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Weezer (Teal Album)

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Weezer (also known as the Teal Album) is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band Weezer. It was released digitally on January 24, 2019, through Crush Music and Atlantic Records, with a retail release on March 8. The album is composed of cover songs, mostly from the 1980s, making it the band's first covers album. It was announced and released on the same day as a surprise precursor to Weezer's thirteenth studio album, which was released on March 1, 2019. The album received mixed reviews, with some praising the self-aware frivolity of the project, while others criticized the arrangements.

Weezer
Studio album of cover songs by
Weezer
ReleasedJanuary 24, 2019[1]
Recorded2018
Studio
Genre
Length36:18
Label
Producer
Weezer chronology
Pacific Daydream
(2017) 		Weezer
(2019) 		Weezer
(2019)
Singles from Weezer
  1. "Africa"
    Released: May 29, 2018

Background

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Following the release of Weezer's eleventh album Pacific Daydream, an Internet fan campaign was launched to get Weezer to cover "Africa" by Toto. After initially releasing a cover of "Rosanna", a different Toto song, as a joke, Weezer released their "Africa" cover in May 2018.[5] The cover hit the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[6]

Teal was unexpectedly released on January 24, 2019, without prior promotion or advertisement.[7] Several covers on the album have previously been performed live by both the band and frontman Rivers Cuomo at solo shows.[8][9]

Cuomo has since described his use of Spotify's data on most played songs to establish the tracklisting for the album.[10]

The album was released digitally on January 24, 2019, with the physical version planned for release on March 8, 2019. To promote the album, Weezer released a teal velcro wallet available for purchase on their website, with the first 100 copies sold including a dollar bill signed by the band members.[11] The velcro wallet sold out quickly, so Weezer released a second promotional bundle on January 24 with a teal Rubik's cube.[12] The band's cover of "No Scrubs" received significant social media attention, with the song trending on Twitter and sparking both sincere and ironic reactions from fans who found the song choice surprising,[13] while TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, who sang lead vocal on the original version, openly praised Weezer's rendition, declaring it "AWESOME!!!" on her Twitter account and adding, "It would be even better if we sang it with ya'll!!! I see a TLC/Weezer concert coming up."[14][15] Weezer themselves responded to Chilli through their own Twitter account by posting the reply, "Hope you want our number", referring to a key line in the song's chorus.[16]

At their 2019 Coachella performance, Weezer brought out TLC's Chilli, as well as English band Tears for Fears for live versions of "No Scrubs" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", respectively.[17]

Though not appearing on the official soundtrack, their cover of A-ha's "Take On Me" is featured in the 2020 animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic58/100[18]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [19]
Consequence of SoundB[20]
Dead Press!          [21]
Glide Magazine          [22]
NME     [1]
Now     [23]
Punknews.org     [24]

The Teal Album was met with divided opinions from critics. At the aggregating website Metacritic, the album has received a normalized rating of 58, based on 9 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. In a review of the album for AllMusic, editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "Taken on a strictly musical terms, The Teal Album is pretty anodyne stuff. Weezer replicates the arrangements of beloved songs, adds a bit more fuzz on the guitar solos, and flattens the vocal affectations, which amounts to one weird trick: Weezer doesn't attempt to make the songs their own, yet these versions unmistakably sound like Weezer."[19] Matt Beaumont at NME stated "Respectful enough to rouse any struggling family gathering but knowing enough to amuse those in on the joke, 'The Teal Album' at once satirises the covers album and makes a decent stab at perfecting it."[1]

Reviewing the album for Glide Magazine, James Roberts concluded that "The lifelessness of the covers ensures that it has a shelf life that isn’t much longer than your average meme. I suppose given the origins of the album as a Twitter meme it makes sense. Everything about the album—from its conception to its surprise, digital only release—points to the fact that we aren't meant to take it that seriously. But that's kind of the problem, isn't it? Nothing Weezer does can be taken seriously anymore."[22] Nick Flanagan gave the album a grading of 1 out of 5 in the review for Now, claiming that "what's horrible about this record is the total lack of controversy, the lack of anything. It doesn't even pass as a joke album – they're just straight-ahead paint-by-numbers covers, like something a wedding band might play." Tim Sommer wrote that “… there is no reason to listen to The Teal Album. There are no revelations, no hearts are placed on sleeves, no one will be moved, and no one will bother to play one of these tracks in the future”, adding that “… Weezer despise the American music consuming public, and want to prove that today’s consumer will click on literally the most banal and redundant nonsense.”[25]

Michael Roffman was more positive in an assessment for Consequence of Sound, writing "At best, it's a blueprint or rather a teaser for their forthcoming tours, as if to say, "Well, you loved 'Africa', look what else we can do? Come out, folks." Again, that's a more cynical outlook, but hey, maybe Cuomo is being cynical. Maybe this is the self-defeater in him, acknowledging the times, knowing damn well that if he's going to give 'em what they want, he's going to meet them at their level with a shit-eating grin and walk back to the bank."[20]

