Weezer

Weezer: MaladroitMaladroit (2002)
Weezer

Reviewer Rating: 3.5

User Rating:

Contributed by: maverickScott
(others by this writer | submit your own)
Published on May 14th 2002I was way too easy on The Green Album last year. Seriously, 3 and a half stars? What the fuck was I thinking? I vow to take "Maladroit" much more seriously. That being said, this comes out 364 days after the Green Album, and I am giving it an identical score. Does this mean it's better than t.

I was way too easy on The Green Album last year. Seriously, 3 and a half stars? What the fuck was I thinking? I vow to take "Maladroit" much more seriously.

That being said, this comes out 364 days after the Green Album, and I am giving it an identical score. Does this mean it's better than the Green Album? Yes and no.

Maladroit by far has better songwriting and musicianship than the Green Album. Of course, that ain't sayin' much. There are more songs on here - finally a Weezer album with more than 10 tracks! This still only leaves the running time at 34 minutes - it seems that Rivers is afraid to write a song longer than three minutes, nowadays. This kills me, since some of his best songs are the longest ones [i.e. Only In Dreams, Across The Sea, The Good Life]. While all 13 songs are more than competent pop tunes [with the exception of "Possibilites" - I *still* hate that song], they all are missing that magic that Rivers graced the band's first two albums with.

Instead, these songs seem to be more of an evolution from the Green Album than of anything before then. From "Hash Pipe" comes "Take Control." "Island In The Sun" mutates into the bossa nova-meets-guitar rock feel of "Burndt Jamb." "O Girlfriend" evolves into the absolutely incredible, intensely personal "Slave." This is a surefire hit single.

Speaking of singles, "Dope Nose" is a fine one, cramming enough Skynyrd-esque southern rock into a little over two minutes. "Keep Fishin'" is another song immediately pegged for single status, with it's shuffle beat switching to a 60's pop feel for the chorus, making the song extremely memorable.

One song that is able to harken back to pre-Green Album days is "Slob." This song, initially debuted on the band's small club tour in the summer of 2000, is nothing short of breathtaking - at least on the bootlegs I have of it. On album form, it gets too much of a studio polish [seriously, Rivers - tone down that reverb on the vocals]. It's a letdown from what it could have been, but it still shows that Rivers and company still have it in them - maybe the next album?

My biggest disappointment with this album comes with one of my favorite songs on the disc - "Death and Destruction." This slow-grooved 6/8 track could have been turned into a "Only In Dreams" for the new millennium, had the band explored it and rocked it out for a few more minutes. It is uncharacteristically emotional in the vocal line, and the only other track on the album thaty can stay on par with it is "Slob." Unfortunately, as with many of the tracks, the song is cut short before the three minute mark, squelching the band's burst of creativity. I *know* this song could have been something special...

I could continue to go on and describe the rest of the songs, but odds are you already know if you're going to buy this or not. I will say that it's the best material that the new Weezer has put out - it still doesn't hold a candle to the first two albums, though, and I'm pretty sure everyone will agree with that. Until Rivers gets up enough guts to re-explore the areas outside of the verse-chorus-verse pattern, this is the band that we will have to live with, and these are the albums that we'll have to blare out of our car stereos all summer long. As with the Green Album, there is no jawdropping opener here, or a stunning closer. But the content within is an improvement tenfold on the band's output last year. While the album's name may be "Maladroit," the band themselves definitely are not.

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

Anonymous (June 17, 2006)

Oh, my world. It is ok

plowro (January 23, 2003)

I never thought it would come to this, but Weezer needs to turn things around. When the green album came out I was somewhat disappointed, however, I realized that they cant possibly shell out all-perfect albums every time. I'm not saying that the green album sucks, but c'mon, its no Pinkerton. Now we have Maladroit....This is tough because I absolutely love Weezer, but FUCK! How could this happen? I've beat around the bush enough...This album just isnt that good. Not at all....We can hope for better things down the road, but if the next album disappoints, I might just have to scratch Weezer off my list as one of the best bands of all time!

Anonymous (October 25, 2002)

Weezer is still the biggest disappointment to me. I've never heard another band that relies so much on their popularity earned 7 years ago as this one has. Admit it. If you hadn't known this band as a teenager, you probably couldn't give two shits for them now. There is a very obvious degredation in quality from the BLUE and PINK days till the dawning of the color GREEN. It's almost as if their around for the same self-providing reasons as the next pop star.

I'm still unable to pinpoint the reasons why I just can't enjoy Weezer's last two efforts. Maybe I just think it's a half-assed effort from a band that can do so much better.

