Raditude (2009) Album Review

Before I begin, I would just like to state for the purpose of full disclosure that I am the biggest Weezer fan ever. I have listened to the Blue album, Pinkerton, maladroit, the Green Album, and the Red Album to the point that every song is burnt into my brain. If you noticed I excluded Make Believe, its because Make Believe sucked balls.

When I heard Weezer was releasing their newest album (Raditude) a little more than a year after the Red Album I was surprised, because Weezer normally takes a two or three years to write and record a new CD. This obviously made me a little worried becuase last time Weezer rushed a release it was Maladroit, which was a good record, just didn't feel polished. Sadly my fears have been proven right. Raditude is in my opinion the second worst Weezer album ever (Make Believe sucks so much balls nothing could be worse).

The writing in this album is frustrating to say the least. Cuomo one of my favorite song writers, but with this album things just seem to fall flat, explode into a million little pieces, then vomit out blood. Only 3 listenable songs on the album, and only one I would call good. That good song is the first single (If your wondering, If I Want You To) I Want You To which sounds like a Weezer song. The other two, I'm Your Daddy and Put Me Back Together are okay songs just lack the quality of writing that is normally found in a Weezer album.

The music on this album is okay, I was really shocked that there were no leads. Weezer in my opinion has great leads for the genre of alt rock, so why no leads? That is the big question about Raditude "Where did the balls go?" Looking past the problem of no leads the music together is very average for an alternative band so I cant say much more beyond that point.

To recap, The Red album feels thrown together washed up and boring from a band that feels like they have more hits under their belt. I just pray that there is some time spent to refelect and write before the next Weezer record comes out. I give Raditude 2 stars out of 5
**
I am going to leave you with the video for the first single (If Your Wondering, If I Want You To) I Want You To

(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To

Weezer | MySpace Music Videos

Sorry for Partyin (2009) Album Review

I love it when a band can consistently release good albums, this is no different with the band behind 2009's Sorry For Partyin'. Bowling For Soup reached near musical perfection with their 2006 album The Great Burrito Extortion Case, and Sorry for Partyin' is equally as good as The Great Burrito Extortion Case. So lets dig into this delicious feast of a CD.
With lyrics written mostly by Jaret Reddick and Linus of Hollywood, I have to say this is the single best written BFS album. A Strong beginning, middle, and end with only one song I didn't like Love Goes Boom, only because I am still recovering from Say Anythings self titled (god that album makes me depressed). I really do love everything about the writing on this album, every song feels like it could have been off of any other BFS album while still feeling original and evolved.

while the power pop genre isn't known for amazing music, Sorry for Partyin' has a pretty damn good melody. Mixing electronic, flamingo, and even polka, Sorry for Partyin' has an amazing variety of music used. Really Cool Dance Song is my favorite song due to its resemblance to all the crap dance music that has been popular recently, except this song is good!

To conclude, I have to say Sorry for Partyin' is an amazing album from an amazing band. It deserves much praise for its solid lyrics and melody. All of these factors combined make me have to give Bowling For Soups Sorry for Partyin' 5 stars out of 5
*****
I am going to leave you with the video for My Wena

Say Anything (2009) Album Review

I have always been a huge fan of the emo genre so when I read a review about Say Anything (one of my favorite bands) releasing an emo/dance/religious album I wasn't so sure I'd like it, but The album was actually okay. The best way to describe this self title is 1/3 of a good emo album 1/3 of a crappy emo album and 1/3 of I am not to sure what it is. This CD starts off good with strong tracks like Hate Everyone and Fed to Death but slowly gets repetitive, with a lyric in Mara and Me alluding to the fact that they cannot write the same song over again.

Lyrically I will say this is say anythings best album. Its religious, but not preaching, more cathartic than anything. This album is hard to listen to if you pay to close to the lyrics, which are depressing and dark as can be. I will say this, if ...Is a Real Boy was to dark of an album for you to listen to in one sitting don't even go near this self title.

The music behind the lyrics is what kills this album. The same melody repeated and chord progression repeating over and over and over again, with very few changes made. It sounds like every song is ripped off of previous Say Anything albums. It gets so bad I just skipped songs and read the lyrics online.

Overall this album is not Say Anything's best. Strong lyrics and a great concept bogged down by repetitive melody and overt depression keep this from being a buy, I will say that you should go on itunes and buy the first 5 tracks and listen to the rest on myspace. Say Anything's Self Titled gets a 3 out of 5

I'll leave you with the music video for the first single Hate Everyone.

Hate Everyone

Say Anything | MySpace Music Videos