Information AboutWeezer |
Weezer is an American 2006 HISTORY Early days (1992-93) Weezer was formed 2006 Five weeks after forming, they had their first gig, opening for Dogstar ( Keanu Reeves 's band) at Raji's Bar and Ribshack on Hollywood Boulevard . Weezer played clubs and other small venues around L.A. The band eventually attracted attention from major-label A&R reps looking for alternative rock bands. They were signed to the '' DGC '' label (which later became Interscope ) on June 26 1993 , by Todd Sullivan, an A&R rep from Geffen Records . ''The Blue Album'' (1993-94) The self-titled debut, '', 2006 During the recording of the Blue Album, Jason Cropper left the band and was replaced by Brian Bell , a then-bassist for the band, Carnival Art.''Urban Dictionary Article: Jason Cropper'' at Urbandictionary.com ;retrieved on September 5 2006 "Undone - The Sweater Song" was released as the first single. The 2006 Filmed in an unbroken take, it featured Weezer performing on a sound stage with various amusing studio antics, including a pack of dogs swarming the set. Jonze also directed the band's second video, ", 2006 The success of the video arguably pushed the band into the mainstream spotlight. Highlighting this was Microsoft choosing to include the video on the CD-ROM for the initial release of Windows 95 to demonstrate the multimedia capabilities of the Operating System . The video for Weezer's third single, "Say It Ain't So," was directed by Sophie Muller . It featured the bandmates performing in their original rehearsal space in California, known as The Garage, as well as footage of the bandmates playing Hacky Sack . A photo of The Garage is featured on the inside cover of the album. The house featured in the video has since been demolished. The ''Blue Album'' is currently certified triple , 2006 ''Songs From The Black Hole'' (1995) In late December 1994, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Cuomo traveled back east to his home state of Connecticut, and using an eight-track recorder, he began piecing together demo material for Weezer's next album. Cuomo's original concept for Weezer's second album was to be a space-themed rock opera, '', 2006 The album was intended to feature songs that flowed together seamlessly and end with a special coda that briefly revisited the major musical elements of the piece. The band began demoing and working on Cuomo's concept through intermittent recording sessions in the spring and summer of 1995. Some songs such as "Tired of Sex" and "Why Bother?" were on ''Songs From The Black Hole'' and later released on ''Pinkerton''. Some demos of unreleased songs, such as "Long Time Sunshine" can be found on various fansites. ''Pinkerton'' (1996-97) Ultimately, the ''Songs from the Black Hole'' album concept was dropped. The album would instead feature songs composed before their first album (which had briefly been incorporated into the space-opera) as well as some new ones written while Cuomo was at Harvard.''Weezer Record History page 7'' at Weezer.com ;retrieved on 6 September , 2006 Weezer's second album, , 2006 and inducted ''Pinkerton'' into the Rolling Stone Hall Of Fame. A large contingent of critics and fans currently view ''Pinkerton'' as Cuomo's artistic peak, despite the album being outsold by three of the five albums. Three singles were taken from the album: ", 2006 who later removed his directing credit from the final version due to creative disagreements with the band (most notably Cuomo, who actually edited the final version himself). A video for "The Good Life", directed by the husband-wife team of Jonathan Dayton And Valerie Faris , was also released. Of note are the differences in behavior of each band member in the videos. The videos show the divisive feelings growing in the band that would lead to the band's hiatus. The title of the album comes from the character Lieutenant Pinkerton in , 2006 The entire album is heavily influenced by the opera's story line. Madame Butterfly is mentioned under her real name, Cio-Cio San, in "El Scorcho." The song, "Butterfly", is written from Pinkerton's point of view at the end of the opera. The album's title sparked a legal challenge. Pinkerton Securities of Encino, Calif., filed a temporary injunction against the band and its Geffen record label for copyright infringement two days before the album was to be released on 24 September , 1996. A judge ruled against the security company, and the album was finally released. This injunction caused Geffen to hold back some of the initial advertising and promotion for the album, possibly contributing to the album's initial slow sales. On hiatus (1997-2000) Weezer completed their touring for ''Pinkerton'' in the summer of 1997. The members of the band took a break, with drummer Patrick Wilson returning to his home in Portland , Oregon to work on his side project, The Special Goodness ; Matt Sharp