CREDIT: WEEZER
Weezer's newest release Everything Will Be Alright In The End showcases the band rocking its hardest in over a decade.

Rating: 4/5

Weezer spent a number of years dishing out watered down albums with surprising genre crossovers and appearances by artists such as Lil’ Wayne. The band had strayed from the path of edgy alternative rock, and the fans were not happy about it.

On October 7 an apology was delivered with flair in form of a new album called Everything Will Be Alright In The End.

The first half of the record expressed the abandonment Weezer felt in its failed venture into pop rock and promised to reprise the band’s true sound that it left behind in the ‘90s.

The first single from the album named “Back To The Shack” opened with a formal apology from the front man, Rivers Cuomo saying, “Sorry guys, I didn’t realize that I needed you so much, I thought I’d get a new audience, I forgot that disco sucks.” The prevalent apologetic nature of the album did not hinder the musical experience, but it instead created an intimate understanding between the band and the listener, which acted as a springboard into the latter half of the record.

Fans who enjoyed Weezer’s past four albums and identified with the lighter, more power-pop sound will be delighted to see that they were not forgotten.

The middle of the album brought a refreshing ray of sunshine into an otherwise brooding record and served as an effective segue between its apologetic beginnings and nostalgic, crashing, riff filled summation.

The heavy, fuzz-filled guitars and thunderous drums prevalent throughout Everything Will Be Alright In The End created a more aggressive, grunge-influenced album.

The first half of this piece bore the simple yet catchy approach of the band’s “Living in Beverly Hills” single, but the complexity of the second half delivered a well-rounded composition as whole.

The only weak spot of this latest release was the lyrical content.

Weezer has long been known for spewing out some cheesy lyrics in its time, but this album was the icing on the cake. For anyone who enjoys fumbling tongue in cheek humour and painful metaphors, drop everything you’re doing and pick this album up. The rest of us would do better to focus on the hooky melodies and hum along in place of River Cuomo’s lyricism.

As a whole, Everything Will Be Alright In The End is the hardest Weezer has rocked in over a decade. The band has finally picked up right where the Pinkerton album left off, while bringing a distinctly darker sound that shows the progression of the band instead of trying to erase it with a carbon copy of the early albums.

It deserves a solid four out of five stars.