If you can't tell, I don't like this album.

bemused (October 18, 2002)

Yeah I think you're spot on. There just isn't enough substance to keep me hooked with this album. That straight-forward sound gets tiresome after awhile.

Anonymous (September 8, 2002)

it's not bad. better than green, but still. if weezer had changed their name when they got back together before green, nobody would be pissed off with the quality. and if this didn't have weezer written on it, nobody would care.

Anonymous (May 27, 2002)

I want my money back. Man, I can't believe I passed on the Britney Spears cd for this.

Anonymous (May 27, 2002)

i've just never gotten into weezer. pinkerton was as close as i got, and then i realized there was just...more technical, unhyped music out there.

Anonymous (May 26, 2002)

I think this album just takes a few listens to grow on you. People expect weezer to write another Say It Ain't so, but then everyone will just bitch about them doing that. Another only in dreams, same thing. They just want to rock, and that's all they're doing, and if you have a problem with that, that's just dumb.

Anonymous (May 26, 2002)

this album is good. you guys should stop crying about weezer so fucking much, its annoying. maladroit isnt nearly as good as blue or pinkerton, but its hell of a lot better than green, and its simply a good album to listen to

Anonymous (May 25, 2002)

I think just cause it's Weezer people are giving it a high score,but if it was a no name band, I'm sure people would bag on this. I do agree it's better than the Green Album,but it still isn't good.

Anonymous (May 25, 2002)

This album kicks the Green Album's ass. Critics be damned!

evildeadalive (May 25, 2002)

I'm liking this album more and more everyday. If you are actually a real fan of Weezer try giving the album a chance. I hated it at first too...

Anonymous (May 24, 2002)

Are you fucking kidding me? Look at this CD. What a worthless pile of shit. I mean honestly. Generic guitar parts that we've all heard already. Boring vocal patterns. The songs go nowhere.

This is nothing but a collection of 13 bubblegum pop songs. The CD is 30 minutes long! How can you pay for this? Longest song: 3:11.

How do people not see through this? Sure, it's far more creative than anything else on MTV, wow, that's hard to do. Their competition is Linkin Park and Ludacris.

Someone called Weezer hardcore? Someone even called them emo? They're hardly either. HARDCORE?! Are you fucking kidding me? You have got to be retarded. And this is not REAL emo. I suppose the new generation of emo is Jimmy Eat World, though.

Look folks. The album sucks. 34 minutes of pure bubblegum pop: 2 minute bursts of generic and catchy songs that establish nothing musicially. Blue album and Pinkerton were great: this is garbage. I hope you burn in hell.

Anonymous (May 21, 2002)

why the hell would you even review this thing? could you find a more uninspired, mainstream piece of pop garbage to put on PUNK news? Besides, we all know every trendy ass middle school girl and poser rock kid are gonna buy it no matter how hard it sucks, so reviewing it is a complete waste of time.

Then why the hell did you give it five out of five?

The person didn't give it 5 out of 5. Notice the gold color this means that it was automatically done. If a person doesn't rate when posting, it's set up to give a 5 and is done so in a gold color.

Anonymous (May 21, 2002)

a good record.
Better than the green album with greater depth and variety, it seems to have more substance. Some of the songs remind me of older Weezer - Pinkerton and blue album, however, it is not as good.
Overall this album is much better than the green album, but still far behind the first two.
best song: 'Slob' or 'Slave'.

Anonymous (May 21, 2002)

i haven't heard it yet but i assume it sucked like the green album, the dude is riht about ozma though. they're weezer#2

Anonymous (May 20, 2002)

This was a total let down, almost as bad as the Green Album but not as bad. And to the guy who said Weezer is one of the best bands right now and that Ozma is the second best, you need to broaden your musical cd collection.

Anonymous (May 20, 2002)

Damn, you should learn how to spell and speak right before you go insulting readers. "Your all douchebags", you mean, YOU'RE all douchebags? All you ignorant bastards act like your shit don't stink and you know everything, well you don't know a thing..

Adam110785 (May 20, 2002)

From what I have heard, this album sounds awesome. Maybe theyre taking a step back into the older days...you never know...

Anonymous (May 20, 2002)

Jeez, am I the only person who likes the Green Album?

Anonymous (May 19, 2002)

After listening to this cd I returned it the next day and bought me a Strung Out cd. For some rason I now find Rivers voice to be higly annoying like that guy,Tom, from Blink 182.

