Every now and then I get people asking for a playlist of every song mentioned in my videos: Well here's a Spotify link for this one: open.spotify.com/playlist/0PyTj8B2gRjxPVceK3ON14?si=572c2aa0a93c4108 and the RU-vid Music one: music.ru-vid.com/group/PLooaZ33lSalc7zTt6oKLedwRtqQ2eOujY&si=eGbNe61ZhTYUZSuY
I swear: Halfway through I was thinking, “I’ve got to make a playlist of these songs.” Thanks!! So many one-hit wonders, but my god they were wonderful. Weeper appeared to be a one hit wonder too-except they kept releasing hit after hit. And they’ve all withstood the test of time (with a few cringe lyrics). Never mind seems very much of an era; the blue album is less so, almost timeless.
This has me feeling so many ways. The irony is, when I saw the Say It Ain’t So video at the age of 11, I thought Wheezer were the coolest dudes on the planet. They were the very first major influence on me both in how I dressed and I how played guitar. I made my mom take me thrift stores to find shirts like they wore on the Blue cover, got my grandfather to hang ugly carpet in the barn me and friends played music, and played along with that first album (💿) over and over again. At 41 years old, I wish I could tell Cuomo that Weezer was and is my rock and roll heroes. They are MY “Ace Frehley”. Thank you so much for this video!
Nothing wrong with that, man. I'm a huge Weezer fan too, & the Blue Album is a classic album, from our generation. I'm going on 41 myself, so, looks like we came up around the same time.
Haha! My people. 41 as well. Feel the same way. Learned every song on Blue and Pinkerton on guitar. Also hated everything they made green album onwards. I am not ride or die.
Could have written this myself. Lol. Same age, same impact. While I kinda dropped out of my Weezer obsession after Maladroit or so, can't deny the inspiration those early records were on me❤
I was a part of that pre- Nirvana sub pop alternative hard Rock scene for years and years. I think what can't be understated is the giant effect that the Pixies had on this scene. I know it seems simple when you describe the fast then slow, then fast again concept but the Pixies perfected it and Nirvana really used that sound perfectly in their sound. Weezer especially shows the same lineage of bands like the Pixies and even Fugazi who seems to always get left off of the list of influences. I really love this era of music and it's kind of a forgotten one. People think that it started when Nirvana got signed to a major label but it had been going on for many years. Most of us thought that Mudhoney would be the band that would break big but it didn't go down that way.
It kinda blows my mind that “Daydream Nation,” “Nothing’s Shocking,” “Surfer Rosa/Come On Pilgrim,” “Doolittle,” and “13 Songs” were all released in, basically, the same year. All HUGELY influential records. Nothing sounded like them at the time (with the exception of Sonic Youth-if you knew who they were already and the only band they sounded like was Sonic Youth anyway). I was a Senior in high school at the time. Looking back, it’s hard to believe I was there for it and experiencing it organically. (Edit: Everyone did, in fact, think that Mudhoney were gonna be the next big thing. They didn’t sound all metal like that other next big band, Soundgarden, so I was totally up for it. Sometimes it’s okay, even preferable, to be wrong.)
@bookaufman9643, oh wow!!! Man, you're so lucky to have been a part of that scene!!! That's one of my fave musical movements!! Look at all the amazing music that came out of scene! What was the name of your band?
@@brandonpage7087 I wasn't in a band at that point but I worked at Emo's in Austin which is a sort of headquarters for alternative rock. I was also going to a show almost every night. There's a lot of bands from that seen that aren't remembered much these days like L7 and The Cows. I saw all of the sub pop bands when they were on tour through Austin. Another great band that gets kind of lost is Jawbreaker. It was a really cool time to be into that music and I remember working in a restaurant for a while and we always played Bleach by Nirvana. I was completely shocked that they were the first sub pop band to get a major contract. I thought they were the least radio-friendly band on that label. I guess there were probably some other bands that were also not very radio friendly. Bands like The Melvins. In Austin we had Jesus Lizard too
Didnt kurt admit that teen spirit was Nirvana was just trying to rip off the pixies 😂 no ego, just totally honest. Man, they really dont make them like that anymore
@@NIGHTGUYRYAN I love a ton of those bands but I think the Pixies are probably the best. They were so good that they were what the better hard alternative music tried to be or at least paid homage to. I got to see Nirvana when there were probably only 25 people in the crowd. I think they were touring behind Bleach but it might have been a year or so after that. Sub pop was great but so were labels like Alternative Tentacles and before that 4AD. I still listen to a lot of newer stuff or at least stuff that was made in this millennium but music was great for me back then.
