
• Part Eight: Futurescope (October 2019)

I hope it’ll be interesting – especially for those of you who actually like the band, but maybe for some of you who don’t as well. I’ll try and include song links here and there so that readers who don’t know the material I’m talking about can sample the important bits.

Finally, a few quick notes for people who might actually know what I’m on about:

• With the exception of the Rivers SFTBH demos (included due to their importance), this is full-band material only. No solo stuff or side projects – no Rentals, no Space Twins, no Special Goodness. You may note that Homie have snuck in there, though. We’ll discuss that when I come to it.
• No covers, either. This is about Weezer’s songs only.
• Wherever possible I’ve tried to include every song for which either an official release or a leaked (officially or unofficially) demo has occurred. There may be one or two I’ve missed here and there, or not been able to get hold of for some reason. There are of course countless songs that the band have written and recorded that we’ve never heard, however.
• Some songs have found their way into multiple recording sessions over the years, but I’ve only ever included each song once. Priority is always given to an official album release. With demos, the version from the latest “era” is used – if there are multiple recordings in an era, I’ve just gone with the version I like best. This explains why, for example, the only songs listed under SS2K are the ones that weren’t carried over to later sessions.
• Some demo compilations have specifically been put together in “album”-style tracklisting by me. Again, we’ll discuss those when we get to them.

See you later this month for part one!

2 responses to “Weezerology: An Introduction”

1. Weezerology Part One: Into the Blue | Seb Patrick says:

   13th June 2012 at 9.54 am

   […] on an era-by-era basis. If you want a full tracklist and an explanation of the self-imposed rules, check out the introductory post – but if you’re ready to get on with the project, then read […]

2. Porcupine Tree – Stars Die: The Delerium Years | Catalogue. Preserve. Amass. says:

   11th May 2020 at 1.08 am

   […] However, Cinemadonna is working with a medium primed to pick apart terrible bodies of work, and Weezerology would be considerably less pleasant to read if Everything Will Be Alright in the End didn’t […]