Commercial performance

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The Teal Album peaked at number five in its second week on the Billboard 200, after debuting at number 47 the previous week.[26] This was a significant rebound from Weezer's previous album, Pacific Daydream, which only reached number 23. In its first full tracking week, it debuted with 39,000 album-equivalent units, of which 27,000 were pure album sales.[26]

Track listing

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No.TitleWriter(s)Original artistLength
1."Africa"
Toto3:58
2."Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Tears for Fears4:04
3."Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"
Eurythmics3:34
4."Take On Me"
A-ha3:43
5."Happy Together"
The Turtles2:25
6."Paranoid"
Black Sabbath2:44
7."Mr. Blue Sky"Jeff LynneElectric Light Orchestra4:46
8."No Scrubs"
TLC3:10
9."Billie Jean"Michael JacksonMichael Jackson4:54
10."Stand by Me"
Ben E. King3:00
Total length:36:18

Personnel

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Weezer

  • Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals except "Paranoid", backing vocals on "Paranoid", lead guitar, piano, keyboards, production
  • Patrick Wilson – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production
  • Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals except "Paranoid", lead vocals on "Paranoid", keyboards, production
  • Scott Shriner – bass, backing vocals, production

Production

Visuals

Charts

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Mark Beaumont (January 25, 2019). "Weezer – 'The Teal Album' review". Nme.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  2. ^ "Weezer cover 'No Scrubs', 'Billie Jean' on surprise new album". Gulfnews.com. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  3. ^ "Rev Ranks: Weezer's 'Teal Album' is corny, but fun | The Daily Reveille". lsureveille.com. 2019-02-21. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  4. ^ "Surprise! It's A Weezer Covers Album | News | Clash Magazine". Clash. 24 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  5. ^ Monroe, Jazz (May 24, 2018). "Weezer Cover Toto's "Rosanna," Trolling Viral Campaign for "Africa" Cover". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  6. ^ "Alternative Songs: Top Alternative Songs Chart". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
  7. ^ Billboard (2018-09-14). "Weezer Release 'The Teal Album' Featuring Covers of A-Ha, Tears For Fears, Michael Jackson". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  8. ^ "Weezer and The Pixies were happy together in New Orleans". NOLA.com. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  9. ^ "Rivers Cuomo Concert Setlist at August Hall, San Francisco on September 12, 2018". setlist.fm. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  10. ^ "Rivers Cuomo on His Data-Driven Approach To Weezer". billboard. March 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  11. ^ Weezer US. "Totally Tubular Teal Bundle | Weezer US". Weezerwebstore.com. Archived from the original on 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-01-24.
  12. ^ "Teal Rad Rubik's Cube Bundle". Weezer US. Retrieved January 24, 2019.[permanent dead link‍]
  13. ^ "Everyone is talking about 'No Scrubs' because of Weezer. Welcome to 2019". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  14. ^ "TLC's Chilli Wants to Perform 'No Scrubs' With Weezer, Thanks to 'Teal Album' Cover". Billboard. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  15. ^ "Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas Twitter account". @officialchilli on Twitter. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  16. ^ "Weezer Twitter account". @weezer on Twitter. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  17. ^ "Watch Weezer Bring Out TLC's Chilli, Tears for Fears at Coachella 2019". Pitchfork. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-26.
  18. ^ "Weezer (Teal Album) by Weezer". Metacritic. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  19. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine (January 25, 2019). "Weezer [Teal Album] - Weezer". AllMusic. Retrieved 2019-01-26.
  20. ^ a b Michael Roffman (January 23, 2019). "Weezer - Weezer (The Teal Album)". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  21. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Weezer â€" Weezer (Teal Album) | DEAD PRESS! | It's more than "just music" to us". Dead Press!. 5 February 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  22. ^ a b James Roberts (January 24, 2019). "Weezer's Surprise Release 'The Teal Album' Covers All the Wrong Bases (ALBUM REVIEW)". glidemagazine.com. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  23. ^ Nick Flanagan (January 28, 2019). "Weezer - Weezer (The Teal Album)". nowtoronto.com. Retrieved 2019-02-03.
  24. ^ "Weezer - Weezer". Punknews.org. January 24, 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
  25. ^ Tim Sommer. "Weezer's Vapid Teal Album Has Our Critic Seeing Red". RealClear Life. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  26. ^ a b c Caulfield, Keith (February 3, 2019). "Backstreet Boys Score First No. 1 Album in Nearly 20 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'DNA'". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  27. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Weezer – Weezer (Teal Album)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  29. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  30. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 1 February 2019". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  31. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  32. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
  33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  34. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  35. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
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