Rating: 9/10
Key Tracks: Africa, Mr. Blue Sky, Happy Together, Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Taking on hits by world-renowned classic rock artists such as Michael Jackson, Toto, Tears for Fears, Electric Light Orchestra, and many more sounds like a pretty major feat, right? Perhaps for many rock bands today this may be true, but not for Weezer, a band with 11 hit albums under their belt and almost three decades of experience. Weezer’s latest release, “The Teal Album”, is an album comprised fully of covers. Listeners and reviewers alike were overwhelmingly surprised by the sheer boldness of the album before its release, and then surprised all over again upon hearing the band tackle each and every track with seamless ease and grace. The band’s success on The Teal Album is largely thanks to front runner Rivers Cuomo. The lead singer has grown extremely versatile as an artist throughout his career with Weezer, a band that grew a cult following after just one album release back in 1993. After gracing the music world with rock hits such as “Buddy Holly”, “Say It Ain’t So”, “Island in the Sun”, “Beverly Hills”, and “Pork and Beans”, with this album, the band decided to go a different way and try their hand at covers.
For the most part, the covers sound pretty similar to their original counterparts, with a unique twist on each. The band took the right approach by not completely stripping the song and performing it in a completely different style, almost to the point where the song is unrecognizable. The band adds its own twist on every track, although it isn’t explicitly heard in each song. Tracks where Weezer’s strong rock influence can be seen the most include Take On Me, and Mr. Blue Sky. These two songs from the 70’s and the 80’s, with synth-tech background music and instrumentals, were transformed by the addition of generous doses of electric guitar and drums. In the case of these songs, as well as a few others, some listeners believe that the covers are even better. Some may wonder how anyone could think that the cover could be better than these legendary classic rock hits, but there’s always someone who thinks that the sequel is better than the original.
Unfortunately for Weezer, a couple of their covers just couldn’t measure up to the original. Their cover of “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson was one of them. No matter how well the band may be known, they just don’t have the clout to even compare to the legendary MJ. Another song on the album that the group just couldn’t make into a hit cover was “No Scrubs”, originally performed by female trio TLC. Upon listening to “No Scrubs”, I personally felt that it sounded like the band doing karaoke. Later on, I read that Vulture described this song as “self-aware nerd karaoke”, and that is an accurate depiction of almost every song on The Teal Album, but it’s also what makes listening to it so fun.
On March 1st, the band is set to release The Black Album, but until then, listening to The Teal Album will provide audiences with an album of fun and dance-worthy cover tracks. Weezer’s release of this album, with its inclusion of more classic, mainstream hits such as “Africa” by Toto and Eurythmic’s “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” allows the band to bring in some new fans, or perhaps fans that had fallen off the grid a bit. The album has its own mood- an insanely enthusiastic one- that listeners can’t help but feel while enjoying the music. The Teal Album was a welcome surprise from Weezer, here’s hoping we get another cover album from the band in the future!
The Teal Album is available for streaming on all platforms.
