NW Reviews: Weezer – Raditude
What do Avril Lavigne, Bowling for Soup, Pink, Lindsay Lohan, Lit, Simple Plan, Sevendust, The Donnas, Hot Hot Heat, American Hi-Fi, Default, Midtown, Pete Yorn, Fall Out Boy, All-American Rejects, SR-71, and The Academy Is... have in common? They've all had hit singles or albums produced by Butch Walker. As such, Butch Walker has put Weezer's latest single, "I Want You To", through the charts. It's really catchy, which isn't too different for Weezer (writers of Buddy Holly, El Scorcho, Hash Pipe, Dope Nose, and a zillion other sing-a-longs). The biggest difference seen on their latest album, Ratitude, is actually the opposite of Weezer and producer Butch Walker... the slew of other rap-artist-producers who are also on this album.
And this rap-produced thing seems to be working wonders. It's nothing new, though. Technically, Rick Rubin has his fare share of rap productions with LL Cool J... oh yeah, he also produced Slayer and Metallica. And that was in the 80s. Today, Timbaland has produced Fall Out Boy's latest album, and we can all see the obvious success of FOB if you've ever walked by a magazine rack and peeked into the tweenie section. Weezer has also been produced by Rick Rubin before, on their "green" album, however they have never seen the likes of Jermaine Dupri (So-So Def y'all) and Polow da Don (worked with 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, Nas, TI, etc). The only other guy that balances out this production team are these dudes named Jacknife Lee and Dr. Luke. Combined, they've produced artists like Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, and a slew of other chart toppers. So, with a team of hit-writing surgeons, how could Weezer possibly fail at writing their best album since Pinkerton?
Well... they didn't.
Raditude is definitely Weezer's best effort since Pinkerton, albeit a different Weezer sound. No longer plagued with the nerd-rock label in today's terms, Weezer has done more path paving for bands in the past decade than most. Rivers and club have tried to show that you can balance shredding on the guitar with hit alternative rock songs. Raditude has been their holy grail on an everlasting quest from what it seems. Their musical scope changed dramatically with the departure of Matt Sharpe (founding bassist, featured on "blue" and Pinkerton). Why? Maybe because Rivers had lost his Harvard-educated mind between the years of Pinkerton and "green"? Who knows. I do know that since Sharpe took off due to writing issues with Rivers that the song writing went from quirky to more... emo (sigh).
Anyway, the album. Raditude is loaded with potential hits. You've probably already heard the lead track off the album, "I Want You To". Aside from that song, some other potential hits are "The Girl Got Hot" and "Put Me Back Together". This might see as much long-lasting love that the somewhat successful "green" album has seen, with tons of replays of their weak single "Island in the Sun" and some movie replays of "Hash Pipe".
Pros: production is choice. If you don't like this music but want to know what a seemingly perfectly produced album sounds like, this might be it for the year. Weezer's sound hasn't been tampered with, and the flourishing of hits produced seem to be blooming, which is usually a hit for the producer.
Cons: it's not Pinkerton.
People who'll like this: it's pretty much across the board for people who would like this album. Mostly those into mainstream rock, or at least those who have a taste for it. It's a little more glossy than I personally like, but I do like having it mixed into a playlist on shuffle. It's also not so bad for studying if you just want some clean music coming through your speakers.
Album of the year though? Not likely. Strong, yes. But reinventing the rock wheel? It's hard to say that Weezer is doing that. They seem to have filled their own niche created from their nerd rock days, and expanded by lame reenactments that have seemed to fail (e.g. The Reunion Show, etc). Since so many copycats have failed, it turns Weezer into a king of their own domain. But outside of that domain, what is happening? Not many would cite Weezer as a scene changer this decade, even though many will state their 90s releases as some major influences. Other than the legendary "blue" and Pinkerton, their past efforts don't stack on top of that -- even though Raditude is their best post-Sharpe album. And although Morrissey and An Horse have made the list, Weezer is a little too shiny and not as strong as the other two releases that occupy the similar subgenre they all fill. So, with that, sorry =w=. Good album, but not great in comparison.
