Project Description
Weezer
”The Black Album”
(Album Review)
Reviewer: Jason Beardsley
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“There’s too many thoughts in my head” and I can’t get this album out of my head!
Weezer’s brand new album, “The Black Album”, is the complete opposite to how you would imagine the colour black would sound. It is strange, out of its mind and it is fun. Think of every bright, fluorescent colour you can think of and that is the sound of this album.
Before this album was released, the band surprised us all with the release of the of “The Teal Album”. An excellent album of beautifully executed cover songs including the world renowned cover of Toto’s “Africa”. Listening to “The Teal Album” you can easily hear the influences that Weezer has drawn on to formulate “The Black Album”.
“Can’t knock the Hustle”, the lead single, and funnily enough, the opening song on the album, sets the tone for the crazy roller coaster ride you are embarking on. Modern funk rock at its finest. Take some old school Weezer, mix it with some Beck and perhaps some Sublime, and you have the melting pot of genius that is this album. The album still carries some of the old characteristics of the Weezer we know and love, but the band have taken a more experimental route with this album. It’s fresh, feels good, like an “Island in the Sun”.
At times the lyrics of each song come from a strange sci-fi kind of place, but then, as if you had your mind altered by some form of Narcotics, the good kind of course, you are “high above the clouds”. “Zombie Bastards” and the flow on into “High as a Kite” is an example of this. However, this is why we love Weezer, at times nonsensical, but in the end it’s genius, it’s catchy and it gets you moving.
To this listener, “The Black Album” is Weezer’s most complete album to date. It is a far cry from the days of hits like “Undone” and “Beverley Hills”, however Weezer reinvent themselves in a way that even the most loyal fans would be proud of. It is the kind of album that you can play at work, or during your workout, or even your local club on a Saturday night. It bends, breaks and simply defies the barriers that a single genre of music can capture an artist in. If Weezer’s cover of “Africa”returned the band to being a household name, “The Black Album” will solidify that status and capture the hearts of fans new and old.
Standout tracks include “Can’t Knock the Hustle”, “High As a Kite”, “Too Many Thoughts in my Head” and, if you want a trip to the tropics, “Byzantine”.
Come on, grab yourself a copy!, even Grandma will like it!
4/5 Stars
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Track list:
1. Can’t Knock the Hustle
2. Zombie Bastards
3. High as a Kite
4. This Girl
5. Piece Of Cake
6. I’m Just Being Honest
7. Too Many Thoughts In My Head
8. The Prince Who Wanted Everything
9. Byzantine
10. California Snow
Released via Crush Music and Atlantic Records.
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