2008 Woodie Awards
Weezer's New Album Is 'Red' Hot
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 6/9/08 Section: Focus
While "Make Believe" marked a notable shift for frontman Rivers Cuomo, Weezer's sixth studio effort and third eponymous album, this time dubbed "The Red Album," indicates a change for the band itself. This marks the third self-titled album to be released seven years apart ("Blue" - 1994, "Green" - 2001, "Red" - 2008).
For the first time since the "Blue Album," other Weezer band members aside from Cuomo are contributing to the songwriting process. No longer bound to contributing solely through instrumentation, the album divides lead singing duties between the group. While Cuomo is still the lead singer and featured prominently on the album, drummer Patrick Wilson ("Automatic"), guitarist Brian Bell ("Thought I Knew") and bassist Scott Shriner ("Cold Dark World") all sing at least one song. Despite this being the first time singing lead vocals on a Weezer album, this isn't the first time for any of the members, since Patrick Wilson and Scott Shriner both play in a band called The Special Goodness together and Brian Bell has a side project called The Relationship.
As one of the most interesting frontmen in modern rock, Cuomo continues to be the centerpiece to the band, despite his bandmates efforts to shift this balance. Cuomo's contributions to "The Red Album" are no longer of the self-deprecating variety - the self-deprecating sense of humor in "Pinkerton" and "The Blue Album" are gone, replaced by a defiant humor against accepted social practices and storytelling. When Cuomo isn't challenging his record label for the lack of commercially viable music available on "The Red Album" ("Pork And Beans") or declaring a mantra of tenacity ("Troublemaker"), Cuomo reflects on the future ("Dreamin'"), his state of being ("The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)") and how his band came into stardom ("Heart Songs").
In a Pitchfork interview, Cuomo noted that "the Red Album" would be experimental, meaning "longer songs, non-traditional song forms, different people writing and singing, instrument switching, TR-808s, synths, Southern rap and baroque counterpoint - for starters."
For the first time since the "Blue Album," other Weezer band members aside from Cuomo are contributing to the songwriting process. No longer bound to contributing solely through instrumentation, the album divides lead singing duties between the group. While Cuomo is still the lead singer and featured prominently on the album, drummer Patrick Wilson ("Automatic"), guitarist Brian Bell ("Thought I Knew") and bassist Scott Shriner ("Cold Dark World") all sing at least one song. Despite this being the first time singing lead vocals on a Weezer album, this isn't the first time for any of the members, since Patrick Wilson and Scott Shriner both play in a band called The Special Goodness together and Brian Bell has a side project called The Relationship.
As one of the most interesting frontmen in modern rock, Cuomo continues to be the centerpiece to the band, despite his bandmates efforts to shift this balance. Cuomo's contributions to "The Red Album" are no longer of the self-deprecating variety - the self-deprecating sense of humor in "Pinkerton" and "The Blue Album" are gone, replaced by a defiant humor against accepted social practices and storytelling. When Cuomo isn't challenging his record label for the lack of commercially viable music available on "The Red Album" ("Pork And Beans") or declaring a mantra of tenacity ("Troublemaker"), Cuomo reflects on the future ("Dreamin'"), his state of being ("The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)") and how his band came into stardom ("Heart Songs").
In a Pitchfork interview, Cuomo noted that "the Red Album" would be experimental, meaning "longer songs, non-traditional song forms, different people writing and singing, instrument switching, TR-808s, synths, Southern rap and baroque counterpoint - for starters."
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