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33-599: Following the release of Weezer's eleventh album Pacific Daydream , an Internet fan campaign was launched to get Weezer to cover " Africa " by Toto . After initially releasing a cover of " Rosanna ", a different Toto song, as a joke, Weezer released their "Africa" cover in May 2018. The cover hit the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. Teal

66-683: A "darker, sadder undertone to it relative to" their previous album. The album's opening track, " Mexican Fender ", written by Cuomo and Toby Gad , was based on Cuomo's interactions with Katy Goodman, of the indie rock band La Sera . Cuomo credited Jake Sinclair , the producer for The White Album , in assisting with the creation of the track. "Beach Boys", an ode to the Beach Boys, was written specifically to sound "the least like [them]", and describes Cuomo's experiences of "being in downtown LA at night and being totally disoriented and alienated". The song's bridge features quotes from Murry Wilson ,

99-487: A departure from the "classic" style of The White Album . Cuomo's original title for the album was Somebody's Daydream , but he later explained that the band's drummer, Pat Wilson , thought "Pacific" was a more attractive alternative than "Somebody's", and ultimately the group settled on Pacific Daydream . To create the album, Cuomo utilized various musical and lyrical fragments he had collected over time. He kept an archive of song ideas and hired programmers to organize

132-546: A five-nights-per-week late-night show devoted to alternative music . He was also a senior producer and news correspondent for MTV News . From 1990 to 1992, Sommer ran VH1 's music news department, and was the exclusive host for their on-air news programming. Sommer began working for the A&;R department of Atlantic Records shortly after he left VH1. His first signing for the label was the Gits , but their lead singer Mia Zapata

165-428: A folder of songs intended for a darker project (provisionally titled The Black Album ) but ultimately completed a second folder with songs that were of a different nature first, leading to the creation of Pacific Daydream . In April, Cuomo teased the album, describing it as " Beach Boys gone bad", tackling "more mature topics" and "less summer day and more winter night". As Cuomo began writing and recording, they found

198-453: A key line in the song's chorus. At their 2019 Coachella performance, Weezer brought out TLC's Chilli, as well as English band Tears for Fears for live versions of "No Scrubs" and " Everybody Wants to Rule the World ", respectively. Though not appearing on the official soundtrack, their cover of A-ha 's " Take On Me " is featured in the 2020 animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on

231-562: A shit-eating grin and walk back to the bank." The Teal Album peaked at number five in its second week on the Billboard 200 , after debuting at number 47 the previous week. This was a significant rebound from Weezer's previous album, Pacific Daydream , which only reached number 23. In its first full tracking week, it debuted with 39,000 album-equivalent units , of which 27,000 were pure album sales. Weezer Production Visuals Pacific Daydream Pacific Daydream

264-425: A spreadsheet of lyric snippets by beats per minute , syllable, and key to call from whenever stuck. "Instead of trying to force myself to feel inspired, I can just go into the spreadsheet and search [...] I just try them out to see which ones work magically." Cuomo has described the album as having an overall theme of "alienation and loneliness and not feeling like I have a place to fit in", describing it as having

297-408: A strong Weezer album", adding "But if you ever wanted to hear Weezer at their professionally sharpest, this is surely it. It's no surprise that Cuomo is a fan of pop smashes like Carly Rae Jepsen 's ' Call Me Maybe ', as Pacific Daydream might be more Train than Ozma ...For the band to be at its full potential, though, the songwriter needs to reflect more on the takeaways of experiences rather than

330-499: A wedding band might play." Tim Sommer wrote that “… there is no reason to listen to The Teal Album . There are no revelations, no hearts are placed on sleeves, no one will be moved, and no one will bother to play one of these tracks in the future”, adding that “… Weezer despise the American music consuming public, and want to prove that today’s consumer will click on literally the most banal and redundant nonsense.” Michael Roffman

363-453: Is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Weezer , released on October 27, 2017. The album is their second release by Crush Management , is distributed by Atlantic Records , and is trademarked by a modern pop sound, differing from their previous work. The lead single, " Feels Like Summer ", was released on March 16, 2017. The second single, " Happy Hour ", was released on October 31. In 2016, frontman Rivers Cuomo began filling

