Album Review: Weezer - Raditude
Rivers Cuomo is not going to write another Pinkerton.
The Weezer frontman was in a dark place in the mid-nineties. He struggled with the success of his band’s debut album and the pressure to follow up while the band was still hot. This dark period of Cuomo’s life is found in Pinkerton, and the audience has to embrace what was given to us back in 1996. He wrote, sang, and played his heart out on those ten tracks, and that has to be enough. If a Weezer fan cannot accept this, he or she will not accept the band’s seventh album, Raditude. If he or she can, there is a lot of fun to be had from a record that turned out much better than anyone could have expected.
Raditude’s first single also kicks things off. “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” is catchier than H1N1. The fast pace demands the listener clap and sing along, as Cuomo details the beginning and salvaging of a relationship, name checking Slayer, Titanic, and Best Buy in the span of three-and-a-half minutes. A crowd-pleaser to say the least.
The one-two punch of “I’m Your Daddy” and “The Girl Got Hot” has no right to be as good as it is, if solely for the ridiculous titles. Live versions of both songs have found their way onto YouTube in the past few months, but the studio versions work well. The drum machine at the beginning of “Daddy” disappears eventually into another insanely catchy Cuomo chorus. There is even a MGMT influence found near the song’s conclusion (Weezer covers MGMT’s “Kids” on tour). If you liked “Keep Fishin’” from Maladroit, you’ll probably enjoy “Girl Got Hot”. It’s another song that gets stuck in your head and something to enjoy before your ears bleed during track number four.
Track four is “Can’t Stop Partying”, an abomination on the face of modern music. It isn’t funny, but yet it’s a joke. It’s a terrible fusion of rock and R&B. Jermaine Dupri produces and Lil’ Wayne raps (“It’s Weezer and its Weezy/Upside-down MTV”). On last year’s The Red Album, Cuomo let the other band members contribute songs, but on Raditude he goes outside the family on several occasions. However, while this song is a disaster, other collaborations work out pretty well.
“Put Me Back Together” gets an assist from All-American Rejects members Tyson Ritter and Nick Wheeler, and is an example of a successful collaboration. The song is definitely tailor-made for the current crop of Top-20 players, but at least it sounds like Weezer. Like most songs on the album, the title of the song tells the story. Raditude does not reach the lyrical depths of a Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan record, but hopefully the title and tracklist gave that away.
Hooks, hooks, and more hooks. “Tripping’ Down the Freeway” is another fun, bouncy, hook-filled song on Raditude. It almost makes you forget about the Eastern-influenced corn that is “Love is the Answer”. It’s dead-on-arrival, and like “Can’t Stop Partying” it damages the album’s credibility. If someone starts to bash Raditude and uses these two tracks for the crux of the argument, a fan of the album can only begin his or her response: “Yeah, but…”
The son becomes the father, and so Cuomo becomes Ric Ocasek on “Let It All Hang Out” (surprisingly co-written by Dupri). The former frontman of The Cars and producer of Weezer’s Blue and Green albums is found all over the song. It is impossible to hear “Hang Out” and not see Ocasek walking on water in the video for “Magic”. This isn’t a bad thing. It serves as a reminder that Weezer is a party band, much like their forefathers were in the eighties.
The album concludes with two inoffensive but unmemorable tracks in “In the Mall” and “I Don’t Want to Let You Go”. The former was written by drummer Pat Wilson, and references another ninth track on a Weezer album (“Holidays are/on their way”). That’s about all. The latter track is an okay song that treads dangerously close to Make Believe territory.
Information for Raditude started trickling out a few months ago. By all indications, this was going to be terrible. From the album title, song titles, live YouTube videos, and reported collaborations, it seemed doomed from the start. Then the first single was released, followed by a good video. Then the album itself starts, and you can get your nerd on.
Raditude is not for anyone looking for anything serious. It’s goofy; it has slick production, and it doesn’t hold a candle to the first two classic Weezer albums. But here’s an idea: Let Raditude serve as your fun, Saturday-night record, and Pinkerton can become the soundtrack to Sunday morning, when you regret the fact that you couldn’t stop partying. Problem solved!
And hey, it is actually sort of rad.
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Dude…Longtime Weezer fan First-time submitter…actually liked Love is the Answer. Can’t stand In The Mall. I can almost hear britney or paris singing lead on Partying…maybe that’s the point. Great review. Cuomo seems to be in a good place and is having fun. This is the type of album better suited for a summer release. Roll the windows down, head to the local cineplex after stopping by Sonic with Raditude playing loud the whole way.
I loved all the songs you did but hated love is the answer. So I deleted it. I hated the lil wayne part of “can’t stop partyin” but liked the rest of the song’s beat.
soooo…I edited out the lil wayne part. Then I deleted Love is the answer and substituded the bonus track “underdogs”.
then, just for giggles i moved “put me back together” to the very end, to close things up.
poof. Awesome record for my personal Weezer discography.
catchier than H1N1? Lame.
I like the song. Probably won’t buy the album, simply because I’m not that into Weezer, never have been. But damn… that song… it’s catchy.
i don’t know why everyone is in such a fuss over this album
the blue album and pinkerton were great albums, some of my favourites.. but bands change.
the fact that rivers is writing differently now than he was back then shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is actually a catchy, fun pop album. and frankly it shouldn’t be a suprise to anyone. you can’t expect a band to be writing the same music over a 15 year span. look at u2, they’ve reinvented themselves numerous times over their career and they’re still one of the biggest rock bands of all time. listen to your blue album and pinkerton if you’re into that stuff, but can’t expect bands to not evolve. weezer hasn’t written that way since 1996, i don’t know why everyone is expecting them to.
I like cant stop partying. i could not stop laughing.
Even though I promised myself I was going to ignore this album, I decided to download it anyway. Still listening to it, but from what I can tell it reminds me of when The Academy Is… put out Santi and it was so awesome, and then they put out their last album and it was this powerpop garbage. That’s just sort of the vibe I’m getting.
It’s catchy, don’t get me wrong, but this isn’t Weezer. But they didn’t even write a lot of the songs, so …
my favorite song off this album is get me some. i sounds a lot like something from maladroit when rivers was letting his metal roots come through. i like this album and i like that songs that everyone else thinks is cheesy.
i want you to is good, but it is nowhere close to being as good as anything off pinkerton or blue album.>>>
I actually find “I Want You To” to be better than a few tracks off of Pinkerton or Blue. It’s so spunky and fun that, to me, it’s far more enjoyable than a song like “Butterfly” or even “Undone” (though the latter is just of personal taste, I’ve never liked that song).
i havent heard anything besides i want you to and cant stop partying (god awful song). i want you to is good, but it is nowhere close to being as good as anything off pinkerton or blue album. keep fishing is still my favorite song though
Such a bad album. absolutely horrible in my opinion
haven’t listened to anything else since the album leaked 2 fridays ago; theres a few hiccups (love is the answer - wtf) but most of it is just totally classic weezer. imo they are one of the smartest bands out there. i can’t think of too many other bands where i can put in their new album and know its gonna be fun
I like most of the review, but the score should be way lower. The 3 good songs on this don’t make up for the abominations that are Love is The Answer and Can’t Stop Partying
I love that song, too, Dan. It’s pop bliss.
I Want You To is possibly the best song theyve ever recorded, IMO.