Weezer (Red Album) [Deluxe Edition]

Weezer’s sixth album is their most ambitious to date. While still featuring the band’s trademark mix of punk-pop, crunchy powerchord guitars, smooth, soothing harmonies, and Rivers Cuomo’s aching, arching melody lines, the songs in many instances expand beyond the usual and expected. Recorded in three separate sessions, with Rick Rubin overseeing the first attempt, the band self-producing a second batch, and finally Jacknife Lee finishing things for the final polish, the self-titled “Red Album” explores new territory. The first single, “Pork and Beans,” is straight-forward and hooky, but “Heart Songs” is a four-minute tour de force, basing itself on a laid-back near G-funk groove that builds without ever climaxing, while reveling in the power of music as Cuomo recounts his childhood musical faves. The six-minute “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” includes a falsetto vocal from Cuomo, along with near-rapping and numerous stylistic shifts within the one tune. “Everybody Gets Dangerous,” from the film 21 (but not included on the soundtrack), rips with a street-walkin’ charm that resolves in a refreshing Weezer-like chorus. “Dreamin’” takes Weezer’s usual gait and stretches it over five minutes.