An old critical cliché is that eponymous albums are statements of purpose, so what to make of
Weezer and their third color-coded self-titled album? Well, the band proves that axiom true, as every one of these eponymous efforts functions as an act of introduction, from their 1994 Blue debut to their 2001
Green comeback to 2008's
Red Album, where
Rivers Cuomo turns many of the group's long-standing rules upside down. This isn't a radical sonic makeover -- ever a pop formalist,
Rivers has
Weezer stick to their signatures of big guitars and bigger hooks -- but rather a question of attitude, as
Cuomo loosens up as he stares down his impending middle age, choosing to get silly rather than serious. He tears down his self-imposed three-minute barriers, writing two long-form suites (and another track that clocks in over five minutes), he sneers at
Timbaland's hitmaking prowess in "Pork and Beans," he never avoids his age, whether he's making asides to Rogaine or indulging in warm nostalgia in the pseudo-"In the Garage" sequel "Heart Songs" and, most importantly, he steals a page from the
Noel Gallagher playbook and deliberately shares the spotlight with his bandmates. Not for nothing does
Weezer cover "The Weight" as a bonus track on one of the international editions of the
Red Album -- nowadays, everybody in
Weezer gets a chance to sing lead, just like
the Band did way back when. Bassist
Scott Shriner is given
Cuomo's mildly creepy original "Cold Dark World" to sing, but longtime fellow travelers, guitarist
Brian Bell and drummer
Pat Wilson, write and sing their own tunes ("Thought I Knew" and "Automatic," respectively), turning in sweet pop tunes that complement
Cuomo's style even if they help give the
Red Album a bit of a ragged edge, especially when compared to the brutal efficiency of
Maladroit and the oversized, highly buffed
Make Believe. Of course, the very point of the
Red Album is for
Weezer to not take things so seriously, to reconnect to their beginnings while taking the advantage of their rock star status to act seriously goofy. This freedom is entirely within the mind -- musically, this is all easily identifiable as
Weezer -- but it invigorates such seemingly by the books rockers as "Troublemaker," where the loopy lyrics are as prominent and irresistible as the hooks. As the album opener, it sets the stage for a cheerfully restless record, one where all the parts don't fit and it's better because of it, as it has a wild, willing personality, suggesting that
Weezer is comfortable as a band in a way they never quite have been before. Given that feeling, it makes perfect sense that the
Red Album is another self-titled record, as it plays like an opening to a new chapter instead of merely more of the same. [A Deluxe Edition of the CD was also released.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine