Pinkerton

Few albums in rock history have enjoyed as complete a critical and popular turnaround as Weezer's Pinkerton. Though tagged a disappointment upon its 1996 release, today Pinkerton is considered one of the most influential and important albums of that decade and beyond. In 2004, Rolling Stone even felt compelled to re-review the album, raising it from three stars to the ultimate five. Spin has since honored Pinkerton as among the 100 best albums of 1985-2005 and Guitar World ranks it among the top 100 guitar albums of all-time.

Now the two-CD Pinkerton - Deluxe Edition (DGC/UMe), released November 2, 2010, adds color to the band's musical journey with the original Weezer-produced album remastered and 25 contemporaneous bonus tracks, including every official B-side and 16 previously unreleased recordings. Among the latter are the newly-discovered gem "Tragic Girl," unreleased B-side "I Swear It's True" and numerous live performances, particularly noteworthy given that the band rarely played Pinkerton songs after the album tour. The 1996-1997 concert tracks were taken from the massive Reading Festival in the U.K., radio station sessions in Philadelphia and Salt Lake City, and a lunchtime performance won in a contest by Shorecrest High School near Seattle.

Accompanying the package is a booklet with numerous photos and an essay by band compatriot Karl Koch, who reveals how the glorious "Tragic Girl" was recorded at the last minute but left undocumented, causing many to forget its existence.

A hit single can be a bit of a mixed blessing for new bands, especially if said song gets you firmly lumped into the "novelty band" category. Such was the case with Weezer, whose runaway hit "Buddy Holly" touched a global nerve upon its release, then got on everyone's nerves after months of radio saturation. However, it did ensure that they sold millions of copies of their self-titled debut. Which is why it's so strange that their second album, Pinkerton, was ignored. Perhaps the cold shoulder was due to the willfully noncommercial first single, "El Scorcho," which crashed and burned. Whatever the reason, Pinkerton soon disappeared, which is a shame because it's a great album. Whereas Weezer reveled in the band's geek-rock image, Pinkerton saw Rivers Cuomo maturing as a lyricist. From the opening, "Tired of Sex," which rants about the frustrating easiness of groupies, to the new wave pop of "Getchoo" to the epic genius of "The Good Life," there's much more diversity here than the Pixies-influenced bouncy grunge of their debut. With the closing solo, the acoustic lament "Butterfly," Cuomo demonstrates a pop mastery that promises great things from this reformed geek. --Robert Burrow