Anonymous (May 19, 2002)

I am sorry but Weezer is the best band out there right now. Only band possibley better would have to be Ozma but Weezer always has soemthing new to read or to listen to so they continue to hold my attention. Again I am sorry but Weezer is definitly better than any of that high speed the faster your play the better a musician you are Punk rock garbage.

Anonymous (May 19, 2002)

i agree...he thinks they r gettin 2 main stream..i would do the same thing.

Anonymous (May 19, 2002)

nothing is better than pinkerton...although rivers is getting really stupid. hes all trying to stay on the d/l and saying shit bout fans in mags to piss us off. and all u that hat weezer...dont comment cause your all stupid douchebags.

Anonymous (May 19, 2002)

Anonymous (May 18, 2002)

i think he/she was referring to "pink" in "pinkerton."

Anonymous (May 17, 2002)

you are a moron.....pinkerton isn't a color......douchebag.

Anonymous (May 17, 2002)

Has anyone else noticed that this is the only Wezzer album so far that doesn't have a title based on a color?? Am I the only one who has noticed it?? Oh well, I'm a moron anyway

Anonymous (May 17, 2002)

how long does it take for a review to get posted?

Anonymous (May 16, 2002)

man does the new star wars suck ass. fuck george lucas, fuck the prequels. in my eyes, these are totally undeserving of the star wars name. i don't like weezer either.

Anonymous (May 15, 2002)

If you Like or Dislike Weezer
U'll love Big Treats one word "incredible" to get your hands on this bad boy
send:$10 $1 shipping to:
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75 Earley St.
Bronx, NY 10464

CallingLondon (May 15, 2002)

i understand. like i said before, i think it's because they lost Matt Sharp. I have a feelign he had a lot of input into it. i don't think it was fake, they just didn't have one of their song writers. this album is alot better though.

Geetarchick (May 15, 2002)

I see your point, I guess I just word things weird. What I meant was that their green album sounds a lot more like the blue album, but definitely not the same. It feels.. fake to me. I dunno how to explain it.. its like, they tried to make the green sound like the blue.. and they were overzealous about it. Yeah its definitely not as good as the blue, because then i'd be contradicting myself there... but ya know what I mean, its like they took a step back instead of a step forward in my opinion..

Anonymous (May 15, 2002)

I don't think they jumped back to their old syle, Blue was a million times better than Green.

Geetarchick (May 15, 2002)

I used to really like Weezer. I used to call them one of my favorite bands. I still like them, but they aren't one of my favorite bands. I don't think much can really make up for the disappointment in the green album. I love the Blue album and I love Pinkerton. But the green one totally disappointed me because i just didn't like how they didn't exactly progress.. it was like, after Pinkerton, they saw it didnt sell so well so they jump back to their old style. That's what got me the most. Anyhoo, I'll probably buy this cd anyway just to hear it...

lackofsleep (May 15, 2002)

Skaman:

"Lethe" is not another name for the album. its the Weezer Message Board user who came up with the name "Maladroit."

Just thought i could let you in on that.

This album is much better than Green.

CallingLondon (May 15, 2002)

yes, well obviously it's the best thing since Pinkerton. It's much better than the last album. now that i've had a chance to really listen to it, i like it a lot. it's much more of a rocking album than anything before, not really an indie sound anymore. i'm not really sure if this is because they lost Matt Sharp, or just because this is what they wanted to do. I have a feeling Matt Sharp was the added "magic" that this record is missing. from what i've heard of the rentals (matt sharp's current band), they're fucking awesome. either way, this IS a really good album. great songs, great solos, great lyrics. i can't tell you if you should buy it or not, but I enjoy it.

rickets (May 15, 2002)

I've taken quite a liking to this album, I must say. "Fall Together" is a great song. Maladroit is the best thing since Pinkerton.

CallingLondon (May 15, 2002)

to the person who said they downloaded the songs off the website a while back, yes the songs have been changed. Those were just demos. They're much better now.

skaman (May 15, 2002)

too early for me to judge the CD. I only heard it once so far. but my girl is burning it for me.

i think the video clips look kinda cool. havent checked them out yet though.

and the # on the CD's is cool. makes you feel kinda special.

and did anyone see on the booklet that they also name the album : lehte ( or something like that )

Anonymous (May 15, 2002)

Well, this is to my personal views, the best Weezer album so far, it's incredible.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

Very Good Rock album. Some great guitar solos. I think it is a little to early for people to be blasting this album. I have never been a hardcore weezer fan. Although I do enjoy their music. This album is definately a departure from their other albums as it is pure rock. There are even snippits of punk intertwind within some of the songs.

seek (May 14, 2002)

Weezer is OK. They are one of those bands that write some really great songs now and then, but the bulk of them are just mediocre. That being said, I do like Weezer, though I haven't heard anything from this album other than "Dope Nose", which I don't care for.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

am i the only person who thinks weezer sounds like a whiney english band, in the same vein as blur or super furry animals? at least those bands do it well, these guys suck!!!

