Weezer - Raditude Review

Posted by Daniel Wilcox on 11.06.2009

And so the decline of Weezer continues...



Weezer - Raditude
Review by Daniel Wilcox

Rivers Cuomo – vocals, guitar
Brian Bell – guitar, keyboard
Scott Shriner – bass
Patrick Wilson - drums

Track listing:
1. (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To
2. I’m Your Daddy
3. The Girl Got Hot
4. Can’t Stop Partying [feat. Lil Wayne]
5. Put Me Back Together
6. Trippin’ Down the Freeway
7. Love Is the Answer
8. Let It All Hang Out
9. In the Mall
10. I Don’t Want To Let You Go

It is an unfortunate truth that the Weezer putting out records in 2009 is far removed from the Weezer who emerged in the mid-nineties and more specifically the band who penned the sophomore classic Pinkerton. I think that the most obvious difference between the Weezer of today and the Weezer of yesteryear is in the lyrical prowess of Rivers Cuomo. In 1996, his lyrics were fantastically deep and really showed his abilities, and for the most part, I think that that is the reason why Pinkerton is seen as the band’s most iconic release, and also why it did take time for people to come to realize what a good piece of work it really was. But gradually with each subsequent release, Cuomo’s lyrical stylings became much less personal and much more generic, culminating in the band’s third self-titled record last year and more specifically, the hit single “Pork and Beans,” which featured the unequivocally pop lyricism of “Everyone likes to dance to a happy song / With a catchy chorus and beat so they could sing along.” With Raditude, Cuomo takes it one step further, not bothering to write his own lyrics at all, and instead picking them directly from the inside of Hallmark cards, as is evident by this little line from “Love Is the Answer,” – “Love is the answer
/ Makes no difference what you prefer /
Love is the answer /
You have got to trust in the world.”

Of course, it’s commonplace for talented to bands to stray from their roots in favor of something more mainstream, something that much more pop. That’s not what I have a problem with really, because I am a great fan of pop music, as I am most types of music. The problem comes when the band ends up producing some of the most unoriginal, uninspired and just plain dull pop rock music I have ever heard in my life, and in places, that’s what Weezer have done with Raditude. Even some of the album’s best songs, “Can’t Stop Partying” and “I Don’t Want to Let You Go,” are a far better listen when heard in their rawest form on Cumo’s solo release of 2007 and 2008. The sub-standard production takes away any and all of those songs honesty here, and although I’m a big fan, the addition of Lil Wayne on the former does not help one bit. The dire pop-punk of Make Believe proved that Weezer was a band in decline, but Raditude suggests that they have hit rock bottom.

Album-opener and lead single “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To” is about as good as it gets. It cleverly tells the tale of a teenage love and resonates far more than any other track on the record. The problem being, Cuomo spends far too much time singing from the perspective of someone much younger than he actually is, and as such this record sounds something like a mid-life crisis but on a CD. And again, the major problem here is, is that it seems this mid-life crisis has being going for the better part of a decade now with no end sight. Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised by the lack of originality in this record. The band spent very little time writing it, and that shows. It’s as if the tracks were designed not to be something to be enjoyed, but merely something to be sold.

Essential downloads: “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To.”

The 411: There's nothing wrong with a band deciding that they want to change their sound in favor of something that appeals to the lowest common denominator, but unlike some of Weezer's other uninspired records this century, Raditude fails to do that even. Instead Cuomo teams up with some pop songwriters to produce the same riffs we've heard a thousand times before, the same cliche lyrics we've heard a thousand times before, and a bunch of hooks that don't stick with the listener past the first couple of listens. All in all, this is one of the most forgettable and depressing records I've heard all year. Unless you want your fond memories of mid-nineties Weezer erased forever, I'd avoid this at all costs.

Final Score:  2.5   [ Very Bad ]