Jesus, that montage at the 30-odd min mark is staggeringly damning of the period - it's only when you get all those those back-to-back that you realise that the industry really did just squeeze that sound to death. Brilliant video as always, sir.
Rock radio stations loved that bubble-grunge sound because it came across as cool and youthful, but it wasn't too abrasive for grownups. You could play Better than Ezra or Nada Surf on the store radio and no one was going to tell you to turn the racket off. And I knew a lot of people at the time who were only interested in music that fit inside that bubble-grunge / pop-punk umbrella.
As someone who constantly listened to the same alt-rock station throughout the whole of the 90s, I could physically feel the music dying in that era. It was painful
@@djbeema I was in a town without a dedicated alt rock station in the 90s, so my perspective was a little different. I got most of my exposure to alt rock from the music video channel, where rock was often warring with pop for airtime. So in 1997, we were rallying behind bands like Collective Soul and Bush because at least they weren't the Backstreet Boys.
If you want to talk about Weezer being a "meme band" then there has to be mention of _Pork and Beans_ whose music video was both a very early example of pop culture properly acknowledging internet culture and, when watched nowadays, a meme museum.
Weezer's debut album is one of the rarest of debut albums because all the songs are good and it's timeless. Just as good in 2024 as it was 31 years ago. Because they weren't tied to Grunge, except for the soft-loud-soft style of The Pixies, which everybody borrowed from. Why aren't The Pixies in the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame for that very reason?
I'm looking to that story another time. Pinkerton has always had a special place in my heart and I'm sure the Trash Theory treatment will shine a deserving light on it's history and influence.
Yeah, there isn;t much that is known about his father that is publicly available. The "..cleaned up, found Jesus" part still holds true. His father did enter the clergy prior to the writing of "Say it Ain't So"
0:18 I am so glad you mentioned my all time favourite band, and one of the pioneers of alternative music, They Might Be Giants. I highly recommend their albums Lincoln, John Henry and The Spine.
I've been into TMBG since their first album (which I got at age 14 back in 1987) and they are still putting out amazing music to this day. I listen to them more these days than any other single band.
@@johnchedsey1306 I got into them when I was 10 in 2006, because my brother had shown me Homestar Runner and the Experimental Film video. I went out to the store, bought Flood, Lincoln and Factory Showroom, and I was hooked.
PS…please produce one of your always thorough deep dives into Flaming Lips. It’s fascinating that this diverse experimental proggy artsy band was founded and nurtured in Oklahoma of all places.
@@alisterfolson They formed in Oklahoma City in the early 80s…it was a time when some of the best bands were surfacing from out of atypical places…Melvins (Aberdeen) Meat Puppets (Phoenix) Bhole Surfers (San Antonio) DRI (Houston)….but Oklahoma City?
@@apparaoapparao In all fairness it's not like OKC used to be a cow town, it's a big city with hundreds of thousands of residents. Every regional population center in the US has some sort of local alt culture, and it often gets pretty weird in less cosmopolitan localities. idk about Oklahoma specifically, but compare to something like the 80s noise rock scene in the Twin Cities or the radically weird stuff that came out of the Louisville underground in the early 90s.
Weezer never clicked with me personally, but this video helped me to understand and appreciate their influence. The bit where Cuomo realizes his Sweater Song chord progression is just Metallica’s Sanitarium is quite funny and relatable
The texts are good, but I quickly got tired of the constant distortion. My brain behind my ears needs a bit of variety in a song. I strongly prefer the bands that were mentioned as inspiration, Velvet Underground and the Pixies over most of Weezer's music.
You definitely get these comments all the time, but I think you should definitely do a video about INXS because you haven't as far as I can tell. My favourite song is Don't Change, but I don't know if that's the most contextually relevant song.
Would highly recommend the documentary “Mystify: Michael Hutchence” I didn’t know much about them other than the tabloid headlines from the time & its well made film
I’ve watched practically everything you’ve put out and you are, hands down, the best when it comes to covering music history on RU-vid. Not only are you skilled when it comes to covering all the finer details of the subjects, but the artists and genres you choose to cover somehow manage to align with all of my musical taste, while opening me up to so many incredible bands that I’ve simply never heard of or bothered to listen to. I guess what trying to say is thanks for all your hard work and keep it up, man!
Another great video. I saw Weezer the first time they played London at the Underworld, I was working with the support act. The audience were mostly Americans who could not believe they were playing such a small venue, Weezer were amazing.
