Draft:Weezer Recording Chronology: 2016-2018

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The Weezer Recording Chronology (WRC) is an attempt by Weezerpedia to create a successor to the Recording History, a detailed list of every demo, bootleg, and studio recording by the band Weezer and any directly associated bands, written by Karl Koch from the years of 2000 to 2011. Pages are separated by years.

This page details the years 2016 through 2018. It contains mostly the recordings of Pacific Daydream, The Teal Album, OK Human, and various iterations of The Black Album.

2016

"I Love the USA" demos and studio recording, ~May 2016

Sometime after the release of The White Album, Weezer reunited with producer Jake Sinclair to record a song that Rivers Cuomo had written on the European shows of the White Album tour.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo I Love the USA I Love The USA    5 verses Bigger Than Us @104.mp3 2016
Rivers Cuomo I Love the USA I Love The USA    7 ballad vocal @104.mp3 2016
Rivers Cuomo I Love the USA I Love The USA    8 full time piano @104.mp3 2016
Rivers Cuomo I Love the USA I Love The USA    15 memorial day @104.mp3 2016
Rivers Cuomo I Love the USA I Love The USA    16 vocal jam solo @108.mp3 2016
Weezer I Love the USA 2016 3:10
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Earliest possible Black Album sessions, October 2016

By May 2016, it seems that Cuomo was ready to head back into the studio to begin recording the long-planned follow-up to White, The Black Album.[1] It is unknown what exactly may have been recorded during these sessions, as they converge heavily with early sessions for Pacific Daydream as they head into 2017.

2017

"Feels Like Summer" single, early 2017(?)

Sometime, likely in 2017, Weezer would join with producer Jonny Coffer to record a single for what was then an unlabeled album set for release in summer 2017.[2]

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Feels Like Summer Winter 2017
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
  • The Lair
  • Play Deep Studios, London, UK
 3:15 Pacific Daydream
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"Feels Like Summer" acoustic version

At some point before summer 2017, an acoustic version of "Feels Like Summer" was recorded by the full band.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Feels Like Summer early 2017 3:16
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Pacific Daydream sessions, 2017

By August 2017, plans for Weezer's eleventh LP had shifted from a self-titled to what was then known as Somebody's Daydream, later to be changed to the final title: Pacific Daydream, Weezer would then move to work with producer Butch Walker.[3] "Feels Like Summer" would later be appended to this album, using the same recording from earlier in the year.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Mexican Fender 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:10 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Beach Boys 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:51 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Happy Hour 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 2:57 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Weekend Woman 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 4:06 Pacific Daydream
Weezer QB Blitz 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:17 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Sweet Mary 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:43 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Get Right 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:13 Pacific Daydream
Weezer La Mancha Screwjob 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:28 Pacific Daydream
Weezer Any Friend of Diane's 2017 Ruby Red Productions, Santa Monica, CA 3:35 Pacific Daydream
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"Happy Hour" acoustic version

At some point before February 2018, an acoustic version of "Happy Hour" was recorded by the full band.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Happy Hour 2:57 "Happy Hour (Acoustic)" (digital single)
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"Midnight" Black sessions, ~October 2017-spring 2018

By, at the very least, November 2017[4], Coffer and Weezer would reunite to rerecord Black, this iteration of the album is well known for having been fully completed, only to be scrapped once the commercial success of "Africa" caused the record label to re-examine the album's quality.[citation needed]

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Living in L.A. ~October 2017-spring 2018
  • United Recording, Los Angeles, CA
  • Federal Prism Studios, Los Angeles, CA
 3:38 Weezer (The Black Album) Partially re-used for The Black Album, unknown how much from this recording persists on the final version.
Weezer Midnight ~October 2017-spring 2018 3:22 Leaked online
Weezer Runner-Up ~October 2017-spring 2018
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2018

"Africa" and "Rosanna" covers, pre-May 2018

In December 2017, Twitter account "@WeezerAfrica," run by 14-year-old Cleveland, Ohio resident Mary Klym, tweeted, "@RiversCuomo it's about time you bless the rains down in Africa."[5] After much back-and-forth between Klym and Pat Wilson, the band released a cover of Toto's "Rosanna" instead, as a digital download, on May 24, 2018. The band would, in fact, release a cover of "Africa" days later, on May 29.

