Weezer - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2008)

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For a man whose pocket of genius is either rated or slated by most music listeners, "Alone" makes for an interesting breakdown of a career for anyone willing to take on board a little tape hiss and autobiography.

While Weezer's star may have faded a little in recent years (the hits less frequent, even less apparent on more current albums) they certainly rank among one of the nineties most popular and most widely influential rock/pop bands.

The man behind the tunes, Rivers Cuomo, known for his penchant for Japanese ladies and with a family background of quasi-religious cultish hippie-dom has released this collection of demo's almost as a clearing of the closet, picking through the bones of days past.

Though this sounds like it may be like an old-timer recalling his glory days, don't be mistaken, the material ranges from 1984 to 2007, giving the full scope of really a rather interesting life in the music industry. To add to this, the tracks are accompanied by a booklet detailing the songs histories, some with lyrics fished out of old notebooks, and it's a pretty humble, funny read.. distracting from the sometimes varying quality of sound from track to track. Throughout, his sense of humour is very evident, starting with the forty-seven second track 'Ooh'.

Pre- "Blue" album material like The World We Love So Much and Lemonade definitely shows where Cuomo was going, with his love of huge, distorted guitars and his way with quirky lyrics shining through. An early recording of Buddy Holly is preceded by a pretty fair attempt at covering Ice Cube's The Bomb.

Chess sounds very much like early Of Montreal, followed by Longtime Sunshine and leading into a mammoth mid section filled with songs written while on a break in Germany after the "Blue" album was released. These songs (broken up by a song written for a film Weezer were asked to contribute something for called Wanda (You're My Only Love)) basically have the running synopsis of a rock opera that didn't quite happen, working title Songs from the Black Hole.

It's hilarious and he explains that eventually the concept morphed into "Pinkerton", but you can't see the songs here working on a serious record which I guess is why it didn't happen.

The rest of the record is later period Weezer, the recordings of a higher standard sound quality and the feel slightly more experienced and mature. Highlights: Crazy One, an awesome version of Little Diane backed by Sloan and a little excerpt of Cuomo talking with band mates Justin and Eric in his first band Fury, largely about how they'd like to be a lot more like KISS.

This is something no Weezer fan would miss and anyone interested finding out a little more about their history and to kinda have a bit of an intimate trip down Rivers Cuomo's memory lane. Take it with a pinch of salt, it is what it is and on the whole I've enjoyed it, a few tracks are one hundred percent cool mix-tape fodder.

Maybe not eighteen tracks of awesome (which I think, clearly, is not what he set out to compile) but definitely eighteen tracks of pretty neat, pretty funny and pretty honest music from someone who loves making it.

ALBUM RATING: 3 out of 5

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