Albums to watch

Weezer (Black Album)

Weezer

Weezer (Black Album)

Thirteenth studio album from the LA pop-rock outfit, produced by Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs)

ADM rating[?]

5.1

Label
Crush Music
UK Release date
01/03/2019
US Release date
01/03/2019
  1. 8.4 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    Weezer still maintain the ability to surprise, and even brush with something transcendental in a bridge here – oh, say, "High as a Kite" - or a chorus there. After years of wrong turns and disappointments, isn't that all we really ask for?
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  2. 8.0 |   All Music

    It may flagrantly draw from old and new elements of pop culture, yet it belongs to its own feverish world
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  3. 8.0 |   Q

    While lately the LA quartet's output has largely been preoccupied with reclaiming their crunchy alt-rock sound, The Black Album often exorcises it with synth and piano. It works superbly. Print edition only

  4. 7.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    A unique addition to Weezer’s discography that sees them preparing for the future, however bleak and overwhelming it might seem
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  5. 6.7 |   A.V. Club

    At its sometime best, The Black Album sounds like a California rock band trying to figure out what exactly living in California and playing in a rock band actually entails
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  6. 6.1 |   Earbuddy

    It’s sad that the question is, “How bad is it?”, when listening to a Weezer album, but that’s the reality. This one is at least ‘meh’
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  7. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The band’s 13th album portends a musical change-up, but its core is still precise, poker-faced pop-rock
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  8. 6.0 |   Punk News

    It’s not that The Black Album is a very bad album, just that it feels part of a larger calculus that’s so carefully planned out that it lacks any of the artistic spontaneity that their first two albums had, which is exactly what the band’s been missing ever since Pinkerton
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  9. 6.0 |   NME

    The LA band have made a wilfully goofy album whose jokes wear pretty thin, pretty fast – though this is a largely solid alt-pop record nonetheless
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  10. 6.0 |   DIY

    A great - albeit mis-matched - collection of songs
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  11. 5.7 |   Pitchfork

    In an era where recommendation engines swaddle listeners in cozy familiarity, it’s refreshing to see so much stylistic variation from track to track
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  12. 5.5 |   Spectrum Culture

    As uneven and muddled as it can be, The Black Album gets one clear message through from Cuomo to the thirty- and forty-somethings who loved him in the ‘90s: thanks for everything, but it’s time we all moved on
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  13. 5.0 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    This is the most disjointed record in Weezer’s discography. Its probably not the worst but its right there with Raditude and Make Believe
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  14. 4.2 |   Consequence Of Sound

    It's like watching a friend you love making a really bad choice
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  15. 3.0 |   Exclaim

    An utterly skippable collection that'd be entirely unremarkable if not for the fact it was released by Weezer
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  16. 3.0 |   Clash

    Confused, cringingly uncomfortable and desperately out of touch
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  17. 1.5 |   The 405

    For the love of God, for the good of all humanity, if you cared about making good music again or even your image—go back to square one. Stop giving a crap about fitting in and please come to terms that, yes, you age. Otherwise, drop the act and consider retiring from making music altogether
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  18. 1.0 |   Under The Radar

    In simple summary, The Black Album makes The Teal Album sound like The Green Album, The Green Album sound like The Blue Album, and The Blue Album sound like the actual The White Album. The Beatles one
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  19. 1.0 |   PopMatters

    Black Album lurches forward bloodlessly, with no clear direction but the sensation of the moment, which is always expiring
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