When Weezer formed they had been struggling to make it big, but when they burst into the mainstream scene with their self-titled blue album in 1994, they had massive success with the singles “Undone – The Sweater Song”, “Buddy Holly”, and “Say It Ain’t So” off the album. They had made their mark as a power pop band. Then they did a full 180-degree turn after releasing Pinkerton, their sophomore record and many people were confused by it and had mixed reactions. Although a lot of people disliked it at first, it became a cult classic and one of their most critically acclaimed hits. Although much of the lyrical content would be an issue today, sonically and instrumentally it was very strong and definitive. Those ideas of experimenting with new sounds and trying new styles have carried over to today.
On January 29th of this year Weezer released an anticipated album called OK Human, the name of which is a play on Radiohead’s OK Computer. Months ago Weezer announced they had planned to release an all acoustic, orchestral album and they delivered. This album was recorded with a 38-piece orchestra and entirely analog equipment. This ties into the album’s theme about human connection, which is kind of apt considering this was released while the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing–an event that has affected many people’s lives.
Now, making an album that deals with technology addiction so to speak, as its theme, can come off as very pessimistic and maybe old-fashioned, but in my opinion only one track falls into this trap, but I will go over that later.
The album starts with the lead and only released single off of the album, which is “All My Favorite Songs”. I enjoyed it very much, I think it is one of Weezer’s stronger tracks and it has a great hook. The string melodies and accompaniment make the track all the more stronger. One great thing about the album is that the songwriting structurally works well, even in the songs I don’t feel strongly about. The next song describes Rivers and his wife’s favorite dish to get at their nearby theater, the keyboard is interesting, although the song is very short there’s nothing particularly special about it.
“Grapes Of Wrath” is an entertaining song, although it is a bit goofy name dropping Audible, a popular audiobook service, Cuomo also talks about the joys of reading and alludes to other novels. As mentioned previously the string accompaniment paired with the verses and chorus is phenomenal. This leads into “Playing My Piano” which at least sonically feels like two Beatles songs mixed together with “Weezer’s Style”. It’s almost reminiscent of “Hey Jude” and “Day in The Life” and this creates an interesting dynamic. The strings work very well with the piano. I like the piano being highlighted, I think it works well with Rivers’ voice and has a great melody.
There is one track that hinders this album and that is “Screens”. Although it fits well with the concept, lyrically it feels overly preachy about the fact that everyones “attached” to their screens especially in the chorus where it almost sounds like Rivers is in misery the way he emphasizes “Everyone stares at their screens”. Instrumentally, although I can’t pinpoint where the string accompaniments feel derivative, they’re definitely not as complex as on the other tracks.
The album is short but sweet: a good 30 minutes of enjoyable orchestral rock music. Besides “Screens” and some awkward lyrical bumps throughout the album, Rivers’ songwriting really shines through and Weezer proves that they can experiment with a new style and stick the landing. If you’ve been hesitant to check out Weezer before, or even if you’re a hesitant Weezer superfan then this is the album to check out, it is by far one of their best so far.
Favorite Tracks: Grapes Of Wrath, Playing My Piano, All My Favorite Songs, Bird With a Broken Wing
Least Favorite Track(s): Screens
Check out our previous Weezer Week article here, and see what Weezer related shenanigans we’re up to on TikTok here!
