It seems like in the past few years, Weezer have tried out everything except sounding like their classic albums. Hell, the last time Weezer was inescapable on the radio was when they covered “Africa” by Toto. Well, it looks like the band will try their hardest to bring back the distinct Weezer sound – for only one album (for now, at least).
Rivers Cuomo has talked about planning a four-album collection called Seasons with each album corresponding to a specific season, and each album is inspired by a specific artist. In an interview on Apple Music’s Strombo, Cuomo revealed that two of the artists who’ll inspire this collection are Elliot Smith and Franz Ferdinand. But Weezer guitarist and keyboardist Brian Bell also revealed on an episode of Consequence Of Sound’s Kyle Meredith With… that the band is planning a “Weezer-inspired Weezer album” as part of that series.
When asked about the artists inspiring the Seasons collection, Bell said, “Well, Weezer is one of them – and I ain’t joking.” He added, “A Weezer-inspired Weezer album. We sometimes refer to ‘Island in the Sun’ as a sound, as a thing. And one of my favorite quotes from [drummer] Pat [Wilson] was like — when Rivers got all into co-writing and stuff, I don’t know when that was, Raditude period or whatever — Pat goes, “I want him to co-write with the guy that wrote ‘Say It Ain’t So.’”
He also said that going back to the Green Album sound days isn’t completely out of the question. “‘Island in the Sun’, if we could figure out what that was — sometimes those things just happen… We know what vibe, musically, that evoked, and also lyrically. It was a little bit of a departure. It wasn’t so personal, it was more a universal feeling. We do think about those things.”
We haven’t seen Weezer be “classic Weezer” since the Red Album era. Perhaps Cuomo should do a collection of all-Weezer inspired albums next.
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