30 Years of Weezer Has Me Feeling Blue

And not in the feeling blah sort of way

“Blue” Album Cover

When I write about 90s music, which is quite often, I straddle the line between satisfying nostalgia and crippling anxiety.

As I age (I’ll be 52 in May), I have a much greater appreciation for all I’ve done and seen, good and bad, throughout my life. Learning from mistakes and conjuring up wonderful memories seems more important with each passing year.

1994 was 30 years ago and just writing that feels like a gut-punch from a young and ferocious Mike Tyson to this Gen Xer. 30 years?? Stop it. Is this real life? Yes, yes it is you, slacker! I apologize for the brief conversation with myself…moving on.

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Weezer, while still together and relevant to many fans the world over, is a quintessential 90s band. Hearing the name alone elicits the sounds of crunchy guitars, perfect melodies, and sing-a-long choruses. If you’re a fan, it’s unavoidable. And it all started with the band’s self-titled, debut album (commonly referred to as the Blue album), released on May 10th, 1994 on DGC Records.

Along with brilliant songwriting by co-founder and lead singer/guitarist Rivers Cuomo (a few tracks credit drummer and original guitarist, Patrick Wilson and Jason Cropper respectively as well) and production from the power-pop king himself, Ric Ocasek of The Cars, the “Blue” album by Weezer became an instant classic.

Cuomo, a fan of 70s and 80s heavy metal, Top 40 radio of the same era, and early 90s grunge and alternative, seamlessly tied those influences together creating a sound that is distinctively, Weezer.

Albeit classics now, songs like “Buddy Holly”, “Undone - The Sweater Song”, “Say It Ain’t So”, and “My Name Is Jonas” were unexpected, miniature atom bombs that hit a generation over its collective head in 1994. Luckily, the hangover and strangely pleasant bruising have lasted all these decades later.

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I’m well aware that musical tastes are subjective and arguing over which genre or band is better than any other is an exercise in futility, so I try not to get into all of that in my writing. I can only write and react to what I witnessed when this music came out, what it made me feel, and how people from the same generation as me felt about it at the time.

That being said, with certain bands, and Weezer is one, I can safely proclaim some music (and bands) have outlasted and outweighed others. It happens here and there in every genre and every generation. It’s the beauty and mystery of music’s impact on those who experience it. We don’t make the rules, we just live by them.

I will admit when I focus on how long ago my youth was, along with the music that allowed me to grow up to become a functioning (this is debatable) member of society, it brings me down. Is that my mortality pinging me? Probably. It’s more than that though. Living through a real music scene in my teens and twenties, a scene that would define an entire culture, made life worth living. And by “real”, I don’t mean a specific genre. The early and mid-90s occurred during the pre-digital age. Music was recorded to tape. Bands toured in vans and played hundreds of shows in towns all over the world. Geography meant something. Cities and towns had sounds and styles they were known for. You were a part of something tangible.

It’s no longer that. But that’s ok. Everything evolves and every generation has its scene. I just miss mine sometimes.

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Celebrating 30 years of Weezer feels good to me. I hope it feels good to you. Looking back isn’t so bad.

Hey, looking ahead is all about the unknown and that’s exciting AF. We all have a future to explore. The past is the past but every once in a while, especially for someone like me (and possibly you), it’s all we need to get through the day.