Weezer
- Maladroit
Best
Alternative Album
Best Power Pop Album
The following was originally published in our Review section.
Review by antiGUY
It doesn’t really matter which label you
want to put on Weezer, be it geek rock, alterna-pop or some other new fangled
definition, one label that surely fits is power-pop. The more the band
progresses the more evident the fact that they are one of the modern leaders
of the genre for this generation. They have found a nitch for themselves
in the art form perfected by those who came before like Elvis Costello
and make the genre sound fresh and relevant in today’s popular music climate.
Some have dismissed this album as being
thrown together, a charge that carries wait if you only look at the fact
that is was released less than a year after the chart topping “Green Album”
but others are grateful they didn’t have to wait too long to get more of
their requisite fill of Weezerness.
Listening to “Maladroit” and “Green Album”
back to back it does seem like the songs may have come from the same song-writing
batch. The Green Album focused on the more commercial and poppier side
while Maladroit seems to be filled with the songs the band thought were
a little too heavy for the “Green Album”. Whether that is the case or not,
doesn’t really matter in the end, the only thing that is important is that
the songs are strong. Rivers Cuomo once again creates musical magic with
his songwriting pen and “Maladroit” delivers more than it’s fair share
of power-pop gems.
Weezer purists will still declare that
the “Blue Album” or “Pinkerton” shows us Weezer at their best but on the
other hand with the “Green Album” and now with “Maladroit” we get a glimpse
at Weezer down the line, a bit more mature, a lot more seasoned and maybe
a little more cynical but in the end they haven’t really strayed too far
from the formula that endured them to fans over the years.
In some ways, “Maladroit” is Weezer’s strongest
release yet giving us a more hard-hitting side of the band and in other
ways it doesn’t quite measure up to their past accomplishments on first
listen. But “Maladroit” is one of those albums that grows on you, with
each subsequent listen, bringing out something else to love about it. Love
it or hate it, “Maladroit” is still far superior to many CD’s released
by other bands this year. My advise is for you to check it out for yourself
and see if you connect with it, no amount of reviews and critical pontificating
can accomplish what a simply putting a cd into your stereo can!
CD Info
Weezer
- Maladroit
Label: Geffen
Rating: 
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