Search - Rivers Cuomo :: Alone-Home Recordings of Rivers Cuom

Essential for any serious Weezer fan

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 04/01/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The ebb-and-flow of Rivers Cuomo's creative streak over the years has been interesting to follow, for as much as we the public at large can follow is (mostly by seeing how good or not so good a Weezer album is, and how long it takes for a new Weezer album to materialize). But Rivers has taken this to an entirely new level by digging into his musical treasure chest and sharing a bunch of demos, of old and previously unheard songs alike.



"Alone: The Home Recording of Rivers Cuomo" (18 tracks; 47 min.) is not only a fascinating look into the writing process of Rivers, but on top of that brings some pretty good music too. Most interesting are the demos of songs intended for the eventually shelved second album "Songs from the Black Hole" (instead "Pinkerton" was released), which as they are heard here almost play like a musical ("Blast Off", "Dude, We're Finally Landing", "Superfriend" and "Lover in the Snow"). In spirit they certainly are closer to Pinkerton than the Blue Album. Other interesting items: the 1995 track "Wanda (You're My Only Love)", a rejected song for the "Angus" movie soundtrack (instead "You Gave Your Love" made it on the soundtrack); "This Is the Way", cut from the "Make Believe" album; the cover "Little Diane" (recorded in 2003); and the closing track "I Was Made for You" (from 2004").



In all, this album plays surprisingly well, even if obviously the recording quality is not optimal. But a contributing factor to making this album so enjoyable are the lines notes from Rivers. And no, they are not just a line or two pre song, they fill pages and pages as Rivers explains in detail the background of each song (and the lyrics are also printed). In all, while of course this does not break any new musical ground as such, this set is essential for any serious Weezer fan."