left to complete the follow-up album for his group The Rentals ; and Brian Bell went to work on his group, Space Twins . Rivers Cuomo returned to Boston, Massachusetts , but took a break from Harvard to focus on songwriting. Cuomo gathered together Boston-area musicians and rehearsed unreleased material, including possible new songs for the next Weezer album. The group, referred to by fans as the Rivers Cuomo Band, had several different lineups and played several shows at local clubs, including their first show at T.T. the Bear's on 8 October , 1997. Future Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was a constant of the group's evolving lineups. Pat Wilson eventually flew to Boston to sit in on drums. The Boston songs were later abandoned and not used on the next Weezer album, but live recordings of the Boston shows are openly traded on the internet. In February of 1998, Rivers left Boston and returned to Los Angeles. Pat Wilson and Brian Bell joined Cuomo in L.A. to start work on the next album. Matt Sharp did not rejoin the band and officially left the group in April of 1998. The group decided on Mikey Welsh as Sharp's replacement. Weezer continued rehearsal and cut demos until the fall of 1998. Frustration and creative disagreements led to a decline in rehearsals, and in late fall of 1998, drummer Pat Wilson left for his home in Portland pending renewed productivity from Cuomo. Rivers Cuomo went into a period of admitted depression, painting the walls of his home black and putting "fiberglass insulation all over the windows and then black sheets of fiberglass so that no light could get through." The band would not reunite until April of 2000, when the Fuji Festival in Japan offered Weezer a high-paying gig to play in August 2000. The festival served as a catalyst for Weezer's productivity, and from April to May 2000, the band rehearsed and demoed new songs in Los Angeles. The band returned to live shows in June 2000, but without the Weezer name. Instead the shows featured the group's first use of the pseudonym, Goat Punishment, so they could play to only longtime fans who would recognize the name. On 23 June , 2000, the band, now back under the Weezer name, joined the Warped Tour for eight planned dates. Weezer was well received at the festival leading the band to book more tour dates for the summer. SS2K - The summer sessions (2000) In the summer of 2000, Weezer (now consisting of Rivers Cuomo, Mikey Welsh, Pat Wilson, and Brian Bell) went on tour (including dates on the popular Vans Warped Tour ). Weezer's setlist consisted of 14 new songs that fans have labeled the ''Summer Songs of 2000'' (commonly abbreviated, ''SS2K''). When 13 of these songs did not appear on Weezer's next album, fans of the songs started a petition demanding the release of studio versions. Eventually, MP3s of live recordings of the songs were made available on the band's official website for download. Three SS2K songs, " Hash Pipe ", "Dope Nose," and " Slob ," have appeared on studio albums (" Hash Pipe " on the ''Green Album'' and "Dope Nose" and "Slob" appearing on ''Maladroit''). Rebirth for Weezer, ''The Green Album'' (2001) Eventually, the band went back into the studio to produce a third album. They chose the title, '' Weezer '' (2001), to repeat the self-titled name of their first release. This album quickly became known as ''The Green Album'' due to its distinctive bright green coloring. Shortly after the release of ''The Green Album,'' Weezer went on another American tour. They attracted a new generation of fans thanks to heavy MTV rotation for the videos of their hit singles, " Hash Pipe " and " Island In The Sun ." The video for " Hash Pipe ", directed by Marcos Siega featured sumo wrestlers and was nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards . The drug-centric title and chorus of the song led to a "censored" version, retitled "Half Pipe", to be released to some US radio/television outlets. Two videos were recorded for "Island in the Sun." Marcos Siega directed the first, which focused on a Mexican wedding, and Spike Jonze directed the second, which involved Weezer with animals in a wildlife reserve. Their video for "Photograph" was shot and put together by Weezer friend and unofficial "5th member" Karl Koch . As reported on 16 August , 2001, by MTV, bassist Mikey Welsh was checked into a psychiatric hospital. His whereabouts were previously unknown, as he mysteriously went missing before the filming of the second video for "Island in the Sun". Weezer was prompted to find a temporary replacement for Welsh. Through a mutual friend, Cuomo received Scott Shriner 's number and asked if he was interested to fill in for Welsh. Shriner accepted the invitation. Weezer Bios A harder edge, ''Maladroit'' (2002) Much to the ire of their recording label, Weezer decided to forgo the industry-preferred waiting period of 2 to 3 years