The Mystical Mustache

Posted almost 4 years ago
So, Rivers Cuomo has grown a mustache, and all of a sudden, he thinks he's Freddie Mercury.I picked up the deluxe edition of Weezer's latest album (the "Red Album," if you will), and it seems that Rivers' mustache is not the only way the guys from Weezer are channeling the legendary '80s arena rockers.First, as pointed out by the venerable Lamicus, each of the band members takes a turn on the vocals, like Queen used to do in their heyday. One of the standouts of the album so far, in my opinion, is "Thought I Knew," and that is sung by Brian Bell. In fact, Rivers talks in the liner notes about how everyone switched up for this song, with Rivers playing the drums and Pat Wilson on the guitar.Another standout is "Automatic." I'm not sure who sings it, but the liner notes talk about Pat writing the song, so I have to assume that's him on vocals. Nice chunky guitar riff.But the most obvious Queen influence has to be on "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" — which, oddly enough, is not the longest song title in my iTunes library. There are just so many changes in tempo and overall tone in the song that it's like Weezer was trying to make their very own version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." I kind of doubt that this track will be sung by drunken college students on karaoke night for decades to come, but it's certainly an interesting listen ...In all, this seems a more complete, more collaborative and more experimental album than anything Weezer has ever done before. It might take a few listens to get it to click in my head, but I'm sure it will.

Comments (3)

  1. PopeyePete says Troublemaker is my theme song. :)
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  2. funoka says This is hi-larious. Thanks.
    Permalink posted 06/06/2008
  3. fiasco says

    Completely agree. After first listen, I thought to myself that The Greatest Man That Ever Lived would fit perfectly on A Night At The Opera.

    Permalink posted 06/18/2008

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