Maladroit [ECD] - Weezer > Reviews > Good, but not Weezer's best.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Average
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	Very catchy songs .
Disadvantages:	Some fairly unoriginal .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

"Maladroit" is Weezer's fourth album, released shortly after their 'comeback' album, "Weezer" (better known as "The Green Album").

Written throughout 2001 and 2002, Weezer offered the songs to fans in the form of mp3s on their official website, taking into consideration comments and criticism from the fans and altering the songs based on them. The result is quite a diverse collection of songs.

Rivers Cuomo, Weezer's frontman and lead guitarist/songwriter, gives us a hell of a lot of catchy tunes once again, but this time around the variety of style is bigger than ever before.

Some of the songs such as "Dope Nose" and "Keep Fishin'" are very catchy pop-rock songs (is it a coincidence that these were the album's singles?), but then we have a heavier breed of tracks, such as "Take Control" remeniscent of 70s and 80s metal bands Cuomo grew up loving. Some of it is more melodic and breezy than we've ever heard Weezer before, such as the inappropriately titled "Death and Destruction," and my personal favourite, the jazzy-gone-metal track, "Burndt Jamb".

All in all, it is a pleasurable album, longer than any of Weezer's previous albums. Unfortunately, many of the tracks "borrow" parts from other songs. Whether it is intentional or not, I don't know, but "Take Control" sounds awfully like "Children of the Revolution" by T-Rex, and "Burndt Jamb" sounds disturbingly similar to George Benson's "Breezin'". And am I the only one singing the Flinstones theme to "Dope Nose"? However, in all fairness I'd listen to this album over any of the aforementioned "original versions" any day.

TRACK BY TRACK

"American Gigolo" - an interesting opener, with a great 60s-pop style chorus. Unfortunately the verse is rather irritating.

"Dope Nose" - a catchy single, with lots of energy but puzzling lyrics. Sounds like the Flinstones theme.

"Keep Fishin'" - a great single, with a very Weezer-esque melodic progression. You may remember it by the video featuring the Muppets.

"Take Control" - the heaviest song on the album, featuring a riff shamelessly 'borrowed' from T-Rex's "Children of the Revolution". Once again, quite catchy, and unlike anything Weezer have released before.

"Death and Destruction" - a very dreamy song, with melodic guitar parts and breezy chords, and meloncholy vocals. Very pretty.

"Slob" - my least favourite track on the album. A self-loathing song, with edgy, "Hotel California" style guitar parts, and forced sounding vocals.

"Burndt Jamb" - my favourite track on the album, shamelessly borrowing a melody from George Benson, but far superior in my opinion. A nice, clicky drum beat, and an unexpected transition to 80s metal for the chorus. Fantastic!

"Space Rock" - a quirky track with a nice enough melody and some interesting guitar effects.

"Slave" - a lovely tune, with a good balance of melody and heaviness.

"Fall Together" - one of the less memorable tracks on the album, a very old skool metal-esque riff-based track.

"Possibilities" - sounds fairly quickly written, a very upbeat fast track, perhaps a style Weezer should avoid using in the future.

"Love Explosion" - another fairly forgettable track, makes me want to sing "Locomotion" by Kylie. Some weird, tacked on lyrics.

"December" - a nicely written balad, a good way to end the album (but only on the US version). We still have two tracks left.

"Living Without You" - along with Burndt Jamb, the best track on the album. An upbeat, catchy pop song with some great harmonies and a very interesting lyrical theme.

"Island in the Sun" - everybody's favourite Weezer single, shamelessly added to this album (originally from "The Green Album") no doubt to boost sales. It's a great track, although I don't see what the hell it's doing on this album.