Pinkerton

Weezer | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 24, 1996)
• Original Release Date: September 24, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Geffen Records
• ASIN: B000000OVP
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (532 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,459 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #32 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Emo
  • #43 in Music > Alternative Rock > Hardcore & Punk > Punk-Pop

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A hit single can be a bit of a mixed blessing for new bands, especially if said song gets you firmly lumped into the "novelty band" category. Such was the case with Weezer, whose runaway hit "Buddy Holly" touched a global nerve upon its release, then got on everyone's nerves after months of radio saturation. However, it did ensure that they sold millions of copies of their self-titled debut. Which is why it's so strange that their second album, Pinkerton, was ignored. Perhaps the cold shoulder was due to the willfully noncommercial first single, "El Scorcho," which crashed and burned. Whatever the reason, Pinkerton soon disappeared, which is a shame because it's a great album. Whereas Weezer reveled in the band's geek-rock image, Pinkerton saw Rivers Cuomo maturing as a lyricist. From the opening, "Tired of Sex," which rants about the frustrating easiness of groupies, to the new wave pop of "Getchoo" to the epic genius of "The Good Life," there's much more diversity here than the Pixies-influenced bouncy grunge of their debut. With the closing solo, the acoustic lament "Butterfly," Cuomo demonstrates a pop mastery that promises great things from this reformed geek. --Robert Burrow

Product Description

Few albums in rock history have enjoyed as complete a critical and popular turnaround as Weezer's Pinkerton. Though tagged a disappointment upon its 1996 release, today Pinkerton is considered one of the most influential and important albums of that decade and beyond. In 2004, Rolling Stone even felt compelled to re-review the album, raising it from three stars to the ultimate five. Spin has since honored Pinkerton as among the 100 best albums of 1985-2005 and Guitar World ranks it among the top 100 guitar albums of all-time.

Now the two-CD Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition (DGC/UMe), released November 2, 2010, adds color to the band's musical journey with the original Weezer-produced album remastered and 25 contemporaneous bonus tracks, including every official B-side and 16 previously unreleased recordings. Among the latter are the newly-discovered gem "Tragic Girl," unreleased B-side "I Swear It's True" and numerous live performances, particularly noteworthy given that the band rarely played Pinkerton songs after the album tour. The 1996-1997 concert tracks were taken from the massive Reading Festival in the U.K., radio station sessions in Philadelphia and Salt Lake City, and a lunchtime performance won in a contest by Shorecrest High School near Seattle.

Accompanying the package is a booklet with numerous photos and an essay by band compatriot Karl Koch, who reveals how the glorious "Tragic Girl" was recorded at the last minute but left undocumented, causing many to forget its existence. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

132 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so this is it.., May 21, 2001

By 

"el_scorcho" (Elmhurst, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pinkerton (Audio CD)

here it is - this is the album that drove Rivers into seclusion for several years, writing songs for himself in his room and throwing them away.

this is the album where he felt liberated, where he would be creating this new sound for everyone. the emotional nakedness he hinted at in Weezer (funky blue cover) became fully realized here. not only his voice showed his emotions, you can hear it in every note of his fractured guitar - the soaring, pins and needles feeling it elects out of you with every solo, every vibrato. the music drove you because he sang about a pain not only secular to him, it's an album he made for YOU just as much as him. you almost wanted to grab cuomo and tell him everything will be alright by the end of Butterfly, crying and muttering to yourself how your girlfriend/boyfriend is an idiot.

a funny thing happened. about the time this album came out, power-pop/punk was going on it's way out. this cd was left on the side, pushed away in favor of nameless bands long forgotten. only making gold (as opposed to the 4 million weezer sold), cuomo freaked and closed the door on his musical career for awhile to sort through it all.

earlier this year, cuomo and company came out just enough to hammer enough songs to make a new album, one just released earlier this month. Weezer (funky green cover) seems to be poised as a new beginning for this band. the switch from blue to green, the retro-funky clothes - you can tell from the beginning that this is the same weezer you loved...but...somethings...just...different. something doesn't add up, that's only confirmed when you come back and listen to Pinkerton right after dispensing Weezer (green) out of your cd player.

