You’ll Never Be In On The Joke
by Aaron Mook
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before; in 1994 (odd to think it was the same year Nirvana became relevant, despite what your local Hot Topic might believe) four KISS-loving nerds released one of the greatest alt-rock records of all-time. When Rivers Cuomo and co. released their debut, the self-titled Weezer (often referred to as The Blue Album), it saw widespread critical and commercial success. Cuomo was like you, albeit being even more of an outcast; he wrote simple garage-rock songs with his friends about girls, surfing, and Dungeons & Dragons, and he loved guitar solos. On some level, the Weezer boys represented all of us, which is why The Blue Album is continually regarded as a landmark album.
Nearly 20 years later, it’s still relevant.
Having grown disillusioned with the rock n’ roll lifestyle (not to mention suffering the effects of a serious leg surgery and the painkillers that followed), Cuomo sought to depart from the polished power-pop of their first album, and after scrapping an initial rock-opera centered around space (titled Songs From the Black Hole), the band returned with LP2. Pinkerton bore all. Recorded live and without a producer, the album was raw, abrasive and much darker than its predecessor. If Cuomo was uncomfortable with himself throughout their debut, he absolutely filled Pinkerton to the brim with self-loathing. He was tired of sex, tired of unrequited love towards lesbians, longing for love from across the sea (Japan, to be exact) and a return to what he truly believed to be “the good life”. And what did the band see for their hardened effort at emotive, confessional rock music? “Aimless” and “juvenile” were two of several harsh words found in the reviews from magazines such as Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.
Again, fast-forward 20 years- the record is often hailed as a forefather of “emo”, influencing the likes of Saves The Day, Brand New, Manchester Orchestra and Thursday, along with being cited as another one of the greatest rock albums of the 90’s.
So, what happened?
It’s tough to pinpoint an exact moment where Pinkerton finally saw turnaround. Perhaps it was the legions of even further fucked-up kids, who spread word of their musical calling via the internets; had Weezer only scraped the surface of their fanbase when Cuomo sang about someone destroying his sweater? All in all, none of it mattered, because by the time Pinkerton found the recognition it deserved, its initial poor reception sent Cuomo into a spiraling depression and threw the band into their first hiatus. Ever since, the band has struggled to find their releases in either the furthest possible thing from Pinkerton (2001’s The Green Album) or newfound acceptance and attempted return to form (2012’s Hurley), seeing a career filled with fairly consistent and successful albums, while never truly reaching their early peak again.
This year, I purchased two-albums that initially made my Mid-Year Top 10 of 2013 list; the first was Bring Me the Horizon’s Sempiternal, and the second was Frank Turner’s Tape Deck Heart. It’s important to note that I purchased these records being familiar with both bands (but not with their entire discography), based on their positive reception on websites like Absolutepunk. And by no means are these bad albums…Sempiternal completely expanded Bring Me the Horizon’s somewhat shitty brand of metal to the atmospheric influences of bands like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, creating a wonderfully consistent collection of spacey hardcore songs. Meanwhile, in a world where an awesome musician like Frank Turner seemed to keep churning out records that were 40% killer and 60% filler, it seemed Tape Deck Heart was the one to break that spell for me. Both albums were excellent the first five or so times I spun them…and I haven’t listened to them since.
Neither of them are bad albums; I have high hopes that either one could eventually fall into the hands of a new music fan, and maybe they’ll be the records that begin to sway and swirl that listener’s tastes in a certain direction. But different music clicks with different people at different times, and realistically, there are just several other albums this year (The Greatest Generation, We Are the Same, Damage) that clicked with me much more on both a lyrical and musical level.
My point is, it’s becoming damn-near impossible to predict an album’s lasting value. Trends are constantly changing; in the 90’s, nothing was cool, and now with every Run For Cover and No Sleep band (successfully) writing Nirvana and Hum B-sides, it seems our generation may just now be understanding the ingenuity behind some of their predecessors. Hell, even Nirvana was hated until Kurt Cobain decided to end his life, inadvertently becoming a martyr for the MTV generation. So stick to your hunches (mine are that the Wonder Years will have released at least two of the best pop-punk albums of the 2010’s, and that Save Rock and Roll may fall between the cracks sooner than most initially imagined). Don’t get too caught up in disregarding bands or records/calling out modern classics, because you never know what kid is going to stroll into his local Exchange, pick up used copy of You’d Prefer an Astronaut, and write the next album to define a genre. Just listen to what you love.
