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.