Pinkerton's emotional beauty, the harsh nakedness and razorblade rhythm cuts deep. every song makes you want to sing, not only because of the melody (which is outstanding), but because you FEEL his pain. Tired of Sex, Across the Sea, Good Life - these are the songs i yell while i'm driving to work, cd-player blasted up, anger and energy thrown on top of it. critics blasted this at first because they expected meandering pop w/o substance. they bought into spike jonzes' videos about weezer - the geeky sensibility, the happy-go-lucky charm. it took critics years before they realized how amazing this album truly is - after rivers locked himself into his room, after everyone forgot who weezer even were.

the green album that was released but only a few days ago. where pinkerton soars and climaxes, green takes a calculated approach and just bops. cuomo hasn't the power anymore to show us what he feels in his music. for better or for worse, pinkerton scared him off that path. from now on, it seems as if cuomo will become another faceless/nameless songwriter who hides behinds his lyrics (albeit still VERY good songs).

so here is pinkerton - on one hand one of the best albums released in the 90s, yet simultaneously something which drove its creator to the brink of depression. the weezer you see now is 1/2 of their former self. here they are at their height.

117 of 124 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Whoa, Rivers, that's pretty good..., October 18, 2001

By 

Daniel L. Tao "ordinary guy" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pinkerton (Audio CD)

Pinkerton... where to begin? Most Weezer fans favor either this album or the Blue Album as Weezer's best (the Green Album is generally accepted as inferior to these two). The majority of them favor Pinkerton. But why? Pinkerton was a commercial failure, at least compared to the Blue Album. When it was first released, no one liked it. Not even me.

But time changes everything. When I first heard Pinkerton, I thought, "Whoa, Rivers, what do you think you're doing?" (Rivers Cuomo is the band's frontman.) On the surface, Pinkerton sounds like a desperate, overly emotional and possibly even annoying this-is-my-life-story kind of album. With time, it evolves into one of the most mind-blowingly awesome rock albums of the nineties.

To what do we owe this bizarre transition? All that I can figure is that people tend to hear without listening. When they first hear Pinkerton, they think, "Man, this doesn't sound cool." They don't really pay attention to what they're hearing.

After a while, they begin to pay attention to the words, the rhythms, the infectious melodies, and then they're hooked. To everyone's surprise, the music all of a sudden sounds really, really good. I'm talking good enough to bring about vicarious happiness, anger, longing and sadness - maybe even enlightenment. Trust me, it's happened with a lot of people.

Join the club. Buy this album.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honesty is Key, February 9, 2000

By 

"blindlight" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pinkerton (Audio CD)

As a huge weezer fan perhaps I'm a little jaded. Some of the music can seem left of the mark the first time you hear it, but it doesn't take long for it to grow on you. Pinkerton is a beutiful album right down to the cover art. Weezer's first album had some great singles, but the album's continuity as a whole doesn't compare to Pinkerton. It paints a sacharine lamenting picture that pays off at the end. this isn't to say that it doesn't have any good singles, songs like "The Good Life", "El Scorcho" will leave you humming for days. The first track is one of my favorites. "Tired of Sex" is driving and begs to be played loud. Other hard tracks include: "Getchoo", and "Why Bother". What really makes this album shine, and weezer itself, so special, is lead, Rivers Cuomo's superior skill at writing beutifull melodies. His lyrics are honest, emotional, easy to relate to, and at times even funny. Pinkerton has no lack of melancholy love songs: "Across the Sea", "Pink Triangle"(one of my favorites), "No other One", and the acoustic "Butterfly". These songs are sweet, moody, and honest from their simple lyrics to Rivers' waivering voice. This album is a masterpiece, and Weezer's best to date.