Thursday, July 31, 2008

Goodbye... Maladroit

The latest in my series about albums to be deleted from my iPod...

“There ain’t no hope for me anymore,” says Rivers Cuomo in “American Gigolo”, the opening track off Weezer’s Maladroit. “If you hate this, I don’t blame you,” he goes on to say.

Hate is a strong word, usually reserved for the most burning of abominations. Weezer’s “comeback” is one of those abominations.

Their career started out well enough: two consecutive classic albums (The Blue Album and Pinkerton) and a strong fan base. That made their third release, The Green Album, forgivable. It was, after all, a comeback album. It also sported a couple pretty great songs: “Island in the Sun” and “Photograph” come to mind. Maladroit has no such redeeming qualities… Yes, it’s all bad.

How bad can it be, you ask.

Well, it ranges from trite alt-rock clichés (“Dope Nose”) to downright obnoxious sing alongs (“Slob”). Throw in the least tongue-in-cheek, least called-for guitar hero solos, and you’ve got something not fit for public consumption. The lyrics are tepid, and the music is samey – what with the same crummy-tone guitars downstroking through the album like an over-caffeinated mallpunk. Give me a break. Or at least some variety.



Parting shot: besides The Green Album, this is the peak of Weezer’s post-Pinkerton career. Things only got worse from here. That’s saying a lot, considering I can’t even make it all the way through this thing to write this post. Delete.

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