Review: Weezer - Everything Will Be Alright in the End
- Oct 10, 2014
- 3 min read
By Marc Blanc, Contributor
[Republic; 2014]
Rating: 6/10
Key Tracks: “Back To The Shack,” “Cleopatra,” “The Waste Land/Anonymous/Return to Ithaka”
Has it really been four years since Hurley? Roughly the same gap separated Green Day’s American Idiot from 21st Century Breakdown, but the anticipation those mascaraed rockers enjoyed makes Weezer’s hype look like Soulja Boy’s. After the last two albums-that-shall-not-be-named, though, the fans who herald this lukewarm latest as a “return to form” can’t be blamed.
It’d be nice to isolate Everything Will Be Alright in the End from the band’s touchy discography. But after the apologetic lead single “Back To the Shack,” it’s clear Weezer wants this LP to be in league with Blue and Pinkerton, so it has to be reviewed based on that attitude. Thanks to revisiting the canonized albums, the Cali quartet manages to sound more genuine than they have in a decade. It’s just a shame the group can’t be at its most compelling as well.
Never known for technical prowess, Weezer owes its initial success to the endearingly accessible honesty of Rivers Cuomo’s songwriting. No one should expect Cuomo to sing about D&D and surfing 20 years later, but the lyrical flatness of Everything makes it impossible to invest too much in the content, even though it’s full of self-deprecation and loneliness.
Addled by cliches, the record’s teeth are filed by relentless refrains like, “I’m at a loss for words, I’m at a loss for words,” on “I’ve Had It Up to Here.” However, by addressing his relationship with his dad on “Back To the Shack” and unabashedly leaping from lovestruck to livid throughout the record’s meat, Cuomo is embracing his sincerity once more.
Though the salient points are “Weezer is back” and “Cuomo doesn’t know what he wants out of a companion,” Everything tries to be a quasi-concept album. Audacious for the band since the beleaguered Songs From the Black Hole concept, but a plotline never explicitly surfaces. Most of the songs that aren’t self-aware are simply expressing similar emotions and topics, reliably inferred from the titles.
More exciting than the bland “storyline” songs, the self-centered tracks deliver the highlights. Structurally, the listener is supposed to be both welcomed and sent off with reminders that Weezer is mighty and verging on rocking again. “Back To the Shack” is armed with the catchiest chorus of the year and could pass for a Blue B-side. Then comes “Eulogy For a Rock Band,” one of the rare post-Pinkerton examples of Cuomo writing as if he was still as much a regular nerd as any of his listeners. Everything’s first impressions are of the band exploring its own identity and legacy.
Afraid to stray from classic Weezer structure after the disastrous experiments of the recent past, the album doesn’t have the musical excitement necessary to christen it remarkable. “Cleopatra,” however, actually finds the “accidental rock stars” successfully experimenting with time signature and Cuomo’s vocal range has pleasantly improved. He repeatedly proves his capability of mastering the high note so infamously mangled on Pinkerton’s “El Scorcho.”
Most Weezer albums stick to a trim 10 songs, so the additional three at the end of Everything are surprising but not shocking. When one gets to the 11th track, they’ll voyage on an eight-minute odyssey that feels like the Abbey Road medley, Weezer style.
Along with its shocking ambition, the concluding songs make the definitive statement about the record. Little excitement is going to be roused today, but the thought of the future is invigorating. If Weezer expands upon this album’s end, 1994 may last a long time.
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