Rivers Cuomo’s favourite Weezer album
As fans of alternative 1990s rock will attest, Weezer are one of the most iconic bands of the decade. Their first two albums, the Blue album and the follow-up, Pinkerton, are certified classics of the alternative rock genre and, though they did not receive huge commercial success at the time, have come to be adored by legions of fans across the globe.
The Weezer story begins in Los Angeles in 1992, a time when Rivers Cuomo first met drummer Patrick Wilson and formed a band. The quartet have been a mainstay of alternative and pop rock ever since, releasing 15 studio albums and touring relentlessly. Although the group remain a favourite of ’90s kids, their enduring quality has meant that they have inherited a whole new, younger audience in recent years.
With such a volume of highly regarded material that only shows signs of continuing into the future, the ‘best Weezer album’ is a topic of debate that has sparked arguments among music nerds for years. The general consensus is that it is close between Pinkerton and the Blue album. However, if you were to ask the brain behind the band, the answer may come as a surprise.
Cuomo has always shied away from picking favourites from his own body of work, “When fans ask me this, I always say, ‘I don’t do favourites’,” he told Vulture earlier this year. With the band continuing to release material, perhaps a straight answer will only arise once all is said and done, and the frontman can look back on his work as a whole to make an informed decision.
Pushed on to give some kind of answer, the songwriter and guitarist admits he suffers from a kind of recency bias, “favourite is the thing I just made”. The last Weezer release came in 2022 with SZNZ: Winter, the finale of a four-album project all released throughout the same year. As the old phrase goes, ‘You wait ages for a Weezer release, then four come along at once’.
The SZNZ project was released in four parts, corresponding to each seasonal solstice and all containing themes and writing pertinent to their respective seasons. Although the project was not incredibly successful, the band having to cancel a five-show residency on Broadway surrounding the SZNZ project as a result of low ticket sales, it is worth noting that the beloved Pinkerton was a flop upon its initial release too.
Anyway, the disappointing reception to SZNZ does not seem to matter much to the frontman. Cuomo continued to talk about them as his favourite Weezer project, “I love Summer, Autumn and Winter all for different reasons,” the singer says, curiously omitting Spring from that list, “They all came out last year. It would be very hard to choose, so I’ll just say SZNZ”. So, that’s the debate settled now, or at least until the band release some new material in the future.
