Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Back in 1994, November 5, 2004
When Weezer released the Blue Album back in 1994, Geffen only shipped 13 000 copies because they thought the album wouldn't be a big seller since almost no publicity was made for it. Rivers Cuomo and Matt Sharp even wrote a list of persons who would surely buy the album, and the list came up to more or less a hundred persons. They sold 90 copies in the first week... But after Undone was released as a single, the album sold all the copies that were in shops, and in the end they ended up selling 3 million copies of the album. The Blue Album became a classic, and then years later, here comes this deluxe re-release.A lot of people are not sure wether they should buy it or not. I have to admit that it's really expensive, especially in Canada. At first I decided that I wouldn't buy it, since almost every Deluxe Edition is dissapointing (see the Velvet Underground and Nico...). But a friend gave it to me for my birthday (thanks to him) and I was really surprised by what I saw (and heard). First, the packaging. It's absolutely beautiful. It contains rare and beautiful pictures of the band, which are spread through the packaging itself and inside the 30 pages booklet. The booklet contains pictures of the band, hand-written lyrics to the songs of cd 1 and 2, a story written by Todd Sullivan about how he discovered the band and got them signed and finally detailed notes about all the b-sides featured in the second cd. The only thing that was a bit dissapointing about the booklet is that the pictures are sometimes too small and the lyrics to "I swear it's true" and "Paperface" are missing, for some reason. There is not much to say about the Blue Album. Everyone knows it's a masterpiece. So let's talk about the second cd. It contains b-sides, live tracks, demos and unreleased songs from the Blue Album era. Some of the songs can be found on compilations, soundtracks or from the Internet, but it's nice to have them all on one cd with a slightly better sound quality. Listening to this cd from the beginning to the end seems to give the impression that you understand the Blue Album even better now. It's really, really interesting, and some of the songs are actually really good (see "No one else" acoustic version, "Paperface" and "Mykel and Carli"). The only "bad" thing about the second cd is the original album mix of "Say it ain't so", which is almost identical to the version we all know. But it's interesting to see the band "stripped down" on the Kitchen Tapes recordings. You should buy this cd. It's really a trip through the musical world of Weezer and it brings you back in 1994 in a very strange way. I know it's expensive, but it totally worths the money. Once again, Weezer as delivered quality material.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Improving a "Blue" Classic, June 6, 2004
It's kind of hard to expound on Weezer's classic debut. In the aftermath of grunge and the death of Kurt Cobain, along came four noisy geeks who made the world safe for noisy hook laden songs about loudmouthed girlfriends ("No One Else"), the joys of high-school love ("Buddy Holly") and a great metaphor about an unraveling relationship ("Undone - The Sweater Song"). Along with seven other great songs, this was a first album that yielded some perennial material, and founded the cult that Rivers Coumo rides today.So why should you pony up the extra dough for the "expanded" edition? Is the second disc really worth it? For a change, the answer is yes. You get four great live tracks, complete with some funny self depreciating comments, one song from a various artists rarities album that the band wrote about their lawyer ("Jamie"), and a handful of demos. The best of the bunch is an a cappella quickie titled "My Evaline" that highlights Weezer's uncanny harmony abilities, something occasionally lost in the din. If you're reading this, you're probably already inclined towards buying this. Go ahead. Maybe we'll get lucky and "Pinkerton" will get the same royal treatment.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great album, but sparse content, August 28, 2004
Weezer's first album (aka The Blue Album) was a fresh breeze of music air amidst the staleness of the grunge rock that was beginning to repeat itself, and the harder edge that the next wave of alternative music was taking on. Their concert to promote this album wasn't bad either--who else would perform on stage with a cardboard Chewbacca? Hence my complaint about the Deluxe Edition of their excellent album--why so little? Yes there is a disk's worth of B-sides, but when you get down to it, there are only six real B-cuts here whereas the rest are rehashes. There are many other deluxes out on the market that bury this one in content choice and quality: check out the Marvin Gaye releases or The Who's Leeds and My Generation albums. Surely they could have found more alternate studio takes, and concert cuts, especially "Undone" (my personal fav); it's a shame about the lack of concert versions, because "Jonas" and "Surf Wax" to use a reviewer's cliche', really capture their onstage energy. Although I've never been big on them in general, the demos definitely reflect a rawer, more garagey side of the band, especially with "Paperface" and "Lullaby For Wayne". So, if you don't have the Weezer blue album, this will be a good buy, but for those of you already on your second CD copy, this may not as definitive a buy as you would wish (and pay) for--but it's something, at least.
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