Track Listing

1. My Name Is Jonas
2. No One Else
3. World Has Turned and Left Me Here
4. Buddy Holly
5. Undone -- The Sweater Song
6. Surf Wax America
7. Say It Ain't So
8. In the Garage
9. Holiday
10. Only in Dreams

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #783 in Music
• Brand: Weezer
• Released on: 1994-05-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

Amazon.com
There's a classic episode of The Little Rascals where one of the gang can't join everybody else on the ballfield because he has to stay home with his younger brother, who has the croup. "I can't come out and play," he whines. "I've got to stay home and grease Wheezer!" Nobody at Geffen Records knows whether this was the inspiration in naming Weezer, but it makes sense. Like many of their peers, the members of the Los Angeles quartet seem to have spent their formative years in front of the TV; when they were a little older, they were just as entranced by college rock. Finally, ala the Rascals, one of the gang said, "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!," and the result is Weezer's uplifting, unpretentious, and extremely endearing debut.

The self-titled Weezer is lean and mean at 10 short, punchy tunes, but nearly every one is powered by a larger-than-life chorus or a simple but effective lyric. "Undone-The Sweater Song" uses an unraveling sweater as a metaphor for a relationship on the rocks; "Buddy Holly" pays heartfelt tribute to the '50s rocker, and "In the Garage" paints a scene of suburban teens jamming while surrounded by posters of Kiss. Producer Ric Ocasek of Cars fame pushes the vocals and rhythm guitars, and this bare-bones approach may earn comparisons to fellow garage-pop band Green Day. But Weezer has more in common with the late, lamented Big Dipper, another group of slacker wiseguys that you just had to love. --Jim DeRogatis

Customer Reviews

Left quite an impression on me...
As someone who is more of a Pop/R&B and hip hop fan, I'm going to go out on a limb and throw in my two cents for this album. Here it goes...

Back in 1994, I went through an "alternative" phase. I found myself enjoying music by the Smashing Pumpkins, Stone Temple Pilots (especially), Live, and some random singles here and there (like Candlebox and Collective Soul). Near the end of my phase, I heard a new song debut on a San Francisco radio station (Live 105) one August morning, and it was called "Undone/The Sweater Song". I Loved it. Immediately, I took note, and kept my eyes and ears open for more Weezer material...

Next came "Buddy Holly". The song was ridiculously catchy, and it sounded nothing like "Undone" (hey...variety!) and the Spike Jonze clip for the song was definitely fun to watch. I immediately borrowed the album from one of my friends at school. I was simply amazed at how consistently good Weezer's album was; absolutely no filler tracks whatsoever - at least in my opinion.

The songs that I still enjoy to this day (despite the fact that my alternative/rock phase is over) are "The World Has Turned And Left Me Here", all three of their singles ("Undone", "Buddy Holly", "Say It Ain't So"), "Holiday" (my absolute favorite song on the album) and "Only In Dreams" (what a long, yet perfect song...)

I guess the reason why I wrote this review is because...to me, really good music has the ability to leap out of its respective genre and attract just about anyone with an open mind, and an open ear. I'm very much looking forward to hearing Weezer's new material; by all accounts it's more of the melodic, sing-songy material that made this album such a classic.

Thanks for reading.

Knyte.

Awakens Ancient Feelings
It was back in 5th grade when I had first started my ventures into music past Disney tunes. Weezer's self-titled debut was one of my introductions next to other albums of the time "Nevermind" by Nirvana, "Dookie" by Green Day, and "The Downward Spiral" by Nine Inch Nails. While all of the three aforementioned albums were very big influences on me musically and emotionally, none of them hit closer to home than Weezer. I must have moved on to other music and Weezer began to collect dust and was lost. Now upon entering 12th grade, the entire musical scene has changed, and I've been through a lot more music that has influenced me - OK Computer by Radiohead, Rid of Me by PJ Harvey, Post by Bjork, Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney, and others. Yet a small article about Rivers Cuomo, the lead singer of Weezer brought everything flooding back. I immediately went out and purchased another copy of Weezer. And now I can finally say this album is timeless. It'll always remind me of those lazy humid summer days me and my friends spent strumming on old acoustic guitars while watching Monty Python and arguing over Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules. "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" reflects those alienated times, when we felt the world was against us - stuck in the dredges of suburbia. While I've kind of outgrown those feelings, the song is still a beautiful display of yearning. "Buddy Holly" with its charming "ooh-oohs" was one of those songs that left us humming and tapping our feet. And "Undone-The Sweater Song" with its ambient guitar beginning, voices streaming in and out of the conscious is absolutely brilliant with its short phrasings. "Say It Ain't So" was our geeky anthem of despair and lonelieness. We practically thought "In The Garage" was written for us. Cynical and self-depreciating, Weezer writes witty songs with an amazing pop sensibility. This is one of those albums that I will always hold close to heart because it basically represents my childhood in a way. Weezer is one of those albums that will take a long time to manifest itself as a timeless classic.

I Don't Think Weezer Ever Topped This!
As the title of this review suggests, I really don't think Weezer ever made a more consistent, more infectious, or more charming album than this one; their debut. It's got it all: loud, heavy, swirling, electrified guitars which create a lush wall-of-sound, infectious sing-a-long melodies which are as sweet as candy, charming & quirky lyrics (and vocals) that anyone feeling alienated -- or in more popular terms, anyone who feels like a "geek" -- can relate to...really, how can you go wrong here?

There's something very refreshing and nostalgic about Weezer's music -- you get the sense that they exhibit something of a vibe from the '50s and early '60s; meaning that they seem to exhibit the kind of stomach-turning (well, not stomach-turning to me, but to most "hipsters") vibe of artists like The Beach Boys (but not necessarily sounding much like them), or any other band/artist from the aforementioned time period that is highly associated with the Summer, or the beach, perhaps, yet they update -- and transmutate -- this vibe, to make it seem nearly-unrecognizable; in other words, they somehow manage to shake-up this aspect enough to make it fit in with modern times (with "slight" bit of irony and angst, but not overbearingly so), which makes Weezer's presence quite interesting and refreshing, considering what most of today's music scene is filled with.

You know the popular tracks here: "Undone (The Sweater Song)," "Buddy Holly" (probably my absolute favorite track here, ironically, considering it was a hit, and usually "hit" songs are not my favorites from albums), "Say It Ain't So" -- all excellent tracks. But, the rest of the album is just as strong in it's delicious treatment of loud, heavy guitars lurching out melodic noise, with the quirky, seemingly-harmless, "geeky" vocals; "My Name Is Jonas" is a highlight, as well as the beautifully-punchy, summery melodies of "No One Else." Really, the whole album is excellent from top to bottom.

Loud, heavy pop confections, which are soaked in melodies as sweet as candy, and quirky vulnerability to boot; You can't go wrong here. Recommended for any fan of alternative rock, or for fans who like their heavy-rock doses high in melody.