Weezer
The Green Album
Weezer's 3rd album since their LA founding in 1992 has already begun to climb the charts, with the first single, "Hash Pipe," charting in the Top 10 in the Billboard Modern Rock charts last month, and the album itself edging into the Top 10 Billboard charts as well.
This album, dubbed The Green Album, was produced with Ric Ocasek (of Cars fame), and shows a great deal more inventiveness and talent than their first album, despite being slightly less "catchy" than "the Blue Album."
It is a welcome and long-awaited follow up to their 1996 release Pinkerton, which featured deeper and more meaningful lyrics than its predecessor. The progression of music is indicative of the change in line-up from Matt Sharp (bassist, "the Blue Album" and Pinkerton) to Mikey Welsh (bassist, The Green Album) and of the continued maturation of talent of the other members.
Featured still are the guitar-heavy songs, whimsical lyrics, and sweet voice of lead vocalist Brian Bell, but it lacks the true originality of the previous releases.
Despite this, it is a masterful work that not only displays the copious musical talents of Weezer, but the inherent musical diversity of the band as well. This is a must-have CD. Weezer is one of the cornerstone bands of the 90's, and anyone who remembers the grunge era will love adding this CD to their collection. -Jess Kabis
The Goo Goo Dolls
Ego, Opinion, Art & Commerce
Ingredients:
1 hit band (preferably males)
22 older, mostly forgotten songs
1 mixing engineer with radio-savvy ears (note: remove spine first)
Mix ingredients together. Lather, rinse, repeat. Sell sell sell.
Thankfully, Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce is not a greatest hits record; listeners are blessedly spared from hearing the Goo Goo Dolls' 1995 acoustic hit "Name" on the radio for another year and a half. Instead, the album takes old, forgotten Goo Goo Dolls rockers and repackages them with spiffy new remixes from predictably reliable hitmaker (read: whoremaker) Chris Lord-Alge.
Lord-Alge, whose mixing sound has been responsible for such rapidly forgotten pop musicians as Shawn Mullins and the New Radicals, takes what had been conceived as biting guitar-driven songs and turns them into Y100 pop-blather. He compresses tracks until they sound entirely flat and bland, highlighting twangy guitar licks to turn them into modern rock radio-friendly hooks.
In this sense, Ego, Opinion, Art and Commerce shows that the Goo Goo Dolls were years ahead of pop radio. But whatever graces might be earned by being "advanced" in their musical thinking is quickly forgotten by the band's shameful resurrection of shreds of youthful dignity, only then to be exploited for a few more commercial hits. -Jeffrey Barg
