Saturday
Jan262019
Weezer Is The Real Deal
Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 10:08AM
The other day, Weezer trended for something like 24 hours straight. The band dropped a covers album and it is pretty glorious. This is going to end up on my favorites of 2019 list, I can already tell. To listen to them all, look up the Teal album or buy it from the link here:
One of the best covers is the Weezer rendition of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid." Weezer stay quite true to the original and do it a lot of justice. Listen:
And just for fun, Weezer did a cover of TLC's "No Scrubs." I always loved that song because it makes me laugh every freaking time I hear it. "Hanging out the passenger side of his best friend's ride, trying to holla at me!"
Then there's the amazing take on "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)," made famous by the Eurythmics. Incredible!
Reader Comments (12)
1st time I heard it, I thought their cover of Africa was the original from Toto. My nephew told me who it was and I thought he was dicking around with me. Lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9BGLtqqkVI
I bought their first album when it came out May 10, 1994, also known as the “Blue Album” which was produced by Rick Ocasek and went triple platinum with it’s three hit singles, “Buddy Holly”, “Undone - The Sweater Song” and “Say It Ain’t So”. Those songs wound up on mix tapes we would crank up at each other’s beach house parties that summer.
After that, though I bought “Pinkerton”, I sorta forgot about ‘em probably from playing them to death and then, violá, in 2002 out comes the album “Maladroit”, considered to be a departure from their signature Pop Punk sound with it’s “Heavy Metal riffs”, which would partially explain their passionate rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” off their latest album, the “Teal Album”.
I also contend these guys have been closet Metalheads deep down all along, as evident in the crunch chords of many of their songs, most successfully with “Beverly Hills”, their first single to hit the Billboard Top 10 in 2005 and throughout their career and they’ve often cited our heroes in interviews as inspiration.
It’s only fitting they cover “Paranoid” because of that history, though, I must say, it doesn’t hold a candle to Pop Punk originators, The Dickies’ blistering 1978 rendition which cemented their place in Rock & Roll History as “The World’s Fastest Band”!
Though Weezer doesn’t hold that distinction, they have recently proven with their reemergence, they are one of the greatest Rock & Roll bands of all time!
But still, one of the greatest? Not sure about that. Might want to head back to the shack and think about that.
Personally, I usually like covers that add a bit more to the mix (even if I do love Pantera's cover of "Planet Caravan"). When I am surprised that it isn't the original band I am more impressed by what the original band did.I guess that is why I prefer Megadeth's cover of "Paranoid."
That said, Cuomo is nearly perfect as Lennox. So I guess there is that.
And as far as putting a twist on the original when doing a cover, listen to The Dickies’ “Paranoid”. It blows everyone else’s attempt out of the water, including Weezer AND Megadeth!
I’m glad you appreciate The Dickies’ version. I was lucky enough to see these guys back in the day before their fearless leader and fastest keyboardist alive, Chuck Wagon od’d.
They’ve slowed down a bit now but they literally played as fast as that live back in the late 70’s. Listen to their first 2 albums, “The Incredible Shrinking Dickies” and “The Incredible Shrinking Dickies”.
Yeah, it’s Punk Rock but it shreds everything in sight including a lot of Metal shredders, to boot. And their cover of “Nights in White Satin” is priceless!