Weezer (2001 album)

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Weezer
Image:Weezergreen.jpg
Studio album by Weezer
Released May 15, 2001
Recorded December 2000, Cello Studios, Los Angeles, California
Genre Alternative rock, power pop
Length 28:34
Label Geffen
Producer Ric Ocasek
Professional reviews
Weezer chronology
The Good Life
(1997)		 Weezer
(2001)		 Maladroit
(2002)
Singles from Weezer
  1. "Hash Pipe"
  2. "Island in the Sun"
  3. "Photograph"

Weezer, commonly referred to as The Green Album, is a 2001 album by the band Weezer. The album was seen as a rebirth for Weezer, following a hiatus since their 1996 album, Pinkerton, which was initially a commercial and critical failure, but later gained much popularity among both fans and critics. Following the band's 1994 debut, it was the band's second self-titled album.

The Green Album also was the band's first release without longtime bassist Matt Sharp, who would end up suing the band before the release of their fourth album, Maladroit, seeking compensation and songwriting credit for songs such as "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "El Scorcho" and "The Good Life".[1] This album featured Mikey Welsh on bass, although he was replaced by their next album.

As of October 2005, the album had sold 1,549,531 copies.[2] It is currently certified platinum. The Green Album entered and peaked in the U.S. charts at #4, making it Weezer's first Top 10 album since 1994.

Recent reprints of the album have been slightly altered. The song "Hash Pipe" now cuts out the last two lines of the first chorus.

Contents

[edit] Recording process

Throughout the summer of 2000, the band was demoing and performing fourteen new songs in concert. Yet only one of these songs, "Hash Pipe," made the band's third album. The other thirteen songs were eventually heard and are referred to by Weezer fans as The Summer 2000 Songs or ss2k songs for short. Two of these songs, "Slob" and "Dope Nose" appeared on the band's fourth album Maladroit.[3]

The hit songs "Hash Pipe" and "Dope Nose" (off Maladroit) were both written using the same method on the same night. The story goes that Rivers woke up very early in the morning, took "a bunch of Ritalin and had like three shots of tequila," paced around for a while, and then quickly wrote the song.[4][5]

[edit] Singles

Geffen Records didn't want "Hash Pipe" to be the lead single from the album, citing the song's lurid content about a transvestite prostitute as inappropriate. They suggested that "Don't Let Go" should take its place.[5] Yet "Hash Pipe" would eventually be the album's first single, although often played as "H*** Pipe" (the title employed on the music video's title card) or "Half Pipe."[6][7] The song landed the band a nomination for High Times magazine's "Pot Song of the Year" in 2001.[8][9]

One of the band's biggest hits "Island in the Sun" was not planned to be on the album, yet producer Ric Ocasek fought for the song and it ended up on the final product. It was a successful radio single and perhaps the band's biggest hit overseas.

"Photograph" was released as the first single in Japan instead of "Hash Pipe."[10]

[edit] Artwork

The cover is very similar to their debut, it was done as a tribute to Ric Ocasek.[11]

Under the CD tray of The Green Album on the white paper's edge the word "No" can be found. Rumour is that it is a response to Radiohead's CD "OK Computer" which has the text "I like you. I like you. You are a wonderful person. I'm full of enthusiasm. I'm going places. I'll be happy to help you. I am an important person, would you like to come home with me?" The band's official explanation is that "No means no."[12]

The inside picture of the cd booklet is a photo of Weezer playing live features (in the lower right hand corner) the shadows of Mike Nelson, Tom Servo and Crow from the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Hence the citing in the liner notes that says "MST3k silhouette appears courtesy of Best Brains, Inc." Best Brains is the production company that produced MST3k.

Inside the liner notes of the album is the quote "Torniamo all antico e sara un progresso." This is a quote from Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi that roughly translates in English to "Let us return to old times and that will be progress." Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo is of Italian descent and is a noted fan of opera.

The album is dedicated "In loving memory of Mykel and Carli" for Mykel and Carli Allan, sisters devoted to developing fan clubs for up-and-coming bands. The two, who had been influential in starting Weezer's fan club, died in a car crash in 1997. They are also the subject of "Mykel and Carli," a lesser-known Weezer B-side. Mykel Allen is featured on the studio recording of Undone (The Sweater Song).

In the liner notes, Kyoko Ito (now Kyoko Cuomo - Rivers' Wife) is the first person thanked by the band.[13] The liner notes also thank "Dean Dingman," a likely reference to Thomas Dingman, Dean of Freshmen at Harvard College. Cuomo enrolled as a second-semester sophomore at Harvard in 1995, but left the school from 1996 until 2005, graduating in June 2006.[14]

The album tracks are misnumbered on the inside booklet of the CD, with both tracks 5 and 6 being numbered as track 5. This throws off the numbering system, resulting in the last song "O Girlfriend" being listed as track 9, when there are ten total tracks on the CD.

[edit] Track listing

All songs were written by Rivers Cuomo.

