I feel like when I bought this record the idea of buying the new Weezer album the week it came out wasn't a thing to be embarrassed by, but looking back at their discography it must have been. I'd had Make Believe for a year and a half by that point so knew they were capable of writing bad albums. But The Green Album and Maladroit weren't uniformly terrible, so it was possible, I'm pretty sure, at the time at least. that Make Believe was just an anomaly. Of course, we all know it was next step in a slippery slope; a slope that steepened with The Red Album.
The Red Album came out whilst I was doing my Tuesday-record-from-Spillers year and seemed like a solid purchase that week. My colleague Hywel was really excited for the new Weezer album and I think some of that rubbed off on me. As has been discussed at length by everybody on the internet for years, Weezer built up a lot of good trust with The Blue Album and exactly how far that trust went varied depending on who you asked. For me, I definitely went into this wanting to like it. But I never really did. Pork and Beans has something classic Weezer about it, but is ultimately a very stupid song (which eventually became their modus operandi). The Greatest Man That Ever Lived was a ridiculous concept that didn't translate into a good song, and there's basically nothing else I remember about the rest of the album. I can't think how many years it's been since I last played The Red Album, maybe there'll be something to redeem it I'd forgotten about. Update: I'm at the end now and there isn't. The Angel and the One isn't terrible, but that's not exactly praise. I'd also forgotten that Cold Dark World contains one of the worst lyrics I've ever heard.
The Red Album turned out to be the last new Weezer album I bought. Raditude came out a year later but I had no interest in buying it. Weezer's downwards trajectory was well-established and the good trust they'd established with me was finally wearing out. Some friends gave them a few more chances, others stopped before I did; everybody has their limit with Weezer-Blue-Album-good-faith and I quite like seeing where that line is for other people. This album pushed me to the other side.
Format: 12", gatefold
Tracks: 10
Cost: £15.50 new
Bought: Spillers Records, Cardiff
When: 23/06/08
Colour: Red
Etching: none
mp3s: no
