NowStreaming Weezer Van Weezer

JASON SAVIO

WEEZER VAN WEEZER

The euphoric bliss of guitar finger tapping greets you at the beginning of “The End of the Game,” the first single off of Weezer’s Van Weezer. No, it’s not the late, great Eddie Van Halen. It’s actually Weezer paying tribute to Mr. EVH on the appropriately titled album. After a yearlong delay, the heavy metal-minded Weezer record is finally here.

It may seem like a surprise, but Van Halen and other hard rock/metal bands of yesteryear are a big influence on Rivers Cuomo and his bandmates (ever compare the Van Halen logo with the Weezer logo? Their similarity isn’t a coincidence.) Big guitar solos, bigger choruses, and explosive power chords are splashed all over Van Weezer with a youthful and enjoyable glee that only the guys of Weezer could conjure up and get away with.

In the opening “Hero,” Cuomo uses a veil of comic book quips to admit he’s not the guitar hero he envisioned himself growing up to be, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t give it a go, laying out a flashy little solo. He continues his walk down memory lane in “I Need Some of That,” an ode to enjoying the simple life as a kid, riding his ten-speed around his neighborhood and listening to Aerosmith. “Even if we blow up/We’re never gonna grow up/’Cause this is where it’s at,” he sings.

“Beginning of the End” jumps to Cuomo narrating stepping out on stage and performing, delivering the album’s best lines: “Nostradamus predicted a bomb would drop/And all our guitars would be hung in an old pawn shop/But watch us brush off the dust/In heavy metal we trust,” before indulging in more finger tapping. Much of this sounds like something Bill and Ted would write, but that’s not a slight here at all, it’s simply musicians having fun unabashedly emulating other musicians and the songs they look up to. In “Blue Dream” they copy the riff from Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” so much so that Ozzy and Randy Rhoads receive a credit. Of course, this is Weezer, so the lyrics are about a talking octopus (check out the guitar solo that sounds like it’s being played underwater. Cool.) “1 More Hit” is likely the heaviest you’ll ever hear Weezer as the song drops into a Metallica-like breakdown.

There is a bit of that Weezer happy meal hangover here. Many of the songs are pretty short and may not feel fully fleshed out. “All of the Good Ones” is another one of those hollow and annoying earworm Weezer pop songs that belongs in that growing pile of forgetful tunes that none of their fans ever want to acknowledge.

With Van Weezer, Weezer set out to create a collection of songs that not only pays tribute to their rock heroes, but write a love letter to their years growing up listening to them. The album is even dedicated to Eddie Van Halen in the liner notes, as well as the late Ric Ocasek, frontman of the Cars and a friend of Weezer who produced three of their albums, including the classic Blue Album.

Van Weezer feels like the album Weezer always wanted to record but were too afraid to until now. It still ultimately sounds like Weezer with those familiar quirky sensibilities, but a flashier version with some rock star bravado. Van Weezer is a feel-good listen that captures most of the spirit the band was going for.