  1. "Don't Let Go" – 2:59
  2. "Photograph" – 2:19
  3. "Hash Pipe" – 3:06
  4. "Island in the Sun" – 3:20
  5. "Crab" – 2:34
  6. "Knock-down Drag-out" – 2:08
  7. "Smile" – 2:38
  8. "Simple Pages" – 2:56
  9. "Glorious Day" – 2:40
  10. "O Girlfriend" – 3:49

[edit] B-sides

  • "I Do"
  • "Starlight"
  • "Teenage Victory Song"
  • "O Lisa"
  • "Always"
  • "Sugar Booger"
  • "Brightening Day"
  • "Christmas Celebration"

[edit] Import tracks

  • "I Do"
  • "The Christmas Song"

[edit] Reception

The Green Album brought Weezer renewed critical success, earning a 73/100 on Metacritic.[15] The album also appeared on over thirty critics' "Best of 2001" lists.[16] Many critics saw the album as a return-to-form to the sound that was present on the band's debut album.[17] Nude as the News' Jonathan Cohen praised the album saying, "It's full of timeless songs that don't need drum machines and bloated production tactics to stand out from the pack. It's a knee to the leather-panted groin of the odious "alternative" rock acts jammed down our collective throats. These are all very good things, and The Green Album is an across-the-board triumph."[18] All Music Guide senior writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine who gave the album a near-perfect rating of four and a half stars, called the album, "...a combination of great performances and great songwriting, something that puts to shame both the mainstream rockers and underground wannabes of the early 2000s."[19] Popmatters' writer Jason Thompson also gave the album a positive review, praising the decision of the band to have Ric Ocasek producing them again, "The guitar solos ring out as joyful as the words. And even the songs' lengths are nice and compact. Weezer comes in, plays the song, and exits. No overkill makes for many moments where you want to hear these songs again and again. Perhaps having producer Ric Ocasek back on board was one of the best ideas the band had, as "The Green Album" is certainly water tight all around."[20]

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Album

Chart Peak position
Billboard 200 4[21]
UK Top 40 31[22]
Sweden 8[23]
Norway 7[24]
Austria 15[25]
New Zealand 25[26]

[edit] Singles

Year Song Peak positions
US Modern Rock
[27] 		US
Main-
stream Rock
[27] 		US
Bill-
board
Hot 100
[27] 		UK
Top 40
[22] 		Norway
[28] 		Austria
[25]
2001 "Hash Pipe" 2 24 – 21 74 –
2001 "Island in the Sun" 11 – – 31 – –
2002 "Photograph" 17 – – – – –

[edit] Personnel

All information is taken from the CD.[29]

  • Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
  • Patrick Wilson – percussion
  • Atom Willard - "Drum God"/Drum Technician
  • Brian Bell – rhythm guitar
  • Mikey Welsh – bass guitar
  • Ric Ocasek – producer
  • Chris Bilheimer – art direction
  • Femio Hernández – assistant engineer
  • Alan Sanderson – assistant engineer
  • Ken Allardyce – engineer
  • Vladimir Meller – mastering
  • Tom Lord-Alge – mixing

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Yago, Gideon. Former Weezer Bassist Matt Sharp Sues Band Over Royalties. MTV News. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  2. ^ For The Statistically Minded. Glorious Noise. Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
  3. ^ Weezer's Summer Songs of 2000. everything2.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  4. ^ Eliscu, Jenny. Rivers Cuomo's Encyclopedia of Pop. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  5. ^ a b Luerssen D., John. Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story. ECW Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-619-3 p. 325
  6. ^ Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 338
  7. ^ Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 355
  8. ^ Weiss, Neal. Weezer, Staind, Afroman Spark The 'Doobies'. Yahoo! News. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  9. ^ Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 375
  10. ^ Green Album era releases (2000-2001). Weezer.com. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  11. ^ Luerssen D., John, 2004 p. 326
  12. ^ Koch, Karl. Frequently Asked Questions. Weezer.com. Retrieved on 2007-12-17.
  13. ^ Weezer Discography - Weezer (Green). Music Discography Central. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  14. ^ Riesman, Abe. Rivers' End: The Director's Cut. Harvard Crimson. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  15. ^ Weezer: Weezer (2001): Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.
  16. ^ Green Album End Of Year (2001) Polls. web.archive.org. Retrieved on 2007-10-29.
  17. ^ Weezer (2001). Tower Records. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  18. ^ Cohen, Jonathan. Nude as the News: Weezer: The Green Album. Nude as the News. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  19. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Weezer (Green Album) > Overview. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-11-24.
  20. ^ Thompson, Jason. Weezer: Weezer ("The Green Album") - PopMatters Music Review. Popmatters. Retrieved on 2007-12-10.
  21. ^ Billboard 200. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  22. ^ a b UK album chart archives. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  23. ^ Sweden Chart Archives. swedishcharts.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  24. ^ Norway Chart Archives. norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  25. ^ a b Austrian Chart Archives. austriancharts.at. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  26. ^ New Zealand album chart archives. charts.org.nz. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  27. ^ a b c Weezer Artist Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  28. ^ Norwegian album chart archives. norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-26.
  29. ^ Weezer (The Green Album) booklet and liner notes

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Weezer
Brian Bell · Rivers Cuomo · Scott Shriner · Patrick Wilson
Jason Cropper · Matt Sharp · Mikey Welsh
AlbumsWeezer (The Blue Album) · Pinkerton · Weezer (The Green Album) · Maladroit · Make Believe · Untitled
EPsThe Good Life · The Lion and the Witch · Winter Weezerland
DVDVideo Capture Device
Singles"Undone - The Sweater Song" · "Buddy Holly" · "Say It Ain't So" · "El Scorcho" · "The Good Life" · "Pink Triangle" · "Hash Pipe" · "Island in the Sun" · "Photograph" · "Dope Nose" · "Keep Fishin'" · "Beverly Hills" · "We Are All on Drugs" · "Perfect Situation" · "This Is Such a Pity"
Related bandsThe Rentals · The Special Goodness · The Relationship · Avant Garde · Homie · Karlophone · Space Twins
Related articlesDiscography · Karl Koch · Songs from the Black Hole · The Kitchen Tapes · Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo  · Foozer
de:The Green Album

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