Everything Will Be Alright In The End
Republic/Universal
Claiming that a new Weezer album has any merit to it these days is essentially the equivalent of being the boy who cried wolf: no-one’s going to believe you, and you may well get eaten for your troubles. Even still, it’s worth the risk now – the band’s long and winding road to redemption has led it here, resulting in its most consistent LP in over a decade.
Everything Will Be Alright In The End is a lean 40 minutes of head-nodding power-pop, goofy hair-metal guitar solos and sparkly choruses that are all raised fists and knowing winks. The Cars’ Ric Ocasek is back behind the boards, as he was for the band’s Blue and Green albums, taking the proclamation of ‘rockin’ out like it’s ’94’ from lead single, Back To The Shack, to heart. Of course, there’s no guarantee that you’ll enjoy this record if you enjoyed those records, but let’s just say there’s a greater chance of it than, say, Make Believe or Raditude.
This is the album that long-serving (and, arguably, long-suffering) fans knew Rivers Cuomo and co. had in them. It’s a sign of hope that the band isn’t entirely ready to bury itself in past glories. Welcome back, old friends.
DAVID JAMES YOUNG