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396-480: The 61st Annual Grammy Awards . All tracks produced by Butch Walker except where noted. Track notes Weezer Additional musicians Production Tim Sommer Timothy Andrew Sommer (born March 5, 1962, in New York City ) is an American music journalist , musician , record producer and former Atlantic Records A&R representative. Sommer was the bass player for

429-649: The slowcore / dreampop band Hugo Largo . Prior to forming Hugo Largo, Sommer hosted Noise the Show , a pioneering New York City–based hardcore punk radio show aired during 1981–82 on WNYU . Sommer was a member of the Glenn Branca Ensemble, and played alongside Sonic Youth 's Thurston Moore in the New York City punk rock band Even Worse . He was also an original member of Swans , but never performed live with them. Hugo Largo (1984–89)

462-521: The Indecent which led to the group being signed to Warner Bros. Records . Since 2010, Sommer has been working on his own project, titled Uncommon Folk, focusing on electric slowcore interpretations of traditional American folk songs, and featuring guest vocals by Glen Campbell , Mavis Staples , Blind Boys of Alabama , Jakob Dylan and Robin Zander . Sommer joined the staff of Trouser Press at

495-462: The Run . The Teal Album was met with divided opinions from critics. At the aggregating website Metacritic , the album has received a normalized rating of 58, based on 9 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. In a review of the album for AllMusic , editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "Taken on a strictly musical terms, The Teal Album is pretty anodyne stuff. Weezer replicates

528-514: The Season ", as well as a verse melody previously used in a Green Album outtake, "Burning Sun". John Pareles of The New York Times called the album a "collection of pop-rock songs with old-fashioned verse-chorus-bridge structures", while Derek Rossignol of Uproxx stated that, with Pacific Daydream , "the band has proven that they’re still capable purveyors of sunny and bright alternative rock ". Alex Hudson of Exclaim! stated that

561-558: The age of 16 in 1978. Sommer wrote for the Village Voice between 1980 and 1984 and worked closely with music editor Robert Christgau ; according to journalist Michael Azerrad , in his book Our Band Could Be Your Life , Sommer was the inspiration for the lyrics of the Sonic Youth song " Kill Yr Idols ", in which Moore questioned his friend Sommer's respect for Christgau. In 1989, Sommer hosted MTV 's Post-Modern MTV ,

594-521: The album attempts to carry on the band's signature power pop style, while adding more electronic production. Andrew Trendell of NME asserted that "'Pacific Daydream' is all carefree, expertly crafted pop , free of irony and all the better for it". On March 16, 2017, the band released the album's first single, "Feels Like Summer". On August 17, the band unveiled the album art, title, and opening track, "Mexican Fender", as well as its accompanying music video. Another promotional single, "Beach Boys",

627-478: The album, Weezer released a teal velcro wallet available for purchase on their website, with the first 100 copies sold including a dollar bill signed by the band members. The velcro wallet sold out quickly, so Weezer released a second promotional bundle on January 24 with a teal Rubik's cube . The band's cover of " No Scrubs " received significant social media attention, with the song trending on Twitter and sparking both sincere and ironic reactions from fans who found

660-428: The arrangements of beloved songs, adds a bit more fuzz on the guitar solos, and flattens the vocal affectations, which amounts to one weird trick: Weezer doesn't attempt to make the songs their own, yet these versions unmistakably sound like Weezer." Matt Beaumont at NME stated "Respectful enough to rouse any struggling family gathering but knowing enough to amuse those in on the joke, 'The Teal Album' at once satirises

693-414: The covers album and makes a decent stab at perfecting it." Reviewing the album for Glide Magazine , James Roberts concluded that "The lifelessness of the covers ensures that it has a shelf life that isn’t much longer than your average meme. I suppose given the origins of the album as a Twitter meme it makes sense. Everything about the album—from its conception to its surprise, digital only release—points to

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726-443: The fact that we aren't meant to take it that seriously. But that's kind of the problem, isn't it? Nothing Weezer does can be taken seriously anymore." Nick Flanagan gave the album a grading of 1 out of 5 in the review for Now , claiming that "what's horrible about this record is the total lack of controversy, the lack of anything. It doesn't even pass as a joke album – they're just straight-ahead paint-by-numbers covers, like something

