Weezer: Deluxe Edition (Blue Album) [Original recording remastered] [Extra tracks]

Here, singer/songwriter/lead guitarist Rivers Cuomo creates a mini-epic of twenty-something angst and confusion, drawing on elements of love, anti-social behaviour and Dungeons and Dragons (!!) to get across his message, whilst in turn, creating some of the most glorious examples of 90’s pop/rock ever heard. The rest of the band are on fine form, with guitarist Brian Bell creating strong rhythms, as well as adding Beach Boys’ style backing-harmonies to a number of cuts, whilst original (and best) bassist Matt Sharp (later of the Rentals) keeps the songs moving with some help from Pat Wilson (one of the best drummers of modern rock) who ties the whole thing together with a percussive precision. Meanwhile, the finishing touches are put into place by former Cars front man Ric Ocasek, which probably accounts for the album’s retro feel (something which seems to be very much in vogue now with bands like the Fountains of Wayne, the Strokes and the White Stripes all looking to reflect the past).

The songs featured here have a wonderful cohesion, with the band rarely breaking away from the formula of angst-ridden love songs or laid back summer anthems, which helps to create an intoxicating mood for the listener to immerse themselves in. The opening track, My Name is Jonas, finds the band doing what they do best, crafting a jangle-pop, musical bed of various guitar styles to which Cuomo can couple his nonsense lyrics to form a song that could easily be about everything and nothing simultaneously. Both No One Else and the World Has Turned and Left me Here continue this same jaunty approach to instrumentation, though the lyrical preoccupations are this time more human, removing the touches of surrealism from the opening song and instead, building on strong emotions. Cuomo’s vocals aren’t that far removed from mid-period Elvis Costello here (King of America & Blood and Chocolate) with the singer over-emoting spectacularly, giving the songs a greater intimacy and also, a much-needed sense of character.

Next up we find first single release, Undone: the Sweater Song, a glorious no-brainer, which acts as a precursor to the out-and-out musical madness of Pinkerton’s El Scorcho, with weird sound effects, vocal samples and layered instrumentation... not to mention Cuomo’s out-there lyrics; ("do you want to see me lying in my Superman skivvies") combining to create one of the most bizarre and wonderfully catchy guitar pop moments this side of the Pixies’ Here Comes Your Man. Meanwhile, Surf Wax America, Buddy Holly - another big hit due to that Happy Days video - and Holiday all draw heavily on that 60’s Beach Boys/Surf-rock thing, with both Sharp and Bell laying down backing harmonies, as the instrumentation goes out of it’s way to create that all important feeling of summertime madness... Meanwhile, third single release, Say it Ain’t So acts as an amazingly lethargic ode to the joys of hanging out, that once again, takes Cuomo’s bizarre phrasing to a whole new level.

The band save their most impressive creation till last, with the nine-minute mini-epic Only in Dreams, drawing parallels with new age post-punk like the Cocteau Twins and even some nods to the Cure (Disintegration era)... where the band create a lulled dreamlike musical arrangement for Rivers to lay down some seriously beautiful and evocative, romantic vocals ("I walked up to her / asked her to dance / she said 'hey maybe / I just might take the chance'"), his voice... almost as hopeless and mournful as Morrissey’s on classic track There is a Light that Never Goes Out. It is, without question, one of the sweetest, most ethereal love songs ever written... and features as a lovely way to end this amazing record.