We always knew Rivers Cuomo was smart. I mean, beyond having been born the son of a jazz musician, being granted the breadth of perspective expected of one raised in an ashram, and studying music at Berklee, he was accepted to and graduated from Harvard University ('98-'06). Sure, he left a couple of times, but it's the getting in the first time that's the trick.
Accomplishing these things takes a smart fella, or at least an esoteric one. There is no doubt that Cuomo is both.
So why call attention to these facts now? In the first week of June Weezer released a new self-titled album, this one sporting an eye-grabbing red cover. It also features Rivers in a cowboy hat and mustache (more on that in a moment), but it's the unmistakably red cover of the album that is important here.Weezer's most recent release brings the count of eponymous Weezer albums to three, each featuring on its respective cover the current iteration of Weezer set against a monochrome background. The first, released in 1994, featured an all blue cover and has since been commonly referred to as 'The Blue Album.' For the band's 2001 release, a green cover was used and hence 'The Green Album' was born. In the years following, Weezer went on to release Maladroit in 2002 followed by Make Believe in 2005. This brings us to their most recent release, the 'Red Album.'
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of allmusic.com does a fine, albeit brief job of discussing the album's musical and contextual merits. But he's left something essential out. Erlewine's review reiterates that famous critical axiom that eponymous albums are typically albums of purpose. This is correct to a point. I would argue that eponymous albums can be albums either of purpose or of philosophy. And what is philosophy but a basis for purpose? What Weezer has achieved with its Red Album (I’m OVER frivolous quotation marks) is the culmination of a philosophy that began all the way back in 1994 in the mind of a smart, esoteric singer/songwriter.
When asked for a list of influences, Rivers gives a diverse one. Kiss and Nirvana are named in the same breath as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and Puccini. To help develop himself as a songwriter and understand the mechanics of pop and rock music, Rivers created his own 'Encyclopedia of Pop', a "three-ring binder full of notes featuring the works of Oasis, Green Day and Nirvana", three of the most popular rock groups in the U.S. during the early 1990s. This document must also have contained some of his most intimate thoughts and opinions about music. From this rock crucible came the credo that would become manifest across the band’s three color-coded, self-titled pop-rock albums; that pop rock is pop culture, and that all pop culture is constructed using a combination of three basic elements: melancholy, hubris, and homage.
Read that sentence again. It's important, and it's the first sentence I've ever written that includes both semi-colon and a full colon. It's also why the color choices for each album cover were no accident. Blue, green and red are also the three colors necessary for the display of color television, perhaps the greatest symbol for pop culture in the history of modern man.
Holy shit.
Blue, being a metaphor for melancholy, was a natural choice for an album dedicated to this rudiment of pop. Songs from Weezer's debut album, though upbeat in melody and tempo, featured lyrics describing sadness inspired by moments in life that are universal in experience. From the wistful desire for a return to days gone by to the angst that comes with being an outcast, Cuomo understands. From romantic conflicts to reflections of a life spent in fantasy, he’s been there. Cuomo captured most perfectly and sweetly the emotion of melancholy in "My Name is Jonas" and "Say it Ain't So", two of the album's most popular tracks. But he knew that the album couldn’t be all doom and gloom. Cuomo makes sure to keep a keen eye on the future, using “Surf Wax America” and “In the Garage” to foreshadow the introduction of his two remaining puzzle pieces, hubris and homage.
On the Green Album, Cuomo addresses the problem of hubris and its trappings. But far from subscribing to the chest-thumping phenomenon of the rap-metal, cock-rock movement seen in the early years of the 21st century, Cuomo took Weezer in an opposite direction by largely disavowing pride in favor of honesty and humility, especially in the context of romantic relationships, as evidenced by songs such as "Don't Let Go," "Island in the Sun" and "O, Girlfriend." That doesn't mean you shouldn't take pride in things such as your work or being true to yourself, two situations Rivers addresses on "Glorious Day" and "Hash Pipe" respectively. Cuomo is quick to point out, however, this emotion is best experienced with a healthy dose of temperance.Still, the Green Album speaks to another critical element in the crux of pop culture. At different points in nearly every song, the issue of the past is discussed. It is a second common theme of the album, and it is how Rivers sets the stage for what would be the final piece to Weezer's self-titled declaration of band philosophy, the importance of homage.
In a letter to his nemesis Robert Hooke in 1672, Isaac Newton wrote, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants." Newton freely acknowledged and believed that but for the work of Descartes and other philosophers and mathematicians before him, he would not have achieved a greater understanding of the physical world. It's a sentiment Rivers Cuomo must hold dear, for in his pop thesis the subject of reference is of critical importance.
The Red Album cements the importance of homage firmly in place, just as it is sure to do for Weezer's position in pop rock history. But the album does not speak just to reference as a general concept. Rather, it seeks to address reference as the sum of its principles and various contexts. Reference in the context of specific artists is addressed most notably by "Heart Songs," a summation of songs and works that have both moved and inspired the artist throughout his career and life. Interestingly, it is in this song that Weezer's ambitions are revealed. As the song draws to a close, the band suggests that it might one day, too, be the giant upon whose shoulders future rock philosophers may stand. That's a dangerous admission, considering that Weezer is forced to walk a very fine line between being critically and commercially popular and being pretentious dicks. But there is no malice here. It is clear that Weezer does not wish to dominate the tapestry but be rather a part of its weave.
The Red Album gives nods to other concepts as well. With the song "Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variation on a Shaker Hymn)", Weezer plays to the panacea of popular music over the last several centuries. "Greatest Man..." runs the gamut from Baroque-style vocal counterpoint to Romantic-era grandiosity to modern rock in 4/4 time. Never mind that this track calls to mind Queen's opus, "Bohemian Rhapsody" (yet another reference to former giants), here the band sought to pay respects to the music theory and theorists that made such an opus possible.
While the band makes great strides in paying its respects to others, what makes the Red Album stand alone as an album of reference is the respect the band pays to itself. Rivers sensed long ago that an integral part of reference and respect was deference. And while it was seemingly easy to commit to wax what his vision for Weezer was, the task of expressing his gratitude to the band for turning his vision into a reality was exponentially more difficult. So rather than write his own melody to say thank you, Rivers confers his thanks and praise in the most fitting way possible; he lets the band speak for themselves. Each member takes a turn behind the mic on this album, expressing their vision and character, thanking their heroes and congratulating each other on such tremendous success. For it has been on these shoulders that Rivers Cuomo has stood for the past fifteen years.
There is, however, one giant who has until now remained unmentioned. We first learn of his existence in "Dangerous”, during which Rivers talks about his brushes with mortality in his youth. As the track continues, Cuomo contemplates what his children might one day come to him and say as they tread perilously close to their own particular edges. And he remembers his father. Not in words, though. Frank Cuomo, the giant from whose shoulders Rivers might have seen the furthest, is never mentioned on the album. But he is remembered on it. It happens on the cover. You know, the one where Rivers is wearing a mustache? Rivers has said he is wearing that mustache to celebrate the birth of his daughter, just like his father did when he was born. If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, you cannot pay greater homage that that.
So where does Weezer go from here? With their philosophy now posted for all to see, perhaps they set forth to spread the gospel. They could also now do what most aspiring acts do first and create a self-titled album to state their purpose in this new rock order. One can only hope that either course means more Weezer albums await us in the future. Only Rivers Cuomo knows for sure, though. And even if he doesn’t, I’m pretty confident he’ll figure it out. He’s a smart guy, after all.
SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivers_Cuomo
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=36614&aid=114659
http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/862.html
http://www.lyrics.com/album.php?artistid=1373
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=513079
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