759-421: The father of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson . The album's lead single, " Feels Like Summer ", is an "EDM-infused" track about "the death of [Cuomo's] June bride", who's now "home with the angels." The track was written through a "cut-and-paste" style that Cuomo had adopted while writing for The White Album . "Weekend Woman", the album's third promotional single, features an opening nod to The Zombies ' " Time of

792-412: The moments themselves." Andrew Trendell at NME opined that aging has not worn Weezer down, stating " Pacific Daydream is all carefree, expertly crafted pop, free of irony and all the better for it. Lock the doors, crack open a cold one, and enjoy an endless summer with Weezer." Saby Reyes-Kulkarni from Pitchfork was more critical of the album, noting "for the second album in a row, Cuomo anchors

825-425: The music more specifically to California. Sure, that's worked for scores of artists in the past, but a crucial part of Weezer's appeal was that you could believe they came out of any garage on any tree-lined cul-de-sac in any suburban zip code in the U.S. Pacific Daydream , in spite of its name, mostly just gives you a feeling of being nowhere." The album received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Album at

858-441: The song choice surprising, while TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas , who sang lead vocal on the original version, openly praised Weezer's rendition, declaring it "AWESOME!!!" on her Twitter account and adding, "It would be even better if we sang it with ya'll!!! I see a TLC/Weezer concert coming up." Weezer themselves responded to Chilli through their own Twitter account by posting the reply, "Hope you want our number", referring to

891-500: The songs to be more "like reveries from a beach at the end of the world [... as if] the Beach Boys and The Clash fell in love by the ocean and had one hell of an amazing baby". The band ultimately pushed back plans for The Black Album and began focusing on the new collection of songs. Guitarist Brian Bell later said "Whatever it's going to be called, it's going to be fucking awesome." Inspired by an ancient Chinese proverb by Chuang Chou , Cuomo hoped to explore more "radical" sounds,

924-612: Was a member of the New Orleans–based Hi-Fi Sky, who released Music for Synchronized Swimming in Space in 2005. Sommer began working with New York City–based rock band the Indecent in 2008, in collaboration with Stuart Chatwood (formerly of the Tea Party ), and produced their self-released debut album, Her Screwed Up Head (2010). In the late summer of 2010, along with Julian Raymond , he produced post-album demos for

957-478: Was an American musical group known for their unique lineup of two bass guitars, a violin and singer/performance artist Mimi Goese . They released two albums in the late 1980s on Brian Eno 's Opal Records label. Sommer had a small speaking role in Tougher Than Leather , a 1988 feature film starring Run-D.M.C. , Beastie Boys and other acts from the mid-1980s New York City hip hop movement. He

990-485: Was more positive in an assessment for Consequence of Sound , writing "At best, it's a blueprint or rather a teaser for their forthcoming tours, as if to say, "Well, you loved ' Africa ', look what else we can do? Come out, folks." Again, that's a more cynical outlook, but hey, maybe Cuomo is being cynical. Maybe this is the self-defeater in him, acknowledging the times, knowing damn well that if he's going to give 'em what they want, he's going to meet them at their level with

1023-521: Was murdered four days after the deal to sign the band was completed. Later in 1993, Sommer discovered Hootie & the Blowfish and signed them to the label that August. Sommer also worked with 7 Year Bitch , Michael Crawford , Duncan Sheik and Scott Weiland . He was also involved in the early careers of both the Beastie Boys and Kara's Flowers , producing three tracks for the latter in

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1056-660: Was released on September 14. "Happy Hour" was the album's second official single, released on October 31, 2017. Pacific Daydream debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200, which made it the lowest debut performance for a Weezer studio album since their 1994 debut . It is also the band's first album since 1996's Pinkerton to fail to debut in the top 10. According to Metacritic , Pacific Daydream has received an aggregated score of 64/100, based on 21 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Jake Kilroy of Consequence of Sound describes it as "a strong album, but not

1089-468: Was unexpectedly released on January 24, 2019, without prior promotion or advertisement . Several covers on the album have previously been performed live by both the band and frontman Rivers Cuomo at solo shows. Cuomo has since described his use of Spotify 's data on most played songs to establish the tracklisting for the album. The album was released digitally on January 24, 2019, with the physical version planned for release on March 8, 2019. To promote

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