As Brian Bell put it, “It all goes to show the fickleness of the music business and industry. As an artist, you just have to do what you believe in at the time, whether it’s accepted or not. You just have to keep going with it.”
Nearly 20 years later, it’s still relevant.
Having grown disillusioned with the rock n’ roll lifestyle (not to mention suffering the effects of a serious leg surgery and the painkillers that followed), Cuomo sought to depart from the polished power-pop of their first album, and after scrapping an initial rock-opera centered around space (titled Songs From the Black Hole), the band returned with LP2. Pinkerton bore all. Recorded live and without a producer, the album was raw, abrasive and much darker than its predecessor. If Cuomo was uncomfortable with himself throughout their debut, he absolutely filled Pinkerton to the brim with self-loathing. He was tired of sex, tired of unrequited love towards lesbians, longing for love from across the sea (Japan, to be exact) and a return to what he truly believed to be “the good life”. And what did the band see for their hardened effort at emotive, confessional rock music? “Aimless” and “juvenile” were two of several harsh words found in the reviews from magazines such as Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly.
Again, fast-forward 20 years- the record is often hailed as a forefather of “emo”, influencing the likes of Saves The Day, Brand New, Manchester Orchestra and Thursday, along with being cited as another one of the greatest rock albums of the 90’s.
So, what happened?
It’s tough to pinpoint an exact moment where Pinkerton finally saw turnaround. Perhaps it was the legions of even further fucked-up kids, who spread word of their musical calling via the internets; had Weezer only scraped the surface of their fanbase when Cuomo sang about someone destroying his sweater? All in all, none of it mattered, because by the time Pinkerton found the recognition it deserved, its initial poor reception sent Cuomo into a spiraling depression and threw the band into their first hiatus. Ever since, the band has struggled to find their releases in either the furthest possible thing from Pinkerton (2001’s The Green Album) or newfound acceptance and attempted return to form (2012’s Hurley), seeing a career filled with fairly consistent and successful albums, while never truly reaching their early peak again.
This year, I purchased two-albums that initially made my Mid-Year Top 10 of 2013 list; the first was Bring Me the Horizon’s Sempiternal, and the second was Frank Turner’s Tape Deck Heart. It’s important to note that I purchased these records being familiar with both bands (but not with their entire discography), based on their positive reception on websites like Absolutepunk. And by no means are these bad albums…Sempiternal completely expanded Bring Me the Horizon’s somewhat shitty brand of metal to the atmospheric influences of bands like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai, creating a wonderfully consistent collection of spacey hardcore songs. Meanwhile, in a world where an awesome musician like Frank Turner seemed to keep churning out records that were 40% killer and 60% filler, it seemed Tape Deck Heart was the one to break that spell for me. Both albums were excellent the first five or so times I spun them…and I haven’t listened to them since.
Neither of them are bad albums; I have high hopes that either one could eventually fall into the hands of a new music fan, and maybe they’ll be the records that begin to sway and swirl that listener’s tastes in a certain direction. But different music clicks with different people at different times, and realistically, there are just several other albums this year (The Greatest Generation, We Are the Same, Damage) that clicked with me much more on both a lyrical and musical level.
My point is, it’s becoming damn-near impossible to predict an album’s lasting value. Trends are constantly changing; in the 90’s, nothing was cool, and now with every Run For Cover and No Sleep band (successfully) writing Nirvana and Hum B-sides, it seems our generation may just now be understanding the ingenuity behind some of their predecessors. Hell, even Nirvana was hated until Kurt Cobain decided to end his life, inadvertently becoming a martyr for the MTV generation. So stick to your hunches (mine are that the Wonder Years will have released at least two of the best pop-punk albums of the 2010’s, and that Save Rock and Roll may fall between the cracks sooner than most initially imagined). Don’t get too caught up in disregarding bands or records/calling out modern classics, because you never know what kid is going to stroll into his local Exchange, pick up used copy of You’d Prefer an Astronaut, and write the next album to define a genre. Just listen to what you love.
As Brian Bell put it, “It all goes to show the fickleness of the music business and industry. As an artist, you just have to do what you believe in at the time, whether it’s accepted or not. You just have to keep going with it.”
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