ok I heavily heavily fuck with this it is VERY good. Like maybe this is just the kind of music I like (and I’m a sucker for how fucking nice analog production sounds) but this is probably my favorite Weezer album. I don’t even really like Weezer outside of Pinkerton and the Blue album. And I don’t have the connection to those that most have cause I didn’t realize people actually really liked Weezer until later in life. I’m having a hard time picking a favorite.
Okay, I know it’s been a few days since we shared some spicy takes, so I’m bringing it back. After 3 weeks of deliberate consideration, I have determined that White is better than Pinkerton.
I'm thinking that OK Human is going to stick with me a little more in the warmer months. I like it but haven't listened to it very much in the past few weeks.
IM GLAD YOU ASKED Just to name a couple reasons: I can barely make it through a single listen of Getchoo. They should have buried it in the back of the album. I got into Weezer in my mid twenties (I’m 28 now) so a lot of the questionable lyrics hit me differently than they would someone who listened to Pinkerton even a decade ago. White has no objectively offensive songs (imo). The worst tracks are Good thing and Drunk Dori, and they aren’t even bad - just derivative. that being said, this is like comparing two 9/10 albums to each other. I just prefer White as a full album experience.
The whole "questionable lyrics" thing in Pinkerton doesn't make sense to me. It's a flawed, ugly piece of art by a person who was clearly in a very bad spot in their life. It's not like I watch Taxi Driver as I age and have to say "Well there's a lot of questionable stuff in that film that I can't support anymore", ya know? Even as a teenager I wasn't listening to "Across the Sea" and being like "woah this is dope, I totally relate to it". "Tired of Sex" is a weird one, because I always took the song to be dripping with irony and in line with Rivers's dorky personality; however, in reading more it's clear that he was literally tired of having sex with a bunch of women, lol. I prefer my interpretation. "Getchoo" isn't a bad song, just less good than the other tracks on there.
"Pink Triangle" remains the song that I've fallen out of love with. The melody is cool and if I view it as more a commentary on Rivers being an awkward loser I can swallow it, but it definitely has aged the worst of the songs on the album. Even under the lens of the album being about a person hitting rock bottom, that song feels out of place and clumsy.
I think being able to look at it through the context it was created in is what allows me to listen to 99% of Pinkerton without feeling gross. I also think it's essential if you want to get the most out of the album. I actually love Tired of Sex, but because I interpreted it the exact same way as you. I guess my counter to that is, was River's really having a lot of sex given the fact that he was walking around with a cane during the time they were writing the record? I can't remember where it was, but I recall reading about how nobody believed he was actually Rivers Cuomo. I just can't stand Getchoo. Melodically, it feels like whiplash when placed between Tired of Sex and No Other one. Jacked Up is an amazing track where Rivers really flexes the falsetto and I will die on that hill.
Pink Triangle is my pick for worst track, lyrically, on the album. It makes for a great orchestrated piece though:
White and Pinkerton are my two favorite Weezer albums as I wouldn't change a single thing about either of them, but I tend to give the edge to White nowadays as I'm always in the mood to listen to it and I can't say the same about Pinkerton
jeesh y'all i could have used this backup when I claimed Getchoo is the weakest on pinkerton a week ago
I thought this 96 interview about pinkerton was interesting. Also some seriously palpable tension between matt and the others here
OK Human is pretty low in my ranking. It was a nice surprise but it has no staying power for me. It’s about on par with red, better than rAd, black.
getchoo is pretty much a perfect song. every day on this site a completely absurd opinion gets dropped