Weezer to release Red Album earlier than planned
Story by Jack Foley
WEEZER have pulled forward the release date of their new long-player, which for the third time in the band’s six-album history will be titled simply Weezer to June 9 (digital) and June 16 (physical).
The standard version of Weezer (also known as The Red Album) features two UK-only bonus tracks: covers of Talk Talk’s Life’s What You Make It and The Weight by The Band.
The Red Album is also the first Weezer long-player to feature all four members contributing songwriting credits and singing lead vocals.
Automatic is written and sung by drummer Pat Wilson, while guitarist Brian Bell delivers Thought I Knew. Meanwhile, bassist Scott Shriner co-wrote Cold Dark World with Rivers.
In addition, The Red Album also marks a high point in the band’s 14-year evolution, and the moment where the band realises its power pop dream.
The Jacknife Lee-produced lead single, Pork and Beans, is released on June 23 and arrives on a wave of frontman Rivers Cuomo’s passive-aggressive power-chord power-play. The song set the internet ablaze when it leaked in early April and is already being regarded as a masterpiece by fans and the internet mafia.
It’s joined on the album by nine other songs, including the epic slacker-cum-prog rock of The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn), arguably the most ambitious Weezer song ever committed to tape.
The full track listing is…