Listosaurus Rex

The best Weezer music is some of the best music you’ll find.  Unfortunately, the band has a lot of filler too.  Their spottiness is frustrating.  I feel like I’m doomed to buy each one of their albums only to write a mixed review of it.  Who knows, maybe they’ll release another classic some day.

Here is my attempt at a countdown ranking of their six albums, starting with the worst and ending with the best.  I’ve listened to each one of these albums many times through.

If you’re interested, you might also want to check out my ranking of their twenty-five greatest songs.

Anyways, here we go:

6. Make Believe

I know a few people who adore Make Believe, but for me it is Weezer’s least essential album.  Not that it’s bad; just, none of the tracks are classics.  I dig a few of them, but they just don’t shine with the energy of earlier albums.

Weezer has always been somewhat whiny, but some of the tracks here come across as almost unpleasant.  This album sounds like it’s from a band not quite sure who it wants to please, and everything sounds a little bit unfocused and uneven as a result.

Maybe it’s just the sound that I don’t like.  This is glossier and poppier in its timbre than any Weezer album before or since.  Some of the hooks are good, yeah.  It just feels bizarre and distant from the elements that made the band great in the first place.

[Edit: Or is Make Believe actually Weezer's best album?]

best tracks: Beverly Hills, We Are All On Drugs

5. The Red Album

To me, the difference between Make Believe and The Red Album is this: Make Believe is unfocused. The Red Album is eclectic. One has a grand vision of being diverse, the other doesn’t have much of a vision at all.

The material on The Red Album isn’t as good as earlier albums. But there’s a detectable creative spark and inspiration.  Even when it’s going places Weezer has never gone — singers besides Rivers, rockabilly? — it still has a distinctly Weezer sound.

Best tracks: Greatest Man that Ever Lived, Pork and Beans

4. The Green Album

To me, Weezer’s greatness is pretty evenly divided into three echelons of greatness.  The Green Album and Maladroit are almost equals in my opinion.  Though I give the edge to Maladroit, I will grant that The Green Album has a more even, unified sound.

The album is ludicrously short — under thirty minutes total.  It packs a wallop, though.  The songs are fast and loud and exciting.  It’s never as same-ish or simple as punk music, fortunately.

Best songs: Hash Pipe, Island in the Sun

3. Maladroit

An album is only as good as its songs.  That’s why I put Maladroit ahead of The Green Album: I like its songs more.  The Green Album is a little bit tighter and has a more consistent sound, but (the ever-underrated) Maladroit has Dope Nose, Burndt Jam, December, Space Rock, Keep Fishin’…. etc.

It’s surprising how fast the band came out with the album, just a year after returning to the scene.  The band really hit their stride, I guess.  [Edit: Another interesting thing about the album was the band's inventive approach to creating the album.]

Best songs: Dope Nose, Keep Fishin’

2. The Blue Album

Now we’re talking about Weezer’s best two albums.  They are both so great, and in different ways, that it was hard for me to pick between the two.   That Blue only got the runner up spot shouldn’t be any deterrent:  This is one of the best albums of ’90s.  It has a sunny guitar sound, emotional guts to add substance, and a set of great songs from front to back.

It’s just one of the most creative and inspired pieces of music you’ll find.  It took me a few listens before I was really sold, but every song is a classic. There’s a reason a lot of the songs are instantly recognizable to most of the civilized world.

I really wish I could call it a tie for the number one spot, but I had to pick one over the other.  Maybe I just listened to the skit portions of Undone one too many times — that and the annoying chorus for Holiday (”HO-li-day… far away…”)  are probably the only disappointing parts of the album.

Best songs: Buddy Holly, Only In Dreams, Say It Ain’t So

1. Pinkerton

It’s a tough call, but it is my belief that Pinkerton is Weezer’s greatest album.  Where the debut was bright and peppy rock, Pinkerton is edgy and dark.

While its collection of songs isn’t as perfectly consistent as The Blue Album, the overall effect of the album is stronger.  An arc of sadness, and even more sadness when you expect redemption, is moving.  It’s not just gloom and doom, though: most of the song focuses on little images in a touching way.  It reveals  startling amount of tenderness in Rivers Cuomo, the songwriter and lead singer.

Ultimately, Pinkerton leaves slightly more impact than any of Weezer’s other albums.  It’s more memorable and connects more strongly than their other albums, whether it’s being funny, tragic, or — usually– somewhere in between.

Best songs: El Scorcho, The Good Life, Getchoo

So there are my picks.  To any of you Weezer fans: How do you rank their albums?  Do you rank them?  What’s your favorite album/phase of their career?