If Weezer stopped and left it after Pinkerton, they're not a meme band today. Having said that, I love those two albums, particularly the Blue, there's just this magical quality to it that's hard to find. Only In Dreams is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, every time I listen to it I get transported back to my early teens. The Buddy Holly video too, man, was that a sensation when it came out.
@@schmonsequences For sure, there's a couple of tracks in the later albums that definitely almost recapture that magic, but it's too sparse. Nothing like playing a whole album front to back and never wanting to skip a track.
I just love your channel so much! I just can't even fathom how much research goes into each video. It seems overwhelming but here you are putting out videos regularly. I also love how you cover just a wide plethora of genres. I hope you get enjoyment out of this too because I could watch these forever!
Just saw them in Philly, when they played this song the first two times they hit the chorus they stopped on the first line so the crowd could belt out "SAY IT AIN'T SO!" in unison. Really cool moment.
It's a bit odd to include Cake among the one-hit wonders. The others belong there far more but Cake had a number of hits, from "Sheep Go to Heaven" up to "Short Skirt, Long Jacket".
The Presidents of the United States was another band on that list with multiple good songs that were played on radio stations and, I believe, made the charts.
@@Winterydee Yeah, good catch! They had several radio hits. I actually heard "Peaches" far more often than "Lump" at the time. It was almost inescapable in 95/96. They were more like a one-album wonder with a bunch of popular singles off their debut but the band didn't last much longer.
I was a teenager when I first got the Blue Album, on cassette tape. The weirdest memory for me is that I found it so raw and close to my heart that I found a lot of the lyrics really cringe, and they presented the same sort of feelings I might have had if it were my album that people were listening to. To this day the album reignites intense feelings of awkwardness and memories of my teenage years. It's a sad but also reassuring feeling.
One of my favorite albums of all time. Absolute timeless classic without a single skip and a rare case of a 10/10 album in my opinion. Thank you very much for doing this video.
I went to Riot Fest where Weezer played The Blue Album front to back one night and Pinkerton the next. I stood in a crowd of 10,000 people aged 20 to 40 and everyone sang every word of Blue Album along with the band. I turned to my friend and said, it's incredible everyone knows every word of this album, what other album can you think of like that? Weezer have had many different lives but everyone agrees that Blue and Pinkerton are their crowning achievements. Maybe they're a meme band, but not for those albums.
I literally wouldn't have picked up a guitar if it wasn't for this album - that was about 25 years ago and I wouldn't trade that time as a musician for anything
Proof that the Blue Album is a classic album, that influenced many. Weezer definitely deserves more respect & love, than they get. So proud that this is something from my generation!
This is one of your best videos yet, you hit so many great emotional beats. As a man in his mid twenties I am often disappointed to hear people refer to weezer as an uncool band and vilify their music. I don't understand how anybody can fail to recognise the beauty and brilliance of 'say it ain't so'
Damn that cut of the 90's alt rock one hit wonder procession of crunchy, sticky, novelties hit like a warm breeze on an autumn afternoon. Great video, as usual.
I checked out one of the bands referenced in this vid, "that dog.", and noticed one of their songs has a VERY strong similarity to the opening guitar in Sweater Song... The song's called "Angel". Anywho, excellent video once again!
They’ve aged very well. My children grew up with the social awkwardness of vines/tik tok and Coronavirus isolation …and they can relate to Weezer’s longing to have fun/be accepted while experiencing the challenges of a difficult adjustment….and their song structures were the blueprint/foundation for emo and all that followed emo.
I love Trash Theory's essays but I usually end up stopping constantly to go listen to the songs featured in it. Very disjointed way to get through a video.
I did a deep dive on this record recently and what I was struck by was how much it felt like someone's therapy session, moreso than any other record I've listened to in full. Just a lot of raw, untapped, and unprocessed feelings which led to its most beautiful but also most problematic elements.
@@Chucknorrisatemybaby I've done a full listen through, it leans more into pure horniness from going celibate during that period. At the same time it doesn't feel like he's unloading his issues in the same way on that album vs Blue.
The post-Weezer alternative rock one-hit-wonder montage is an amazing mix of the best (stuck promoting novelty songs) and worst (dogs having caught the car) of '90s radio rock.
Weezer was one of the first bands I ever saw live (I saw them in 2009) and admittedly only knew a few songs of theirs when I went to see them (they opened for Blink-182). But I've seen them twice since. I remember when Sweater Weather came out thinking that that song wouldn't have permeated the zeitgeist if Undone hadn't done so 20 years earlier. Thanks for this video. I'll patiently wait for that Midwest Emo video.
