By Nicolas Henderson

Staff Writer

@happenstance98

“Go back to sleep. Everything will be alright in the end.” This is the message listeners instantly receive as they begin listening to Weezer’s new album Everything Will Be Alright In The End, its first in four years.

A band that has been both hated and cherished since its third album, known as The Green Album (the second of three different self titled albums), Weezer has made it clear to fans while promoting the new album that this is going to be the return to form that Weezer fans have been hoping for since 2001.

Before I discuss the new album, I would like to address something. Weezer has “returned to form” multiple times between 1996’s Pinkerton (the album that many people regard as the band’s last good album), and 2014. I will say that Weezer has also made quite a few musical mistakes in that time, and those mistakes have names (2005’s Make Believe, 2009’s Raditude, and 2010’s Hurley).

But, along with the likeable but not too special Green Album, this period features two albums of Weezer’s best material, in the form of 2002’s Maladroit (their second best behind Pinkerton), and 2008’s Red Album (the third self titled and the third best Weezer album). These two albums prove that lead singer and primary songwriter Rivers Cuomo has not lost the ability to be a great songwriter, the other albums from this time period just show that sometimes Cuomo is in a more interesting, perhaps less focused, state of mind.

Weezer’s new album begins with the catchy Maladroit-esque “Ain’t Got Nobody”, a song which starts the album strong. This transitions into the first single, “Back To The Shack”. “Back To The Shack” is classic Weezer, featuring cheesy lyrics, distorted power chords and the typical Cuomo solo. It’s an undeniably likeable song. The first two songs serve as a very good album opening and would work well as concert openers.

“Eulogy For A Rock Band” follows. Much like “Back To The Shack”, it lyrically appears to address a rock band that is past its prime (perhaps self reflective). While the song is good musically and once again classic Weezer, it’s not quite as strong as the first two tracks. Unfortunately, this is the end of the only consistently good part of the record.

“The British Are Coming”, the sixth song, is the strongest track on the album, and one of Weezer’s best tracks in years. The verse and chorus blend perfectly together to create a Blue Album/Pinkerton hybrid musically, leading up to an explosive guitar solo. The lyrical content is questionable though, with Cuomo appearing to actually sing about the Revolutionary War. It really makes you wonder what goes through his mind.

Any potential the album had after such a strong track is thwarted by the next two tracks, “Da Vinci”, which pretty much is a wannabe of 2008’s hit “Pork and Beans”, and “Go Away”, which features lead singer of Best Coast, Bethany Cosentino. These two songs both fall into the bottom 10 they have ever released. In “Da Vinci” if the generic music isn’t bad enough, the lyrics are simply atrocious – “Rosetta Stone could not translate you”. Really Rivers, really? These two songs sadly seem to be rule of the second half of the album, rather than the exception.

The only highlight of the second half of the record is the second single, “Cleopatra”, a very good song and quite experimental for Weezer. Aside from this, the second half of the album comes across as very bland and uninspired, much like Weezer’s previous two records.

Another sour note on the album is the production. The band got fans and media excited when it announced that it was bringing back Blue and Green Album producer Ric Ocasek, after five albums without him. After listening it seems they were better off without him (I like the Blue Album production but Green is an atrocity in that regard). The man cannot make drums sound good to save his life. That combined with the overproduced guitars and muddled bass makes for an unenjoyable listening experience.

If you want to hear some good post-Pinkerton era Weezer, give 2008’s Red Album a spin. Everything Will Be Alright In The End on the other hand comes across as a failed attempt to capture the sound that made the band popular. While the first half of the album is pretty strong, the second half is so weak that it ruins the albums credibility completely.

Luckily for Cuomo and co., the album has been giving the band the most positive press and publicity it’s had in years, so I guess everything really will be alright in the end for Weezer.