Review: Weezer’s “Teal Album”
A fun listen that brings nothing new.
January 25, 2019
Weezer shook the music industry on Thursday when they released a surprise covers album at midnight. The album, titled “Weezer (The Teal Album)” immediately went viral. Frontman Rivers Cuomo and company rode the success off of their cover of “Africa” by Toto, which was their first song to chart since 2009.
Nobody was expecting the band to release a full fledged covers album, so the release left many surprised. Weezer had been creating a lot of media buzz for their upcoming album, “Weezer (The Black Album)” and nobody was prepared for this. So, how did it hold up? Let’s find out.
The album begins with their hit cover of “Africa” which is a very fun spin on the classic tune by Toto. If you haven’t heard this cover, you probably have no interest in hearing it at this point. This song has been everywhere, with Weezer performing the song during countless late night shows and even “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” It was smart for the band to start things off with this song, as listeners hear the familiar song and want to hear more from the band.
A little over halfway through the 10 song album, Weezer gets ambitious and covers Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid.” This song just did not click. Instead of trying to put their own spin on it, Weezer did everything identical to the originals version by Black Sabbath. It is a cover album, but this one felt half hearted. It sounded odd, forced, and out of place compared to the rest of the covers on the album.
Perhaps the best cover on the entire album is Weezer’s take on “No Scrubs” by TLC. This is a rare occurrence on the album where the band actually puts their own spin on things. It is different and fun, making it work in every way. There is a reason this song in particular was getting mainstream attention before lunch time on Thursday, this cover really stands out from the rest of the album.
These are the three songs that stood out the most for me from this album. Overall, this album is a very fun listen. It creates a fun atmosphere and urges listeners to sing along and join in with the band. These songs sound like covers, and I mean that in a good way. They are just different from the originals, creating songs that don’t sound exactly like the originals. However, they also don’t change things up to the point to where listeners might be turned off by the different direction the songs are executed.
That being said, I do wish that the band attempted to be a little more ambitious with some songs such as “Paranoid” and “Take On Me.” The album is a fun listen, but the band did not create anything that memorable. Aside from two or three songs, the band created an album of mostly decent covers. Sure, the album is fun and something exciting to listen too, but in a few months the majority of this album will be forgotten. However, the “Africa” and “No Scrubs” are tunes that you must hear.
