Every Weezer Album, Ranked

Unlike other beloved ' 90s alternative rock ‘n’ roll acts that had the foresightfulness to hibernate for a decade before rejoin with reunification tours or comeback albums , Weezer soldiered on . They made some with child record album and they made some bad ones , but one thing ca n’t be denied : Weezer show up .

And now , Rivers Cuomo and company are back withWeezer(The White Album ) , a collection of beach - y ballads about all the usual Weezer topics – sex activity , drugs , and dorky rock & roll . How does it stack up against the rest of the isthmus ’s yield ? Grab your horn - rims , don your favored Cardigan Welsh corgi , and unite me as I rank some of the most confounding L-P in modern rock history . ( remark : we ’re leave out the often excellentAloneseries that Rivers Cuomo has publish , along with all oddity appeal , vitamin B - side , and mislay albums . )

10.Weezer (The Red Album)(2008)

If the phrase " return to configuration " did n’t exist , Weezer would have to invent it . Each coloring - coded record the stria put out is greet with pre - release hype that promises this could be the one that recaptures the halcyon day of"Buddy Holly,“and none of them ever derive close . But there ’s something especially infuriating aboutThe Red Album . Sure,“Pork and Beans"remains one of the band ’s best dumb singles and"The Greatest Man That Ever Lived ( Variations on a Shaker Hymn)“is an telling ELO - style miniskirt - opera house , but the balance of this record is dire . “Everybody Get Dangerous”– with its Chili Peppers - aping vocal music and chant of " booyah ! " – might be the indolent song in the band ’s whole catalog , and the less said about hyper - referential"Heart Songs,“the better . The tedious back half of the book does n’t even have the decency to be rubbishy fun , like Cuomo ’s cowboy hat and moustache jazz band on the binding – it ’s just dull .

9.Make Believe(2005)

For many Weezer sports fan this was the garish tipping decimal point . This was the album that got a 0.4 fromPitchforkand launched thousands of " does Weezer officially suck now ? " conversations in dorm rooms , bar , and now - shutter Sam Goody computer storage across America . Removed from its bleak , Bush - era context , is the record really that uncollectible ? I ’ll make it soft for you : yes , it is . While in hypothesis it ’s fun to hear the banding mash together new wave , synth - rock , and hair metal with crack - manufacturer Rick Rubin , the execution on songs like"We Are All on Drugs,““Pardon Me,“and the Billy Joel wannabe"Haunt You Every Day"is exhausting . Then again , this album also sold over a million copy , so what ’s the object lesson here : never reckon against bands willing to take acheesy videoat the Playboy mansion ?

8.Hurley(2010)

Notable for being Weezer ’s first record album for an independent label – the band made the leap to Epitaph after twelvemonth crank out platter for Geffen and Interscope – it ’s not surprising that going " indie " does n’t really alter Rivers ' approaching . throw away the teenage dirtbag sneer of 2009’sRaditude , this is still a cunning affair , complete with runway co - written with pro like Semisonic ’s Dan Wilson , No Doubt ’s Tony Kanal , Ryan Adams , Linda Perry , Mac Davis and more . It ’s got the maxed out rawk guitars ( " Ruling Me " ) , the big melodies ( " Hang On " ) , and the ridiculous sexuality metaphor ( " Where ’s My sexual activity ? " ) thatPinkertonloyalists crave , but it would n’t be Rivers if there was n’t a smirk to go along with the nostalgia . Lines like " Pissing in plastic cups before we went on stage / Playing hacky sack back when Audioslave was still furore " will either have you rolling your eyes or languish for the Lollapaloozas of yore . in person , I call back most ofHurleyshould’ve continue on the island .

7.Weezer (The White Album)(2016)

If the mid - to - late ' 00s were Weezer ’s ill-affected teen period , the last few year have been the resigned unveiling into maturity . Basically , they got their shit together , bought a reamer , learned how to dress , had a few kids , and started crank out song with creative titles like " give thanks God for Girls , " " ( lady friend We amaze ) A Good matter , " and " L.A. Girlz . " They live what you need and have no job present it to you in a familiar package . There ’s a workmanlike caliber to Weezer ’s recent yield , like the now 45 - year - old Cuomo has get so proficient at crafting exponent - pop songs that he could do it in his sleep . It sounds like he did here .

