Release Date:
It’s difficult being a fan of Weezer.
In the mid-’90s, the band was busy creating decade-defining works. Since then, it has been releasing albums that range from boringly mediocre to offensively bad.
Since the 2008 release of its third self-titled offering, affectionately known as The Red Album, Weezer has been in a heightened state of activity. Hot on the heels of the band’s last album, Hurley, Weezer offers the world Death to False Metal.
According to the band, many of the songs were unreleased tracks from previous efforts that never found a place on a proper release. They were safely packed away on a shelf for a reason — because most of them are awful. Combine the fact that the songs were recorded by modern day Weezer and you have recipe for disaster.
Death to False Metal is what one would come to expect from the pop-rock act. There are moments of promise that are marred by poor lyrical choices, stagnant musical interludes and lazy rehashing.
Despite the negative connotations that come along with a new Weezer album, there are some great moments on this collection.
A good chunk of the album is nonsensical garbage. “Blowin’ My Stack” and “I’m a Robot” border on horrendous. However, there are a precious few moments where Weezer stops telling an unfunny inside joke and actually plays music. “I Don’t Want Your Lovin’” is a straightforward rock song with a gigantic chorus that avoids all of Weezer’s usual missteps. It’s one of the few times in the last decade that the band hasn’t ruined a perfectly good song by consciously trying to be goofy.
As the collection progresses, Weezer keeps hinting at greatness, and can still occasionally achieve it.
On the string-laden ballad “Losing My Mind,” Cuomo laments “I just wanna find the thrill/That I felt once before/I’m losing my mind.” It’s an attempted indictment of a hard partying lifestyle, something that is reminiscent of the band’s high watermark, Pinkerton.
As soon as the ballad fades, Weezer takes itself back to mid-’90s with the Nirvana inspired “Everyone.” The song feels right at home alongside classic Pinkerton-era tracks such as “Getchoo” and “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly,” but is hindered by modern recording that makes “Everyone” lose its musical relevance.
After a fairly strong first half, Death to False Metal loses momentum. Weezer taps into its pop sensibilities and the result is egregiously bad. The second half of the collection finds a saving grace in “Trampoline,” which could have found a home on 2001’s The Green Album. Unfortunately, Weezer is constantly finding reasons to be inane. A straightforward cover of Toni Braxton’s “Unbreak My Heart” is a waste of the listeners’ time, and the cringe-worthy “I’m a Robot” displays Weezer’s inability to give a shit anymore.
Death to False Metal is an incredibly spotty listen from start to finish. The high points are hooky and rewarding, but the low points are astonishingly mediocre. If this was a four-song EP, it would be an enjoyable listen, but in the context of a 10-track album, it’s hardly worth the effort.