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

i downloaded all these songs when they put them up on their website... i dont know if any have changed or not but i definitley didnt find them impressive at all. I hope that a little work has been put into them.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

I've never gotten into this band. I've heard dope nose and I don't care for it. I don't see anything too special about weezer.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

mr. christmas ape sounds like a very informed, well-versed man and i, for one, thank him for his insight.

good cd, but i still miss the "old" weezer (if there ever was such a thing).

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

not a very good album, but better than the last one, at least we didnt have to wait 5 years for this.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

It's weezer- just regular weezer, nothing special and nothing terrible

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

Awesome...such an improvement over the Green Album, though I liked how smooth that was. This just rocks so much harder. Weezer is definitely not overrated--they have such an obsessed fan base because they make truly amazing music. "Maladroit" might not be as catchy as the Blue Album or as beautiful as "Pinkerton," but it's loud, bouncy, and a blast to listen to. I love it.

--ChiefGuido

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

quit acting like you are being forced to buy and listen to every record weezer puts out. Sure, everyone in the age bracket of 24-18 liked them in like 1995 or whatever but what the hell? They put out two decent records early on but my god, they only had 10 songs or so each, more than half of them being completely forgettable. EVEN THOUGH YOU ARE A DORK AND WEEZER ARE ALSO DORKS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THEY WOULD EVER LIKE YOU OR HANG OUT WITH YOU OR EVEN RELATE TO YOU. THEY HAVE MONEY AND GROUPIES AND YOU DON'T HAVE SHIT. If you were a real dork, you would throw your Weezer cds away and only listen to Nerf Herder, because they are not cool at all. They tried to follow in Weezers footprints by going to a major, where they promptly got their asses kicked and had to play their label execs birthday party like a bunch of damn circus apes. Then they put out another record for Fat Mike that didnt do jack shit. Nobody cares about them, just like you dorks. So you should listen to them because they relate to you in that respect.

Christmas Ape Goes To Summer Camp

SOYBOMB (May 14, 2002)

There is no redemption in my eyes for Weezer..

After the Green album..
ugh..

Peace,
-SOYBOMB-

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

Good but not great. I'll agree with you on the 3 and a half stars. Favorites are Burnt Jamb, Space Rock and Slob.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

He didn't mean that all songs under 3 minutes sucked. what he meant was that weezer have writtin great songs in the past that were longer than 3 minutes. It seems rivers is sticking to the whole beatles, nirvana pop song thing for at least the next cd. Its not weezer of old,but it still rocks out
tiff

maverick (May 14, 2002)

Okay, sorry. You've convinced me. I'm quitting the site as of now. So long.

-Scott

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

I've never been rude in a comment on a review before, but now you deserve you, you pathetic piece of excrement. How fucking DARE you ever work on a punk website, and then complain about songs under 3 minutes. You are a fucking pathetic piece of shit, who deserves to die. You're fucking worse than Hitler, you worthless, meaningless cunt.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

i dont like the art work of the front cover. kinda lame.

but i am buying it today.

kirbypuckett (May 14, 2002)

To the kid that made fun of Scott's appearance good job! That shows a lot of maturity! Ugh, and you guys wonder why I wrote that rant?

Oh well, so Weezer released this new CD. I usually don't read reviews of CDs that I know I'm going to buy until after I've listened to em, but I read this one, I dunno why. Scott was honest with the CD and he detailed it as well. What he says is right.

In my opinion this isn't anything prolific from Weezer but it's better than the green album and a really good rockin' CD.

Enjoy!

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

pinkerton is the best weezer album...and weezer's not punk, mwahahahaha!!! - bigjerk

CallingLondon (May 14, 2002)

great review. better than any others i've read. thank you for not being afraid to be honest with it. i think i'm going to get it though, because from what i've heard, i've really liked.

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

Weezer is horrid and this fat kid writes awful reviews

3 words for you GET OUT MORE... walk you tubby bastard

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

thats a great album, though i prefer the blue. favourite songs: burndt lamb, slave, slob
btw how's the pinkerton? is it any good?

Anonymous (May 14, 2002)

good review. i love this record, way more inspired and generally interesting than the green album. would be a 9, but rivers gets stuck on a song structure with little variation it seems to me. those guitar solos on each song are really rocking though, far improved on last years effort.