6.Everything Will Be Alright in the End(2014)

5.Weezer (The Green Album)(2001)

The first of many attempts to recapture the tycoon - pop bluntness ofThe Blue Album , this record has killer singles:“Hash Pipe,““Photograph , " and"Island In The Sun"will all have prominent placement on the inevitable best of record album ( or Spotify playlist ) that small fry share in the future . According to this amazingRolling Stoneprofile , Cuomo spent the hurt years before recordingThe Green Albumin a L.A. apartment with blacked - out window and a disjointed earpiece . Oh , yeah , he had a pet gecko too . So , if there ’s a ground this record album has a sealed - off , mad - popular - scientist vibe , that ’s why . It ’s a taut collection of pop - tilt songs from a grouping trying ( and succeeding ) in getting its vallecula back after some years lose in the woods of Harvard .

4.Raditude(2009)

Do you care your Weezer with a side of Lil Wayne and a promotionalSnuggie ? Widely rail by Weezer purist upon its release , this unapologetically goofy record now play as the beautiful distillation of the band ’s post - Pinkertoncornball troll aesthetic . Unlike the really shittyMake Believe , which is over - longsighted and homochromatic in its approaching , Raditudeis scant , punchy , and pile with outlandish ideas that almost work . Songs like”(If You ’re Wondering If I require You To ) I desire You To,““Tripping Down The Freeway,“and arena - ready jock jam"The Girl Got Hot"transform this into a conception album about a horny teen cruising through a mall parking lot . It ’s in all probability the most underrated record album in their whole discography . And , OK , even I ’ll admit the title is still fairly sticky .

3.Maladroit(2002)

This might be the heaviest Weezer record . Released only a year after the spryGreen Album , Maladroithurtles forward with manic heavy alloy aggression . pommel songs like"Dope Nose"and " Space Rock"stand alongside sprawling guitar squall - fests like"Death and Destruction,“enveloping you in the album ’s bulldozer riffage . The words do n’t always make sense – gems like " All the bull that hoi polloi sling it does n’t matter what they sing " do n’t make for great high - school day yearly quote cannon fodder – but it does n’t matter if you listen to this platter the manner it was supposed to be know : crank up to a deafening bulk while you drive in a Ford Tempo to a part - time job you hate . Trust me . It works .

2.Pinkerton(1996)

" How stupid is it ? " involve our bespectacled frontman on"El Scorcho . ““I ca n’t talk about it / I got ta blab about it and make a criminal record of my mettle . " Looking back at the raw personal content in the lyric poem , it ’s gentle to see why Rivers require the initial commercial-grade and critical failure ofPinkertonso intemperately . This was n’t just another Weezer album ; it was a Salinger - esque line of descent - lease of atrocious anger and desire . From the opening yelps of"Tired of Sex"to the pin - for - a - youthful - Nipponese - schoolgirl fantasies of"Across the Sea"and the woe - is - me spurn by a lesbian plight of"Pink Triangle,“this is the work of a troubled dude . For better and for worsened , the band never reached these bright ( and stupid ) personal heights ever again .

1.Weezer (The Blue Album)(1994)

sense of humour in stone music is really hard . If you hit your jokes ( or the whammy pedal ) too hard , you end up sound like Weird Al . The levels never palpate proper . As a fan , you spend too much time call for , " Is this guy for real ? " But , for one record album , Weezer blast it : this phonograph recording is the arrant combination of irony , unassumingness , and ego - loathing . song like"My Name Is Jonas,““Say It Ai n’t So,“and"In the Garage"revealed a scrawny , destitute jumble of psychoneurosis , and the Spike Jonze organise videos for the album give the stria a retro - slacker elan that M of lesser groups have tried to slip for ten . Even if Cuomo had retrograde to the service department constantly after this disk , playing D&D and meditating while watching his beard produce , this would still be theCitizen Kaneof nerd - rock . It ’s the album that will still be make new Weezer fan 30 year from now , as long as the world keeps creating sad teens .

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Dan Jacksonis a stave writer at Thrillist Entertainment , and he ’s surprised he likesRaditudethis much , too . He ’s on Twitter:@danielvjackson .

Weezer, Rivers Cuomo, Guitar, Live