Weezer- Pinkerton
(Numbered Edition 180G Vinyl LP) * * *
Track List
WeezerPinkertonon Numbered-Edition 180g LP from Mobile Fidelity
1996 Sophomore Album Cited on Countless Best-of Decade Lists: Includes "El Scorcho," "Pink Triangle," "Tired of Sex," and "The Good Life"
Loosely Related to Puccini'sMadame Butterfly,Confessional Album Lays Bare Frustration, Confusion, Awkwardness, and Loneliness Amidst Power-Pop Settings
Mastered from the Original Master Tapes: Experience the Album's Edgier Feel as Originally Intended
Few records claim as bizarre a history asWeezer’sPinkerton. Upon release in 1996, the band’s sophomore effort failed to meet sales expectations, lacked a hit single, and drew primarily negative reviews from the press. Then, via word of mouth and reevaluation,the Little Album That Could began build a reputation as an initially misunderstood masterwork&mdasha bold, brave, and exposed creation that happened to have hyper-contagious hooks to accompany the confessional lyrics. Today, it’s cited on virtually every Best Albums of the 1990s list in existence.
Mastered from the original master tapes and pressed on 180g LP at RTI, Mobile Fidelity’s analog version of the effortRolling Stoneawarded a full five-star review upon revisiting it eight years later brings the band’s live-in-the-studio vocals and darker, raw feel to the surface like never before. LeaderRivers Cuomo’s decision to record group choruses around three microphones rather than capture them separately finally can be experienced as originally intended, with the immediate vibe paying off in the form of more engaging, edgier results that parallel the songs’ personal emotions and frustrated themes. Guitars, which scrape and push, augmenting the trials and tribulations documented in the narratives, are finally rendered in proper perspective.
Comprised of nonfiction tunes largely based onCuomo’s dissatisfaction with rock-star life, and written by the singer/guitarist as he attended school at Harvard University,Pinkertonconfronts disappointment, loneliness, isolation, awkwardness, and cruel romantic irony with a universal perspective to which anybody can relate.Cuomoselected the character Lieutenant Pinkerton fromPuccini’sMadame Butterflyas a touchstone, believing the persona symbolic of the tormented protagonists in his songs&mdashand recognizing similar struggles to come to terms with identity.
Weezer’s aims onPinkertonhave connected with many that identify with its narratives and adore its surfeit of melodies. Surpassing cult-classic status and conquering fickle tastes, the record ranks inGuitar World’s “Top 100 Guitar Albums of All-Time”;Spin’s “100 Best Albums From 1985 to 2005”;Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums of the 1990s”; andRolling Stone’s Hall of Fame.
For all the malaise,Pinkertonalso contains beloved wit and humor. Shyness and hands-in-pocket diffidence inform “El Scorcho”; incongruity and surprise surround the simultaneously funny and sad “Pink Triangle”; tedium and desire collide on the cynical “Tired of Sex.” Psychosexual confusion, unrequited passion, and good intentions elicit unintended sympathies, a trait that remains one of the record’s brilliant turns.