Why Weezer pivoted to heavy metal shredding for their fifteenth studio album
In short: In 2019, Rivers Cuomo noticed crowds going wild for guitar solos he performed live, prompting a shift away from pop rock. The result was Van Weezer, a record inspired by 1970s and 1980s hard rock legends, featuring heavy riffs and a dedication to the late Eddie Van Halen.
By early 2019, Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo began steering the band toward a harder, riff-heavy sound. This marked a deliberate departure from the electropop and pop rock styles found on their previous records, such as Pacific Daydream and the Black Album. Cuomo’s inspiration came from observing live audiences, who responded enthusiastically to guitar solos he added to songs like Beverly Hills during concerts. He concluded that listeners were ready for a return to shredding, leading to the development of an album tentatively titled Van Weezer.
Released on May 7, 2021, the album draws heavily from the influence of 1970s and 1980s heavy metal and hard rock icons, including Metallica, Black Sabbath, Kiss, and Van Halen. The project was originally slated for a May 2020 release to coincide with the Hella Mega Tour, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced an indefinite delay. The album eventually arrived just three and a half months after the band’s previous release, OK Human. Following the death of Eddie Van Halen in October 2020, the band dedicated the work to him, as well as to Ric Ocasek, their longtime producer who passed away in September 2019.
Critics generally received the album favorably, with Metacritic reporting a weighted average score of 67 out of 100. Reviews were nuanced; while some critics praised the record as a rousing, riff-focused homage to classic rock, others noted a decline in quality in the album's second half. Musically, the tracks are dense with references, featuring interpolations of songs by artists like Asia, Blue Öyster Cult, Billy Joel, and Ozzy Osbourne. Despite the heavy metal aesthetic, Cuomo described the final product as having the spirit of the band's debut, but with a more aggressive, riff-driven edge.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Van Weezer
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