Weezer left many fans seeing red

What a different Weezer we saw in 2008, and how familiar they remained ...

Weezer's third self-titled album, referred by many -- including me -- as their "Red album" because of the dominant color of the cover, follows in the footsteps of "Pinkerton" and "Make Believe" by throwing a handful of gems out into the world, with a lot of tracks that grow in appreciation with more listens.

Death to False Metal? Sounds good to me

Mixed-bag releases are notoriously rough in quality. Taking the odds and ends that didn't make official releases often opens up listeners to material that supports the initial decision not to release it.

Surprisingly enough, that isn't the case with Weezer.

Nothing wrong with a little pop, now and then

There was a time when I thought "pop" was a bad word, music wise. Really. I just couldn't dig it. (Sure, the Beatles were pop in their day, but I was able to disregard that with the whole "they're classic rock now" notion.)

What was the use of FUN when there were serious things going on? Who needed music you could dance to? I mean, look, I was a teenage male. No girlfriend. Stuck in the middle class, with college (and college bills) looming. What was I going to be? What was I going to do? How was I going to pay for it all?

So I listened to Pink Floyd. Nothing speaks depression like a few tracks from "The Wall." And if I wanted something more current, I had a favorite that was always there for me: Weezer's "Pinkerton."

But you know something? I've grown up (kind of ... sorta), and my views and tastes have grown (not CHANGED, exactly ... because I still feel those things and still like Pink Floyd, but my views have expanded and so has my musical outlook).

Weezer grew, too. That seems to be a bit of a cardinal sin for some Weezer fanatics (a large chunk of the fandom can't tolerate anything after "Pinkerton," or hate everything after "The Green Album," or think the last few albums just suck ... can't make them all happy).

Luckily, for me, my stages of growth and maturity have fit well into Weezer's own, so I've been able to stay a committed fan every step of the way. Ask anyone who knows me well, and they'll tell you that I'm quite a Weezer booster. I'll no doubt review some of their albums at some point (and part of this entry may read like reviews of some), but for now I want to stay on this topic of pop and Weezer.