My Amazon Reviews: Weezer "Hurely"

Weezer's "Lost" Album
3 Out Of 5 Stars 

I guess it is getting too easy to be Weezer these days. Come up with an infectious guitar riff, write some seriously oddball lyrics, and let Rivers sing in his geeky lost-boy voice. While he's still one of the best at this game, he is also beginning to sound seriously old-hat about it. A song as lame as "Memories" also contains a killer hook and a great line about "when Audioslave was still Rage," all while going for the nostalgia quotient for the fans who were on-board back when the first album shocked everyone.

"Hurley" is a 50/50 Weezer album, about the same as "Maladroit" or "Make Believe" in my Weezer rankings. In fact, two of the best songs are the bonus tracks, the soccer team anthem "Represent," and (of all things) the kids' show "All My Best Friends Are Insects." Frankly, given Rivers' childlike view of the world at times, writing a song for "Yo Gabba Gabba" about bugs with a serious buzzing guitar seems like a natural. As opposed to "Smart Girls," which just sounds forced. (As a point of reference, I thought "Where's My Sex" to be amusing, too.)

At least they're still trying to reinvent their wheel. "Unspoken" sounds like they're going for maturity without the cheese, and "Time Flies" could be this year's "Good Riddance/Time of Your Life." Good for them.

PS - "Hurley" succumbs, badly, to the loudness wars. The darn thing is compressed to within an inch of its life. And coming soon, a deluxe version of Pinkerton.