Pinkerton?

Back in 1994 there was a lot of music buzz. It was what MTV did best. They played videos that were called "Buzz Worthy." Some of these were like Beck, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails and Weezer. Some of them were not like Bush, Oasis, and so many others that I thankfully forgot. In time some of these bands got bigger and bigger and one of those bands was Weezer. Not only did MTV create the buzz, but my own home state of Connecticut did because the lead guy from Weezer went to E.O. Smith High School (remember that name). The music world once again had a musical connect to my home state. This time is was oddly more popular then another home state person named Charles Ives. Honestly, I like Charles Ives a bit more then Rivers Cuomo.

The Buzz was so big that at one point just about every song from Weezer's first album was either on the radio or on MTV. It got to be somewhat crazy, but I went along and listened like everybody else. I even saw the tour. I saw just once though. I was impressed but not impressed to go see a group of Weezer shows like some of my friends did. For my feelings on not jumping up and down like my friends did I quickly became the music snob and more then likely I deserve that, but I liked other things at that moment. I was in trance with Pavement and Jeff Buckley.

The Weezer buzz lasted a long time. It was just enough to last to push their second album upon us. What we did not understand was the second album was 100% different the the first and why of all the Weezer's catalog I love Pinkerton. It is not your regular run of the mill album. It is full of strong bite and promise of what Weezer can do. An album that only lasts 34 minutes, but god it's a damn good 34 minutes and since it's short it warrants repeated listening.

Fast forward to 2000 and I am going back to school at the ripe old age of 27. I am just about 1 generation removed from most of the young adults at school. I have my favorite bands and bands I want to know more about. I decided to become a DJ. I did this because I been doing it part time back home, but now I can get my degree I so badly needed and have fun by being a DJ. my friend back home who was a full time popular DJ told me, "it's a good way to get chicks."

One day I was in my dorm room cleaning when there was a knock at the door. One of my fellow DJ's asked me if I wanted to go over a friends place and talk music and possibly playing. I had no objections to this because I knew one of the people at this house. The fellow DJ told me to bring some music along. The fellow DJ had a stack of about twenty and I decided to bring about the same. In this pile was a signed Weezer promo Pinkerton CD. I forgot that I had it in the pile. We landed at this friends house where I met about ten more new people. Over time I became friends with all of them. We were talking music when one of them grabbed my stack of CD's. He looked it over and saw the Weezer. He quickly told me that he was one of their biggest fan's. I told him that I thought Pinkerton was their best album. They could never top that album and that album for me was their creative peak. Mind you there were still more Weezer to come.

He looked at the CD and told me that it was in really great shape. Then he opened up the booklet. He saw that it was signed. He just flipped. He asked how I got it signed and I told him that I had a friend who was a DJ and he got it signed for me. He then asked me Weezer type questions. These questions refered to trivia questions about the band. I got 100% and I was thrilled. I asked him if he could answer one Weezer question for me. I knew the answer, but I needed to see how much he was a fan. The question what is E.O. Smith Music in his publishing credits. He thought it over and told me a great answer, but it was the wrong one. He said to me that he thought it was a Professor that was his teacher while he was at Harvard. I commended him for his great answer, but I told him it was the name of his High School. He came over and shook my hand and proclaimed me as another Weezer fan. It was a good fun day and a great chance to make me feel welcomed by the power of music. Something I will never forget is how music can cross many generations. It may be a single artist or a group, but it works well.

So back to the reason Pinkerton is so great. From the onset the music is louder and messier and the drums are just tough. Even the guitars make feedback type sounds. It has more of an live album then anything else. It's an album that is a better album, full of crunching power pop with a surprisingly strong emotional undercurrent that becomes all the more resonant with each play. (AM). With that being said! Enjoy one of the best Weezer albums. Some true fans will say the same thing. Enjoy!!