Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone (sometimes abbreviated RS) is a United States-based magazine founded in 1967. Though its popularity and relevance has ebbed and flowed over the decades, it is one of the best-known publications in the world for music criticism. Weezer has appeared on its cover numerous times.
Rolling Stone and Weezer
Taken as a whole, Rolling Stone's critical response to Weezer has been generally positive. Most of the magazine's peers in music criticism have disparaged Weezer's 21st century output, with Pinkerton generally seen as the chronological dividing line between the band's acclaimed first-era work and panned second-era output. Make Believe, an album with a metascore of awarded 2005's Make Believe 4 stars out of 5.
Conversely, Rolling Stone's initial 1996 review of Pinkerton has come to be seen as emblematic of the middling reviews that the record received upon its initial release. Written by Rob O'Connor, the review faults the album for being juvenile and, interestingly given the present-day acclaim that the record receives for it's authenticity, insincere. Pinkerton went on to be named the third worst album of 1996 in the magazine's critics poll.
The magazine would eventually issue a new review of the album, written by Gavin Edwards in 2004, awarding it five stars.
Reviews
Albums
| Release | Rating | Review date | Author | Excerpt |
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  (3/5)
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1996 | Rob O'Connor | "Weezer over-rely on catchy tunes to heal all of Cuomo's wounds. In "El Scorcho," the song's infectious chorus proves to be slim reward. "Tired of Sex," a look at a brooding stud's empty sex life, is as aimless as the subject's nightly routine." Read full review |
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No rating given | February 2, 1998 | Paul Evans | "But these four young survivors of the Los Angeles club wars can no doubt handle the mixed blessing of a novelty hit. Weezer's Rivers Cuomo is great at sketching vignettes (the Dungeons and Dragons games and Kiss posters that inspire the hapless daydreamer of "In the Garage"), and with sweet inspiration like the waltz tempo of "My Name Is Jonas" and the self-deprecating humor of lines like "I look like Buddy Holly/You're Mary Tyler Moore," his songs easily ingratiate." Read full review |
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(4/5)
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May 15, 2001 | Rob Sheffield | Cuomo assembles the old lineup to bash out 1994-style crunch-guitar nuggets like "Don't Let Go," "Hashpipe" and "Simple Pages." In the five years since Pinkerton, Cuomo has gotten more oblique about his girl troubles — there's no "El Scorcho" or "Pink Triangle" here, which is a shame." Read full review |
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(4/5)
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May 9, 2002 | Ann Powers | "Cuomo doesn’t want to wreck rock or even push too hard against its boundaries — the three-minute single is his favorite playground. Maladroit has a more disturbed edge than did the Green Album. Careening guitar solos stretch out the waistband on rockers such as “Fall Together,” while the teakettle harmonies on “Space Rock” recall Weezer’s forebears in hyperactivity, the Pixies." Read full review |
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(4/5)
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April 19, 2004 | Christian Hoard | "Ten years on, as this double-disc reissue attests, these four thrift-store-clad guitar boys seem almost like visionaries. Crunchy nuggets such as "In the Garage" and "My Name Is Jonas" were fuzzed-out enough to blend in with other radio rock of the time, but Rivers Cuomo eschewed rock-star posing and relied on harmonies, big-ass choruses and tunes that attacked your inner lullaby." Read full review |
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(5/5)
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December 9, 2004 | Gavin Edwards | "With all those true confessions, it's no wonder that Cuomo is somewhat embarrassed by Pinkerton now -- and that the record became a cornerstone of the late-Nineties emo movement. The self-produced album sounds as raw as Cuomo's lyrics, without any of the sheen that Ric Ocasek provided on the band's debut. But what makes Pinkerton more than a blog entry is Cuomo's unfailing gift for power pop." Read full review |
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(4/5)
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May 19, 2005 | Rob Sheffield | "Not since Brian Wilson has an L.A.-pop mastermind gotten such musical mileage out of wanting to be an ordinary guy, not realizing that his psychosexual freakitude is exactly what makes him one." Read full review |
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 (3.5/5)
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November 2, 2009 | Rob Sheffield | "Raditude is full of gloriously cheesy Weezer tunes, led by the ridonk geek-love anthem “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To.”" Read full review |
Songs
| Release | Rating | Review date | Author | Excerpt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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(3/5)
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August 13, 2010 | Rob Sheffield | "Now that Cuomo is a full-fledged adult charged with changing diapers and buying the family groceries, he's dreaming of the old days when people liked techno music, and he delivers the singalong chorus ("Memories make me want to go back there") with enough passion to make you think he's not entirely joking." Read full review |
Articles
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