Weezer
Blue Album (deluxe edition)
DGC

Appearing amidst an onslaught of crappy copycat grunge bands, Weezer’s debut CD could easily have been swept into the indie rock cutout bin leaving rock fans with little hope in the dreary world of 1994. Luckily, that never happened and Weezer became one of the '90s most unlikely rock sensations.

The band’s eponymous record (dubbed the Blue Album) has now been repackaged with a collection of rarities and extensive liner notes about each song. To keep purists happy, the original 10-track masterpiece is left intact and allotted it’s own CD. The songs still hold up today, and seem to be even more essential now that emo is the new grunge. “My Name Is Jonas” is still one of the heaviest geek-rock songs ever put to tape, as power chords chug along to sporadic melodies intertwined with feedback. “Undone” is quirky as ever, and “In The Garage” seems even more pertinent now that it’s cool to like the X-Men.

The second disc of rarities is absolutely sweet. Fans can now get all the b-sides from the “Blue” singles, along with tracks that appeared on various comps. The much loved “Jamie” from the DGC Rarities collection is on here, as well as live b-sides from across the Atlantic. Tracks nine through 13 might be the bands most coveted. These early renditions of “Blue Album”-era tunes have never been released before and feature demo renditions of tracks like “Paperface” and “I Swear It’s True.”

This is a must buy record for anyone who either missed out on it the first time, or originally bought it on tape and need a new copy badly. The second disc is definitely worth owning, but obsessed fans have probably already downloaded the songs in the Napster heyday.

Reviewed by: George Koroneos
Reviewed on: June 8, 2004