Ver todas las notas anteriores

Weezer

La banda californiana que empezo a dar guerra en la decada d elos 90 te traen su sonido caracteristico de power pop para todos aquellos oidos exigentes.


Todo empezó cuando Rivers Cuomo deja su localidad natal de Yogaville, Connecticut para cursar estudios universitarios en Los Angeles. La infancia de Cuomo estuvo marcada por la escucha de bandas de heavy metal y post-punk así que con ese bagaje decide formar una banda en febrero de 1992 junto a Jason Cropper, Matt Sharp y Pat Wilson. Los cuatro componían una banda curiosa, sorprendentemente alejada de los tópicos de rockstar. Eran unos chavales que se divertían tocando y evadiéndose de la realidad en el garaje, como dejarían claro en uno de los temas de su brillante debut. Tal vez por esta ausencia de pretensiones de llegar a nada sus letras eran realmente sinceras, cómicas e incluso irónicas.



Para ser justos, como en muchas otras bandas es su lúcido lider, Rivers Cuomo (nacido el 13 de junio de 1970) el auténtico caracter de Weezer. Compositor multidisciplinar, cantante y guitarrista, ha sabido guiar al grupo en cada disco a través de sus estados de ánimo y frustraciones.



Tras algo más de un año escribiendo canciones y tocando en garitos ante públicos no excesivamente entregados, presentaron una demo varias discográficas bajo el nombre de Weezer. Respecto a la elección de esta palabra que no figura en el diccionario hay versiones que se contradicen. Segun algunos era el mote de Rivers en el instituto aunque en ocasiones han declarado que salió al azar cuando a la hora de dar un concierto les pidieron que improvisaran un nombre. Para entonces Cropper ya había sido sustituido por Brian Bell a la guitarra.


Weezer Bio

weezer was founded in los angeles on february 14, 1992 by rivers cuomo, jason cropper, matt sharp, and pat wilson. the band began writing music and playing local clubs. despite not having much success at first, the band pressed forward. after 16 months together, playing shows and recording demos in los angeles, dgc records (geffen) signed weezer. the band moved to new york to record at the famed electric lady studios under producer ric ocasek (of cars fame). during the recording of weezer, jason left the band to take care of his future wife, who was pregnant with their first child. jason was replaced by brian bell, a then bassist from a band called carnival art.



weezer's self-titled debut album was released on May 10, 1994, and was a hit from the start. they released three singles from weezer: "undone - the sweater song", "buddy holly", and "say it ain't so". "buddy holly" won several mtv awards that year, and weezer eventually went double-platinum. after several tours around the u.s. and the world, the band settled back in; rivers went to school at harvard, matt and pat worked on a new band named the rentals, and brian resumed work with a former band of his, the space twins. in the early winter of 1995 and the summer of 1996, weezer once again commenced into the studio, but this time they were to produce the album themselves.



on september 24th 1996, weezer's much-awaited second lp, entitled pinkerton, was released. it is quite the opposite of weezer; the guitars are more gruff, the lyrics have a deeper meaning, and the band's talent and style has matured considerably. weezer released three songs from pinkerton: "el scorcho", "the good life", and "pink triangle". pinkerton went gold in record sales and has been a steady seller since. in the band downtime after pinkerton, matt sharp has left the bassist position (under good terms) to pusue his ever more notable band, the rentals. filling matt's place is mikey welsh, of boston, and formerly of juliana hatfield's band. during 1998 rivers & mikey played a few shows together in boston (dubbed "the rivers cuomo band"). the following spring rivers and mikey joined brian and pat in los angeles and had on/off rehearsal sessions over the next couple of years. rivers devoted some time to "homie" which released one song, brian released a couple of records with his spacetwins, and pat and mikey toured with the special goodness.



fast forward to spring 2000. after playing unannounced shows under secret names, in addition to more frequent rehearsals, weezer booked dates on that summer's warped tour, and subsequently a nationwide club tour. much to the band's surprise the dates sold out instantly. juiced by an overwhelming fan response and a wealth of new material, weezer was back. following another sold-out tour in the fall the band continued writing and practicing new material in los angeles into 2001. a christmas song e.p. was distributed to fans and radio stations and shortly before the new year weezer began recording their 3rd effort, dubbed "the green album" in los angeles, again with producer ric ocasek. with the album finished the band got back on the road for much of the rest of 2001. Mid summer saw another line-up change, with Mikey replaced by bass heavyweight Scott Shriner. The band continued their relentless touring through 2001, finally pausing to record their 4th album, Maladroit, which was released in May 2002. The band continued touring till september, when they took a break and intermitently worked on new tunes for a 5th album.