FYI: Weezer

It’s a perfect time to do an FYI on Weezer, since they just released their sixth studio album this past Tuesday (June 3).

• The band was formed by Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar), Matt Sharp (bass), Patrick Wilson (drums) and Jason Cropper (guitars) in 1992, supposedly on Valentine’s Day.
• After 16 months together Weezer was signed by DGC (Geffen Records).
• The band relocated to New York City to record their debut album at Electric Lady Studios, which was produced by the Cars Ric Ocasek.
• During the recording of the album guitarist Jason Cropper left the band and was replaced by Brian Bell, who was the bassist in Carnival Art.
• Weezer’s self-titled debut, known as the Blue Album, was released on May 10, 1994.
• The Blue Album has since gone platinum three times.
• The debut single from the Blue Album was “Undone - The Sweater Song”, which was covered by The Offspring in 1994 and 1995. Here’s proof.
• The track “Susanne” was the b-side to “Undone - The Sweater Song”, and appeared in Kevin Smith 1995 flick Mallrats.
• The second single was “Buddy Holly”, which was released on what would have been Buddy Holly’s 58th birthday.
• “Say It Ain’t So” was the third single from the Blue Album and was inspired by Rivers belief that his parents split up because his father was an alcoholic.
• In late 1994 Rivers began work on a new album on his 8 track at his home in Connecticut.
• The result was the unreleased and unfinished album Songs from the Black Hole, which was going to be a space themed rock opera.
• In between getting leg surgery and going to Harvard in the summer of 1995, Rivers found time to record some new music for two weeks with Weezer.
• The band recorded more material during Rivers’ winter and spring breaks from school in 1996.
• The result was Weezer’s sophomore album, Pinkerton, released on September 24, 1996.
• Some of the lines from “El Scorcho”, which was the first single from Pinkerton, were taken from parts of an essay written by a classmate of Rivers’ while at Harvard.
• “The Good Life” and “Pink Triangle”, which is about a guy who falls in love with a lesbian, were also released as singles. But, Pinkerton failed to reach the success of the Blue Album.
• The band went on hiatus once they completed touring obligations in the summer of 1997.
• Bassist Matt Sharp left the band on April 8, 1998 to focus on his other band the Rentals and was replaced by Mikey Welsh.
• Weezer reunited in April of 2000 for the Fuji Festival in Japan, which would take place in August; they just couldn’t turn down the large amount of cash offered.
• The band began rehearsing and demoing songs in the spring of 2000, they also played some shows under the name Goat Punishment.
• On June 23, 2000 Weezer joined the Warped Tour for eight shows, but added some more gigs throughout the summer.
• The setlist for the band during the Warped Tour consisted of 14 new songs, known as the Summer Songs of 2000, only three would appear on future albums.
• Weezer hit the studio again with Ric Ocasek in the fall of 2000.
• The band released their third album, which was another self-titled release known as the Green Album, on May 15, 2001.
• “Hash Pipe” was the first single from the Green Album; it was the only song from the Summer Songs of 2000 to make the album.
• The second single was “Island in the Sun”, which had two videos. The first video was the band playing at a Hispanic couple’s wedding and the second video was the band playing around with some animals.
• Mikey Welsh was kicked out the band before the second video for “Island in the Sun” was shot and was replaced by Scott Shriner.
• The third single was “Photograph”, which during live shows, features Rivers on drums and Patrick Wilson on lead vocals.
• The band wanted their fans feedback for their fourth album by releasing downloads of demos off their website, however, only song “Slob” made the cut.
• Maladroit was released on May 14, 2002 and has reached gold status.
• “Dope Nose” was the first single and was another song from the Summer Songs of 2000.
• “Keep Fishin” was the second single. The video features the band with the Muppets, however, director Kevin Smith was originally set to film a different video for the song.
• On March 23, 2004 the band released the DVD Video Capture Device, which contains the band’s music videos and live performances from 1991 to 2002.
• Through December 2003 until the fall of 2004, Weezer worked on a new album with producer Rick Rubin.
• Make Believe was released on May 10, 2005, which was 11 years to the day since the release of the Blue Album.
• “Beverly Hills” was the first single from Make Believe and would become their most commercially successful single.
• “We Are All on Drugs” was the second single. MTV changed the title to “We Are All in Love”, which understandably ticked off fans. Here’s video 1 and video 2.
• “Perfect Situation” was the third single and stayed on top of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks for four weeks.
• The band toured with the Foo Fighters in the fall of 2005 on the so called “Foozer” tour.
• The band’s sixth album, another self-titled known as the Red Album, was released on June 3, 2008 and was produced by Rick Rubin. Originally the album was to be released on June 24.
• The first single “Pork and Beans” is currently on top of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks.

Here’s the classic video for “Buddy Holly”.

Here’s Weezer covering “Big Me” during the Foozer tour.