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The Special Goodness

Land Air Sea (2004)
Epitaph Records

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Contributed by: Scott
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on January 20th 2004

For those of you anxiously awaiting anything new from the Weezer camp, The Special Goodness should satiate you for a good while. Weezer drummer Pat Wilson dons a six-string and moves in front of the mic for a surprisingly smooth transition to frontman. The drum throne has been filled by Atom Willard, formerly of Rocket From The Crypt and now of The Offspring. On the bass? No clue. But that's part of what makes The Special Goodness so special, I suppose.

A good majority of these songs follow the same formula of guitar intro, verse chorus verse chorus, guitar solo, chorus out. It's been done a million times before, and it can get old, but most of these songs carry the outline well. The music is basically just really crunchy, groove-oriented alt rock. There's generally just one riff per song, and Wilson makes the most of it.

Highlights include opening track "You Know I'd Like..." with an infectious melody and a guitar solo that calls up memories of Guns N Roses' "November Rain" in it's first few notes. First single "Life Goes By" is a monster riff tamed for less than three minutes. The album's best song by far, however, is "N.F.A.," with it's repeated chorus of "She loves me / And I'm not fucking around with her." It may sound immature when you read it, but Wilson sings it with enough sincerity that you totally believe him. That mushiness pops back up in "Inside Your Heart," a virtual carbon copy of "N.F.A.," but it's still quite good.

The disc wears thin in places, though, more towards the end than any place else simply because when every song fits the same form, it gets a tad old. I get the feeling that if the last songs were first, and vice versa, that my favorite songs would change.

This CD is a great pick-me-up from the winter doldrums of January, and is poppy and upbeat enough to be your new favorite driving CD. Who knew Pat Wilson could sing - or shred - this well? I certainly didn't, and I'm glad I know now.

MP3s
Life Goes By
N.F.A.

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Anonymous (January 25, 2004)

I'm gonna continue to listen to Mo City Soundtrack.

Anonymous (January 24, 2004)

you should ask some bands out there, they will tell you what the difference is, between epitaph an majors! ..very subjective shit... u tell....

PetroBPettson (January 24, 2004)

hmm... how can someone say something against Epitaph?, they did so much for independent music quite a few years ago, and now put out boring crap and are basically a major label. Brett is a great guy at financial matters anyway... to fu

Anonymous (January 24, 2004)

hmm... how can someone say something against Epitaph, they did so much for independent music! Brett is a great guy anyway... so fu

GreenVandal (January 22, 2004)

Jump the shark? haha, thats a good one! im gonna remember that!

PetroBPettson (January 22, 2004)

You saw that on E! didn't you?.

Anonymous (January 22, 2004)

jump the shark:

a term to describe a moment when somethin that was once great has reached a point where it will now decline in quality and popularity.

Origin of this phrase comes from a Happy Days episode where the Fonz jumped a shark on waterskis. Thus was labeled the lowest point of the show.

Anonymous (January 22, 2004)

Epitaph has jumped the shark...

GreenVandal (January 21, 2004)

Incredibly bad.

The entire weezer fmaily needs to have a mass execution right now.

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

it's funny because most of you prolly have never heard the album, but you judge it anyway you people are the same ones that hated the mars volta cd arn't you. you bastards maybe you should put down your dk and rancid records and check out what else is under the sun.

soulbleed (January 21, 2004)

i'm a big fan of this type of music, but for some reason this album only did it for me a little bit. the songs aren't really that great, and i do agree that if this wasn't weezer's drummer, no one would give two flying shits about this record. and really, they shouldn't to begin with.

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

This is horrible, it does not suprise me though that scott continues his likings of shite bands-oldpunker-

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

www.geocities.com/blacktiebombers

Anonymous (January 21, 2004)

epitaph has some cool bands this is shit though

CallingLondon (January 21, 2004)

sorry, this is the score i meant

CallingLondon (January 21, 2004)

wow, this is crap. it's impressive how bad this is, infact. it sounds like throw away foo fighters songs, but probably worse.

PetroBPettson (January 20, 2004)

Actually, Epitaph probably isn't. The tend to drop anything that doesn't make 'em filthy rich(er) on it's ass, despite quality.

hitlerbadzakgood (January 20, 2004)

i'll take a shot in the dark and say thier bassist is this jeb lewis character.