New Weezer (again)

Seven Weezer songs from their upcoming album leaked this week. Courtesy of Drownedinsound.com user 'abp114', you can listen to them all on Muxtape [link]. I've got a couple of the mp3s here for you, and lead single 'Pork And Beans' can be streamed in full on weezer.com

This post has undergone numerous updates but finally I give you my "low down" on a couple of the Weezer tracks to emerge. Firstly, 'Everybody Get Dangerous' appeared in my other Weezer post about new material but in crappy preview form, from its appearance in not-so-hit film '21'. A probable future single, albeit in need of a radio edit with the last thirty seconds being the musical equivalent of talking, but not saying anything. It starts off sounding like the Top Gear theme tune. Its catchy chorus and jokey lyrics will undoubtedly annoy a lot of listeners. If you persevere however, you arrive at a magical dreamy interlude that makes it all worth it. Before that chorus smacks you in the face again with a frying pan or any other unsubtle smacking object of your choosing.

Now for the headliner of this post, 'The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn)', metamorphosing famous Shaker hymn 'Simple Gifts' into the surf-pop 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. This a 6 minute epic that has been compared to American Idiot-era Green Day, MCR's 'Welcome To The Black Parade' and even Weird Al Yankovic. All those comparisons are valid and that means people either think it's the most amazing Weezer track in years or think it is utterly abysmal. Either way, I thought I might as well offer my indepth thoughts. You can listen along at [The Hype Machine] or download the song below.

0.01 - The anticipation of a live crowd...
0.06 - ...obviously a receptive one, as they're already applauding
0.10 - err twinkly piano?
0.33 - police sirens?! Possibly consider this a warning about imminent nerdy rapping.
0.35 - Rivers 'Fred Durst' Cuomo starts rapping.
0.40 - Rivers 'sex talk' Cuomo. "Soon I'll be playing in your underwear" is topped by "You come like a dog when I ring your bell". Phwoar.
0.58 - "EEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY". The Fonz was never this pervy.
1.00 - Crunching riffs. Still sounds more like Limp Bizkit than Weezer.
1.26 - I don't think I'll ever be more pleased to hear Rivers' whiny vocals and a bit of acoustic guitar.
1.51 - Fuck yes, more songs need a marching band meets shaker hymn vibe.
1.57 - "No more words will critics have to speak". Unfortunately, false.
2.17 - Rivers 'Stevie Wonder' Cuomo. Go go gadget falsetto.
2.43 - Tempo change, nice. Beginning to sound like a mish mash of Pink Triangle and Hash Pipe.
3.08 - Wait, this is starting to sound like Maroon 5?!
3.16 - On second thoughts, it is actually 'Shine' by Take That [Youtube]. Oh dear?
3.33 - Thankfully, a tempo change and futuristic synth pop rescues the day. "I am the greatest man that ever lived". Steady on, Rivers.
3.58 - RADIOACTIVE. The greatest radioactive man that ever lived - Dr Bruce Banner, The Incredible Hulk.
4.07 - Rivers 'spoken word' Cuomo. "Somebody said all the world's a stage". William Shakespeare/Elvis Presley reference.
4.30 - "If you don't like it, you can shove it. But you don't like it, you love it". Rivers = badass.
4.36 - The vocal effect on "stage" is stuff Rivers has been using on his "let's write a sawng" project [YouTube]. Well worth a quick look to see how it's going.
4.37 - Choral bliss.
4.54 - Turbo boost on those harmonies.
5.10 - These drums, guitar, melody etc = a perfect Weezer chorus
5.42 - Enough with the false endings already!
5.43 - Yeah, I'm screaming with frustration too.
5.45 - A nice gospel burst to finish us off.

So that was my run through of the track, which despite the odd hiccup is easily my favourite Weezer track to emerge in the last five years. In fact, possibly my favourite post-Pinkerton track but that's getting a little ahead of myself. The other tracks that have appeared from the Red album range from mediocre to good but listen to them yourselves on that Muxtape link and let me know what you think. The future's bright, the future's..............red?

WEEZER - THE GREATEST MAN THAT EVER LIVED (VARIATIONS ON A SHAKER HYMN)
WEEZER - EVERYBODY GET DANGEROUS