The Blue Album is one of those albums that’s such a hallmark of my childhood, I think I was 8 or 9 when it came out, and probably influenced my tastes more than I realize… I still put it on and sing along sometimes, my 3 year old really loves Surf Wax America.
Same here, it was one of my first CDs when I was about 10, along with Nirvana Unplugged, Dookie, and Superunknown. I played them constantly... I mean, I still do.
@@davekennedy6315 thank you Dave! Signed off sick with stress from work, followed by ear infection, and now kidney infection! Trying not to stress too much about life and get better ASAP. Hope you’re feeling better soon 🤟🏻
In 1994 I was a very nerdy kid that was super into Star Wars, Star Trek and comic books when it would still get you ridiculed, but I had just hit a growth spurt and started to have what has since been called a "glow up." I was just really getting into punk music as bands like the Offspring and Green Day hit the mainstream. I was an awkward, shy kid who was starting to get a little attention from the opposite sex and had no idea what to do with that. When I heard Weezer's Blue album, the music and lyrics hit straight into my soul. Songs like In the Garage, Undone, and Only In Dreams were like they were ripped from my own pubescent brain. It is still one of my all time favorite albums and on heavy rotation 30 years later.
Loved this, my first album I obssesed over. Loved seeing that dog. get a mention. Also expected Ruby by Charly Bliss to be in the influences section because I've never heard a non Weezer song sound more Blue Album than that
Love the blue album. Never realized how much it influenced the hits of the years shortly after but can see and hear it in every single song you showed in that montage
7:55 the chords to "say it ain't so" are the same as Pixies "where is my mind?" in a different order, or starting point. ...not that there's an issue with that. It's what I've thought was a nod to one of their main influences. I noticed that when the former was a relatively new song.
Gambit is an actual word though meaning a tactical move or remark to gain an advantage that involves some risk. The song is probably invoking that, not the X-Men character.
I've just heard the blue album and I really love it, it was so refresh despite being an 90's album, this guys did something so good, I dont know why I haven't heard of them before....
For me the blue album is one of the best albums of the 90's. It's surprising to hear that rivers didn't see the nerd band thing coming to me that is part of their appeal. Being a nerdy teen it was cool to see a band who seemed unapologetically nerdy they had that "cool with being uncool" vibe and that made me, more confident in my own skin. To.embrace the things i enjoy without worrying about what my peers would think
Excellent deep dive, but 31:00 stopped me short. The missing link in your narrative is the transformation of irony. Nirvana, Soundgarden, PJ, Alice, they traded in irony to uplift huge trauma. Weezer flipped grunge into a comedy act that was just as sincere. Lump, Peaches, Melon etc are yes, one hit wonders, but also a release valve on Cobain's suicide. He defined the movement then made it toxic. Grunge always had a smirk and that death turned it into jet black oblivion. Weezer was fun grunge right when we needed it. And it's probably the best do-wop of the 90s. The wanna-bes you listed are legit good bands, lightweight but real. WTF happened after 2014 is anyone's guess but it's unfair to blame these geeks for selling out when they were never selling in. It's always been a joke. Pat Finnerty expressed it best...
@@Armakk Man, this comment was a fuckin ride. “He defined the movement then made it toxic,” is the kind of insight that is worthy of a lot more than a RU-vid comment. This needs to be a real essay or video. You almost lost me with “lightweight wannabes” but pulled me right back on board with Finnerty.
@@chris_troiano Thank you! I lived thru all this in real time and have a lot of takes on it. Just so happens I’m thinking about future essays on my channel, so I appreciate the nudge, that would be a fun one. (btw "wanna-bes" was Trash Theory's description)
I'm nostalgic for Say It Ain't So as a song in rock band, but also the fact I listened to it a lot when I had a falling out with my father for a few years. And Nirvana's Sliver transports me to being a little kid being babysat by my now departed grandfather.
Never would have guessed the heavy metal background of Cuomo/Weezer. Interesting video. Sometimes re-hearing an old album after decades makes that I hear it differently. But not this time. Sure, some songs are real earworms, but I just never hear anything in this album that really makes me go "wow, that's amazing, how did they do that?" By the time it was released the soft/loud shtick was already old and I still feel that way, Nevertheless, interesting video. Thanks for the info!
