This is way more enjoyable than I was expecting. Dude knows how to make great pop songs, and the production/instrumentation is perfect.
I love how it begins, then I was worried that it was getting pretty middling after Numbers. Then Bird With a Broken Wing hit and the rest after that is excellent.
Remember last week when that first "review" surfaced and the guy said it sounded like a mix of Pacific Daydream and Black? Yeah, so that dude was full of shit.
First impressions as I dig into my first listen (because why not?): 1. All My Favorite Songs - We all know where we stand with this song by now I'm sure. Just mentioning that I gave it another listen to properly kick off the full album experience. Catchy as all hell. Lyrically, well, there's lyrics. lol I enjoy it overall though. 2. Aloo Gobi - Man this one has a rhythm and flow to it that just pleases me. Rivers' vocals are about as crisp as ever on this one. "Gosh darn this cast iron lounger, my butt will bruise" - he's flirting with danger here on these lyrics. Overall, it's a small blip that some may interpret as endearing I guess. But, you know; careful now, Rivers. 3. Grapes of Wrath - Annnnnd we have an Audible mention. Or a literal "audible"? Is this a double meaning/entendre? It's distracting me. lol Probably my first 'meh' experience so far, but I could see it growing on me. It's composed well - I have a feeling I'll say this about every song based on what I've heard so far - and it's got a decent melody to it. A better bridge could have really made this a bit more interesting to me. I don't know, first impression and all that... 4. Numbers - I saw some hype about this song in here, which may have spoiled things by setting some expectations going into my first listen. I will say this: So far, this is lyrically the best track I've heard so far - or at least the most meaningful/impactful. I'm a bit on the fence on the chorus. It works overall, but the looping, sustained note Rivers sings ("Saaaaddness in your Laaaauggghter") makes my head spin a bit. Overall, I enjoyed this one though. I need to get on a work call, but this has been interesting so far. Looking forward to hearing the rest.
Most interesting thing so far has been the outro on Mirror Image. The rest of this is not doing it for me.
I think this is preliminarily settling in at #4 for me, above EWBAITE but below Pinkerton, Blue, and White. Maybe it'll overtake White with time, we'll see. Either way, it's great.
Dead Roses has my attention but I'm not in love with the chorus. I'll go back to Numbers I guess but overall this whole thing is just washing over me. Nothing sticking out, nothing grabbing me. It's not bad, like most modern Weezer records, but I don't find anything particularly interesting.