Rivers Cuomo returns with a new album, this time without his Weezer-ite comrades.
Alone: The Home Recording of Rivers Cuomo was released on Dec. 18 to the delight of Cuomo fans everywhere. The album features 18 tracks, all of which are demos that Rivers made throughout his music career.
Alone, could be a refreshing taste for die-hard Weezer fans who long for the deeply personal content of Pinkerton. After all, somewhere along the line, Cuomo pulled back his emotions in music, writing fairly superficial music for the last three albums.
With Alone,, some tracks give the listener a glimpse back into Cuomo’s creative space. The album succeeds in providing Weezer fans with a good dose of catchy tracks, such as "Superfriend" and "I Was Made for You."
"The World We Love So Much," a song at the beginning of the album, is a somber and thoughtful track, reminiscent of Elliot Smith’s music. "Longtime Sunshine," a single well known to die-hard fans, is also on the album. The piano single is incredibly catchy and moving, rivaling much of the music of Ben Folds Five.
Surely, however, the crown jewel track of this album is "Blast Off." This track was originally intended to be the intro track of Cuomo’s brainchild concept album, Songs from the Blackhole, but the album was never made.
The song starts off with a beautiful, thick guitar progression, an amazing vocal melody, and a contrasting, steady drumbeat.
But not every track on ALONE is a winner. Tracks such as "Little Diane" and "Lemonade" are pretty lackluster, even given their naturally rough demo state.
The album gets downright strange with "The Bomb," a novelty cover of the Ice Cube song, and "This Is the Way," a curious attempt by Cuomo to produce some sort of superficial R&B single.
But since there are 18 tracks, the weak ones aren’t strong enough to stamp out the strong ones, and this album comes out a winner.
So, whether out of mild curiosity, or to hold you over until Weezer’s sixth album comes out, go buy this album for delightfully enjoyable pop music that Rivers Cuomo has a knack for making.