It is unknown exactly when and where these tracks were recorded, but given the fact the twitter campaign was started in December 2017, it is likely these were recorded in 2018. While the credits for The Teal Album do give the studios where the majority of the covers were recorded, it is impossible to discern which studio "Africa" was recorded at, or if "Rosanna" was also recorded at them. The 7" vinyl release of "Africa" does not give any recording location at all.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Africa 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio(?)
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA(?)
 3:56
Weezer Rosanna 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio(?)
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA(?)
 4:52
  • "Rosanna" (digital single)
  • "Africa" (single)
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The Teal Album demos, August 2018

In the summer of 2018, Rivers Cuomo began recording several demos in preparation for The Teal Album, some featuring songs that would not make the cut for the final album.

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Rivers Cuomo Billie Jean Billy_Jean_2018_8_4_13_17_6.mp3 August 4, 2018
Rivers Cuomo Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) sweet_dreams_in_w_b_2018_8_14_23_12_38.mp3 August 14, 2018
Rivers Cuomo Hotel California hotel_California_2018_8_14_23_21_0.mp3 August 14, 2018
Rivers Cuomo No Scrubs scrub_in_w_b_2018_8_18_15_44_49.mp3 August 18, 2018
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The Teal Album sessions, 2018

In 2018, Weezer recorded The Teal Album.

Unreleased mixes and files

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer(?) Africa 01 Africa.mp3 2018
Weezer(?) Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 03 Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This).mp3 2018
Weezer(?) Take On Me Take On Me (MR5.1)_01.m4a 2018
Weezer(?) Happy Together Happy Together (MR2.9)_04.mp3 2018
Weezer(?) No Scrubs No Scrubs (MR2.0)_04.m4a 2018
Weezer(?) Happy Together Happy Together (MR2.9)_04.mp3 2018
Weezer(?) Stand by Me Stand By Me For Rivers 1.6_03 (1).mp3 2018
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Final album tracklist

Performer(s) Title Filename Date of recording Recording location Length Appeared on Notes
Weezer Everybody Wants to Rule the World 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 4:04 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 3:34 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Take on Me 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 3:43 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Happy Together 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 2:25 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Paranoid 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 2:44 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Mr. Blue Sky 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 4:46 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer No Scrubs 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 3:10 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Billie Jean 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 4:54 Weezer (The Teal Album)
Weezer Stand by Me 2018
  • The Steakhouse Studio
  • The Village, Los Angeles, CA
 3:00 Weezer (The Teal Album)
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Earliest OK Human sessions, 2018

In an interview with Zane Lowe in January 2019, Cuomo revealed basic tracks for OK Human had been recorded.[citation needed] By February 2019, strings had already been recorded in Abbey Road,[6] although it is unclear how much was recorded in 2018.

Final Black Album sessions, summer-winter 2018

References

  1. ↑ Goodman, Jessica. "Cry Me A Rivers". DIY Magazine. May 2016. Pg 61-62. https://diymag.com/magazine/may-2016
  2. ↑ Weezer. "Weezer - Feels Like Summer". YouTube. 15 March 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170316041114/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efPWrIvzGgc
  3. ↑ Krewen, Nick. "New to Canada, Big Feastival promises to serve superior food on top of Weezer and more" Toronto Star. 13 August 2017. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2017/08/13/new-to-canada-big-feastival-promises-to-serve-superior-food-on-top-of-weezer-and-more.html
  4. ↑ Riesman, Abraham. "Rivers Cuomo Is Still Lonely: But he’s really into lifehacks." Vulture. November 2017. https://www.vulture.com/2017/11/weezer-rivers-cuomo-interview-lifehacks-pacific-daydream.html
  5. ↑ Klym, Mary. (@weezerafrica) "@RiversCuomo it's about time you bless the rains down in africa". 6 December 2017, 9:55 AM. https://twitter.com/weezerafrica/status/938406456302489600
  6. ↑ Wood, Mikael. "Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer’s frontman put his life into a spreadsheet" Los Angeles Times. 22 February 2019. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-rivers-cuomo-weezer-teal-album-black-album-20190222-story.html
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