From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1994 studio album by Weezer
\"The World Has Turned and Left Me Here\" redirects here. For the Vampire Diaries episode, see The World Has Turned and Left Me Here (The Vampire Diaries).
May 10, 1994 (1994-05-10)
August–September 1993
Electric Lady, New York City
Alternative rock
power pop
pop-punk
geek rock
emo
41:36
DGC
Ric Ocasek
The Kitchen Tape
(1992)
Weezer
(1994)
Pinkerton
(1996)
Blue Album
(1994)
Green Album
(2001)
\"Undone – The Sweater Song\"
Released: June 24, 1994
\"Buddy Holly\"
Released: September 7, 1994
\"Say It Ain\'t So\"
Released: July 13, 1995
Weezer (commonly known as the Blue Album) is the debut studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek, former lead singer and songwriter of The Cars.
Weezer formed in Los Angeles in 1992, and initially struggled to engage audiences, who were more interested in grunge. In November, they recorded a demo, The Kitchen Tape, which brought them to the attention of DGC owner Geffen Records. Weezer selected Ocasek to produce because of his work with the Cars. Most of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City between August and September 1993. The group treated the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Guitarist Jason Cropper was fired during recording, as the band felt he was threatening their chemistry; he was replaced by Brian Bell.
Weezer was supported by the singles \"Undone – The Sweater Song\", \"Buddy Holly\", and \"Say It Ain\'t So\", whose music videos became MTV hits. The album received critical acclaim and reached number sixteen on the US Billboard 200, later being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1995. It remains Weezer\'s best-selling album, having sold at least 3.3 million copies in the U.S. and over 15 million copies worldwide by 2009. Often listed by critics as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, Rolling Stone ranked Weezer number 294 on its “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list in 2020.
Professional ratings
AllMusic
Blender
Chicago Sun-Times
Entertainment WeeklyB (1994)
A+ (2014)NME7/10Pitchfork10/10QRolling StoneThe Rolling Stone Album GuideSpinA
The Blue Album received critical acclaim. Rolling Stone praised the album in their year-end review, saying \"Weezer\'s Rivers Cuomo is great at sketching vignettes (the Dungeons & 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 just like Buddy Holly / And you\'re Mary Tyler Moore\", his songs easily ingratiate.\" Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was less complimentary and awarded the album a \"neither\" rating. The \"Buddy Holly\" video won four awards at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it number 294 on its updated “500 Greatest Albums of All Time” list.
Legacy
The Blue Album has become one of the most highly regarded albums of the 1990s, as well as of all time, appearing on many \"best of\" lists. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 294 on their 2020 list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time\". It was previously ranked at 297 in 2003, and 299 in 2012. In 2002, the readers of Rolling Stone ranked the album the 21st greatest of all time. Blender named the Blue Album among the \"500 CDs You Must Own\", calling the album \"Absolute geek-rock, out and proud.\" Non-U.S. publications have acclaimed the album as well: New Zealand\'s The Movement placed it at number 39 on a list of \"The 101 Best Albums of the 90s\", and Visions of Germany ranked it number 32 on a list of \"The Most Important Albums of the 90s.\" In November 2011, the Blue Album was ranked number three on Guitar World magazine\'s top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with Bad Religion\'s Stranger than Fiction and The Offspring\'s Smash in first and second place respectively. The album also peaked at number 25 on Guitar World\'s \"Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994\" list.
Reviews of the album when its deluxe edition was released have reflected its rise in stature continuing to be positive. In 2004, PopMatters gave the album a very positive review, saying \"I\'d go so far to declare the \'Blue Album\' one of the greatest records of the last 20 years.\" And Rolling Stone reiterated their original positive review by further describing it as \"big, vibrant pop-rock that would inspire thousands of emo kids\". Blogcritics gave the album 10/10 and described it as \"one of the most important debut albums of the last ten years\".
In naming Weezer the 26th best album of the 1990s, Pitchfork summed up the album\'s critical recognition:
An album so substantial the band misguidedly attempted to tap into its resonance through cover graphics a mere two releases later. In 1994, 70s rock had come to mean either a bastardized version of Led Zeppelin or a bullshit reconstruction of punk rock. As guitar nerds, Weezer sought influence there but found true inspiration in forgotten bubblegum power-pop like Cheap Trick, Raspberries, 20/20, and The Quick. Most impressively, Rivers Cuomo rescued the thrilling guitar solo from finger-tapping metal and disregarding grunge/punk. A decade later air-guitaring to the album feels far less embarrassing than singing along. With the help of Spike Jonze, Weezer kept joy alive in arena rock, making the critical repositioning of Weezer as some emo touchstone even more absentminded. They called themselves Weezer, knowingly, for chrissakes.
NME credited the album as a formative influence on melodic emo. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 5/5, writing: \"Although the group wears its influences on its sleeve, Weezer pulls it together in a strikingly original fashion, thanks to Cuomo\'s urgent melodicism, a fondness for heavy, heavy guitars, a sly sense of humor, and damaged vulnerability, all driven home at a maximum volume.\"
Accolades
Since its release, the Blue Album has featured heavily in various \"must have\" lists compiled by the music media. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature the Blue Album are shown below; this information is adapted from Acclaimed Music.
USA
500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die
2003
*
USA
Top 100 Albums 1990–2003
2004
No. 10
USA
Top 101–200 Albums of All Time
2004
No. 177
USA
Top 100 Albums of the 1990s
2003
No. 26
USA
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
2020
No. 294
USA
The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time
2022
No. 82
UK
NME\'s The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
2013
No. 250
( * ) designates lists which are unordered.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Rivers Cuomo, except where noted
\"My Name Is Jonas\"Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Jason Cropper3:23
\"No One Else\" 3:14
\"The World Has Turned and Left Me Here\"Cuomo, Wilson4:26
\"Buddy Holly\" 2:40
\"Undone – The Sweater Song\" 4:55
\"Surf Wax America\"Cuomo, Wilson3:04
\"Say It Ain\'t So\" 4:18
\"In the Garage\" 3:56
\"Holiday\" 3:26
\"Only in Dreams\" 8:03
41:25
Personnel
Weezer
Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, harmonica
Patrick Wilson – drums
Brian Bell – rhythm guitar (credit only), backing vocals
Matt Sharp – bass, backing vocals
Additional musicians
Mykel Allan – spoken intermission on \"Undone – The Sweater Song\"
Karl Koch – dialogue, piano outro on \"Undone – The Sweater Song\"
Production
Ric Ocasek – producer
Chris Shaw – engineer
Hal Belknap – assistant engineer
David Heglmeier – assistant engineer
Daniel Smith – assistant engineer
Michael Golob – art direction
Peter Gowland, Peter Orth – photographer
Karl Koch – designer
Todd Sullivan – A&R
George Marino – mastering
Charts
Weekly
position
47
19
40
10
48
22
61
6
35
8
23
16
1
Year-end
89
47
84
43
69
Singles
Bill-
board
Hot 100
Hot 100
Airplay
Top 40
lands
1994
\"Undone – The Sweater Song\"
6
57
74
35
–
–
\"Buddy Holly\"
2
-
18
12
14
27
1995
\"Say It Ain\'t So\"
7
–
51
37
–
–
Certifications
2× Platinum
200,000^
Platinum
15,000^
Gold
100,000^
3× Platinum
3,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