Back when the The Blue Album blew up most of my friends sort of wrote off the album and Weezer in general. Not because we didn't think it was good but I think it's because we felt like it was going to get copied over and over again much like was shown in this video. My friends and I had been big into the alt rock scene since the late 80s as 2 of us had older brothers in college while we were all still in middle school and later high school by the time Weezer came on the scene. I still go back and listen to The Blue Album now and then, partially out of nostalgia, and I still enjoy the stuff Weezer releases these days including their covers. I've never had a particularly strong opinion about them or Rivers one way or another. If nothing else I think the music press of the last 40+ years gets far too critical on the personalities of people making music far too often.
Weezer aged poorly? They've aged, but they're still relevant! Is that aging poorly? To be able to age in the music business is incredibly difficult! If that is aging poorly, I'll take it! I just miss Matt Sharp, aka blondie!
The comments suggest you made a lot of fans really happy. Good work, Trash Theory, as always. Thanks for another insightful banger. Just writing this for, you know, retention, algorithm, all that, cause honestly I couldn't be arsed to sit through a Weezer record but your video was about as much as I'm willing to tolerate on the topic, so... yeah
What a beautiful tribute. Thank you. I was in the camp at the time of Weezer being derivative of earlier stuff that I loved. It didn’t help their cause that they got so big so quick. It felt like just another band that would’ve been an underground band maybe 4 years prior that were thrust into popular culture on the backs of bands that never made it due to the breakthrough success of bands like Nirvana and Pixies. That view is hardly fair to the band and their song craft. Ah, well. Live and learn…
"Say it Ain't So" is definitely one of my all time favourite songs. They lyrics are all over the place (a good thing) and the emotion is so real. Add to that the fact that it is a soundtrack to an all time favourite memory.
An objective worthy critique of a band that may have extended the life of Rock through the eyes of an introverted person, smart but not always bright but talented and very creative.
You know, up until this moment I genuinely assumed “your tongue is twisted, your eyes are slit” was referring to some perma-scowled Daria type, not a Korean with an accent. That’s on me I guess!
I know people have said this before but... We need a video on Spirit of Eden & Laughing Stock, those albums had such an impact on music that's still somewhat felt today. Talk Talk were such an incredible band with an equally incredible story.
‘The Blue Album’ is their best album in my opinion. I know fans rave about ‘Pinkerton’, but for me, nothing has ever topped ‘Blue’. I remember having a few people back to my house after the pub one time and making them listen to ‘Buddy Holly’ on repeat. Probably very annoying, but that’s how into the song I was.
LOL!!!! DGC had the biggest alternative/grunge era acts at the time; nirvana, sonic youth, teenage fanclub, beck, urge overkill, hole, boss hog, that dog...but they needed to form an industry plant project to capitalize off the fad! The European press can be so assumptious!
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen on music, and that's saying a lot since I'm almost 40. It's understated and yet somehow incredibly powerful, just like the titular song. Pfft.. whatever man. It's just how I feel. edit: Also, I forgot to mention the part where ... I ACTUALLY LEARNED what this song was about. I've sang it for years but I guess never thought about it. In a land of click bait titles and stuff it's refreshing to ACTUALLY have someone come through with the goods.
i feel like No One Else isn't a misogynist anthem i feel like people misunderstand that song in the youtube critic world far too often. it's clearly meant to be pastiche of the 50s style songs about women in a clearly tongue in cheek way.
🖤I just saw my 1st Wheezer Concert in Austin, TX June ‘23 on the lawn I had a great time💃🏻my husband is 57 10 years older than me & he has a different music🤠taste than I he didn’t know any of the songs😂🤦🏻♀️THANK-GOODNESS we went w/ his daughters & husbands they are in their 30’s so had a really great time w/ them😊 Thank You 😊 for the great memories/info👏🏼💗
I went with a few friends to a Weezer concert in Brazil back in 2017, I think. The place was empty, but I had so much fun. It was one of the best concerts I ever went to.
Listening to their first three albums in my 40s, it never caught fire like I thought it would. Pinkerton is really hard to take in and Blue & Green just didn’t strike the fire like I hoped they would. And I love singing Hash Pipe and Buddy Holly. The nerds took over, but this nerd loves Devo far more.
The Sweater Song was almost like a rumor around school before I ever heard it. People would sing the chorus and I was like "Is that really how it goes??" Blue is a classic, always will be, and I'm not mad about the later stuff that I dislike. Rivers wanted to be Ace but was told by the world he never could be, and if his way of dealing with that is to put out Beverly Hills and get paid, good on him.