between albums and began recording demos for their fourth album with the hope of releasing it within a year. The band took an experimental approach for the recording process by allowing fans to download the demos from their official website in return for feedback. After the release of the album, the band subsequently stated that the process was somewhat of a failure, as the fans did not supply them with cohesive, constructive advice. Cuomo eventually delegated song selection for the album to their original A&R rep, Todd Sullivan, stating the Weezer fans chose the "wackest songs." Only the song "Slob" was included on the album due to general fan advice. In early 2002, before the release of the fourth album, Cuomo sent out a mixed version of the song, "Dope Nose", to select radio stations, without the knowledge or consent of their record label Interscope. The song began to receive airplay. The record label, citing marketing concerns for the upcoming album, had Cuomo send out a letter to radio stations requesting the song be pulled until an official, sanctioned single was released. Interscope also briefly shutdown Weezer's audio/video download webpage, removing all the MP3 demos. Online Weezer fans staged a brief protest with several websites proclaiming "Free ''Maladroit''." In April 2002, former bassist Matt Sharp sued the band, alleging, among several accusations, he was owed money for cowriting several Weezer songs. The suit was later settled out of court. The fourth album, '' Maladroit '', was released on 14 May , 2002, only one year after its predecessor. The album served as a harder-edged version of their trademark catchy pop-influenced music. Although met with generally positive critical reviews, its sales were not as strong as those for ''The Green Album'', and it remains their lowest-selling album to date. Two singles were released from the album. The " Dope Nose " music video featured an obscure Japanese Motorcycle Gang , and was put into regular rotation. The music video for " Keep Fishin' " combined Weezer with The Muppets , and had heavy rotation on MTV. Both videos were directed by Marcos Siega. A video was also filmed for "Slob" and can be seen on the Enhanced track of the CD. As soon as ''Maladroit'' had wrapped up, the band immediately began work on their fifth album, recording numerous demos between tours (often recording as many as 24 songs in a day). These songs were eventually scrapped, and Weezer took a break after the release of two albums in quick succession. During this break, Bell and Wilson released LPs from their respective Space Twins and The Special Goodness side-projects. Weezer released their much-delayed first DVD on 23 March , 2004. The DVD chronicles the band from pre-''Blue Album'' through '' Maladroit '''s Enlightenment Tour . Titled '' Video Capture Device '' and compiled by Karl Koch , the DVD features home video footage, music videos, commercials, rehearsals, concert performances, television performances, and band commentary. The DVD was certified "gold" on 8 November , 2004. Back on top, ''Make Believe'' (2003-2005) From December 2003 to the fall of 2004 , the members of Weezer recorded a large amount of material intended for a new album to be released in the spring of 2005 with producer Rick Rubin . The band's early recording efforts became available to the public through the band's website. The demos, titled the ''Album Five Demos'' (or album 4.5), were a big hit with fans but only one song, "Hold Me," was included on the finished album. That album, entitled '' Make Believe ,'' was released on 10 May , 2005 . Despite commercial success, ''Make Believe'' generally got a cold reception from critics, receiving an average score of 52 on review collator Metacritic 1. Although some reviews, such as AMGs, compared it favourably to Pinkerton2, others, among them Pitchfork Media 's score of 0.4 out of 10, panned the album as predictable and lyrically poor. However, in later years reviews have tended to become favourable. The album's first single, " Beverly Hills ," became a hit in the U.S. and worldwide, staying on the charts for several months after its release. The video for the song, directed by Marcos Siega , featured the band and a select choice of fans interacting with Playboy Bunnies and Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion . It became the first Weezer song to hit #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. "Beverly Hills" was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards , the first ever Grammy nomination for the band. The video was also nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. The second single off ''Make Believe'' was "We Are All on Drugs". It was released in late summer 2005, and the music video was directed by Justin Francis . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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