RECENT ROCK SINGLES

[valkommened]

"B.Y.O.B" - System of a Down: My goodness! I'm so in love with this song. 2005 SONG OF THE YEAR! Last year it was a super, fantastic pop song by the hip hop act that anybody can like (Outkast, duh), and this year it's gonna be a super, fantastic pop song by the nu metal band that anybody can like. I don't really care about the verse so much,

Comments

And it begins

[yeshiveh]

"The Damage In Your Heart".

Such a great song. You have to give me that one.

I'm saying it's kick ass based on the fact that a fraction of Rivers' emotion is back, no matter how trite and contrived the lyrics come off. It might be a stepping stone to something valid, but then again, this might be their last record. You have to admit, it's a step forward from Maladroit and I think the Green Album is so mechanical, especially since the B-Sides were so amazing. "Starlight", "Teenage Victory Song", etc. To this day I think Photograph is the only decent song on that record, and I judge loosely when it comes to Green.

Bottom line, Weezer isn't the same band. They died when Sharp left and the indie-metal thing went from rockin' irony to full blown cheese with pyro. I am judging Make Believe on the merits of Weezer 2.0, post Green.

It's like watching Old People dance. You say "how cute, how great" even though they are embarassing themselves, just out of respect. Weezer is no different from The Stones in my opinion. Just a tired Shadow Of A Great Band.

Re: And it begins

[valkommened]

Every so-called 'step forward' on this album is totally superficial in nature. They are purely fundamental improvements and not supported with any true substance or purpose. Yes there is more experimentation with different types of sounds, yes Rivers reaches for higher notes in his singing, yes the songs are longer (sometimes TOO long), yes the lyrics are [attempting to be] more serious, etc. etc., etc...but it's all just a response to what the fans have been telling him they've wanted over the past few years, not something that he's doing on his own. You can just tell. The lyrics are so ridiculous, I can't even sit through the whole thing. Overly generic, badly-rhyming, sappy, throwaway B.S. We know that this dude is capable of presenting his personal side in a way that is less than cringe-worthy. In fact, he was the master. And I don't expect him to be able to recapture that same urgency from his early/mid 20's. All I ask is that the lyrics be ACCEPTABLE and not embarrassing to listen to, and he can't even seem to COME CLOSE to doing that. It's just plain weird. There is a mystery there. Something having to do with psychological issues. Some of the basic musical ideas on Make Believe would've been alright though, if not destroyed by the vocal.

Oh, and "The Damage In Your Heart"?! You really like that one that much? I consider it one of the absolute worst songs on there. What a bore. Songs that I think COULD'VE been good are "Perfect Situation", "This Is Such A Pity", "Peace", "Pardon Me", "Freak Me Out" and that very last song.

Also, the Stones are, like, in their 60's. Weezer boys are still just in their 30's. Big difference.