Weezer (The Green Album)
Encyclopedia
Weezer, also known as "The Green Album" due to the lime-green cover, is the third studio album by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

 band Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...

, released on May 15, 2001. Produced by Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

, it was the band's third studio album released on Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...

. This is the first, and only Weezer album to feature bassist Mikey Welsh
Mikey Welsh
Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer. He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie...

, who replaced long-time member Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp
Matthew Kelly Sharp is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a band called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, their second album in 1999, and an EP in 2007...

. The musical style of Weezer is grounded in the power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...

 genre, featuring strong melodies
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

, crisp vocal harmonies
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

, and prominent guitar riffs.

Weezer received generally favourable reviews. The album is often recognized as a rebirth for the band after a long hiatus following their 1996 album, Pinkerton
Pinkerton (album)
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996. After finishing tours in promotion of their 1994 album Weezer, the band originally planned to record a space-themed rock opera entitled Songs from the Black Hole...

. The album attained chart success by debuting at number four in the US
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 and number two in Canada
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...

. The album also charted within the top ten in Norway
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

 and Sweden
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

. Since its release in 2001, the album has sold over one million copies in the United States.

Three singles were released from the album including "Hash Pipe
Hash Pipe
"Hash Pipe" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer , and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit...

", "Island in the Sun", and "Photograph
Photograph (Weezer song)
"Photograph" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the third and final single from the band's self-titled third album, Weezer...

". The first single, "Hash Pipe", was a worldwide modern rock hit, charting on seven different charts, despite their record label's reluctance to release it as first single.

Background and development

Following the commercial and critical failure of Pinkerton
Pinkerton (album)
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996. After finishing tours in promotion of their 1994 album Weezer, the band originally planned to record a space-themed rock opera entitled Songs from the Black Hole...

(1996), Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...

 placed the band on hiatus. He returned to Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 in an attempt to finish his studies, but eventually dropped out to focus on songwriting. During this time, Cuomo played with a different group of musicians in a band called Homie
Homie (band)
Homie is a side project of Rivers Cuomo, lead singer of the band Weezer. Homie, as it stands now, was a one-time effort. Homie has released just one song, "American Girls", for the soundtrack of the 1998 film Meet the Deedles...

, which was based in Boston. One of the members of Homie was Mikey Welsh
Mikey Welsh
Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer. He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie...

, a bass player who would eventually be asked to replace Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp
Matthew Kelly Sharp is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a band called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, their second album in 1999, and an EP in 2007...

 in Weezer.

By February 1998, Cuomo had quietly disbanded Homie and headed to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

 to begin work on Weezer demos with Brian Bell
Brian Bell (musician)
Brian Bell is an American guitarist and songwriter. Active since 1989, he is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American alternative rock band Weezer. Bell joined Weezer in 1993 following the departure of founding member Jason Cropper...

 and Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (musician)
Patrick "Pat" George Wilson is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Weezer. He joined the band in 1992. In addition to his work in Weezer, he also fronts his own band, The Special Goodness....

. At this point, bassist Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp
Matthew Kelly Sharp is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a band called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, their second album in 1999, and an EP in 2007...

 was absent from numerous Weezer rehearsals and was becoming estranged from the band. On April 8, 1998, Sharp announced his official exit from Weezer to devote all his energies to his band, The Rentals
The Rentals
The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp, best known as the former bass player for rock group Weezer. The band is best known for their mid-1990s hit single, "Friends of P.". The group has released two albums, Return of the Rentals and Seven More Minutes on Maverick...

. It was quickly announced that former Homie member Welsh would take over on bass for Weezer. Frustration and creative disagreements led to a decline in rehearsals, and, in the latter half of 1998, drummer Patrick Wilson left for his home in Portland pending renewed productivity from Cuomo, who went into a period of admitted depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...

, during which he painted the walls of his home black and put "fiberglass insulation all over the windows and then black sheets of fiberglass so that no light could get through."

By the beginning of 1999, Weezer had once again gone their separate ways. Drummer Patrick Wilson resumed his efforts with his side-band The Special Goodness
The Special Goodness
The Special Goodness is the side project of Weezer’s drummer Patrick Wilson. It currently features Wilson on guitar and vocals, and Atom Willard on drums...

, guitarist Bell worked on his band Space Twins
Space Twins
Space Twins was an American rock band fronted by Weezer guitarist Brian Bell.-Early years:Space Twins was founded in 1993 by Weezer guitarist Brian Bell and, his then girlfriend, Susan Fox. Initially, the band was a small project in which the two would dress up in Star Trek style outfits with...

 and Welsh toured with Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield
Juliana Hatfield , is an American guitarist/singer-songwriter and author from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies and Some Girls. She currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts....

. Meanwhile, Cuomo focused his energy on songwriting, crafting 121 songs, nearly half of which would become demos. During this time, he isolated himself and abstained from contact with the outside world. Cuomo also received braces on his teeth, further damaging his self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...

. Bell would occasionally visit Cuomo and play songs with him. In turn, Cuomo would eventually reveal songs he was working on to Bell.

Unbeknownst to the band, their fanbase was connecting and growing on the internet, which was helping to boost the reputation and sales of Pinkerton
Pinkerton (album)
Pinkerton is the second studio album by American alternative rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996. After finishing tours in promotion of their 1994 album Weezer, the band originally planned to record a space-themed rock opera entitled Songs from the Black Hole...

. When it was released, Pinkerton was considered a critical and commercial failure, however in the years following the release of the album, it would gain a much more positive reputation due to word-of-mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...

 on message boards and various web pages. This expanding internet activity would later set the stage for the band's 2001 comeback. Renewed interaction between band members took place when Weezer was offered an extremely lucrative offer to perform in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in August 2000 for the Summer Sonic Festival
Summer Sonic Festival
The Summer Sonic Festival is an annual two or three-days rock festival held at the same time in Osaka and Chiba. The majority of the bands playing in Osaka the first day go to Chiba the following day and vice versa....

. Rehearsals for the show reinvigorated the band into talking about making a new album. The band returned to performing in June 2000, playing low-key shows around Los Angeles under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Goat Punishment, ensuring that Weezer would only perform for longtime fans who would recognize the name.

Eventually, the band started performing at higher profile gigs such as the Warped Tour
Warped Tour
The Warped Tour is a touring music and extreme sports festival. The tour is held in venues such as parking lots or fields upon which the stages and other structures are erected. The BMX/skateboarding shoe manufacturer Vans, among others, has sponsored the tour every year since 1995, and it is...

. Cuomo later remarked, "We went in there fully expecting to be booed and to have things thrown at us. But it was exactly the opposite, people were singing along to all the songs and just going crazy, giving us the best support. And I think that gave us the confidence we needed." The positive response to the Warped Tour performances led to further shows being scheduled. When touring began to wind down, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...

 demos captured live on the band's mobile unit and sound checks
Soundcheck
A soundcheck is the preparation that takes place before a concert, speech, or similar performance, when the performer and the sound crew run through a small portion of the upcoming show on the venue's sound system to make sure that the sound in the venue's "Front Of House" and stage monitor sound...

 began to surface on file-sharing services and eventually for downloading on the band's official website. These songs were often referred to as Summer Songs of 2000 (commonly abbreviated as SS2K).

Recording

On October 23, Cuomo announced that the band would start recording material "with or without" a producer. However, the band's record label decided to have the band employ a record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 due to the commercial failure of their self-produced album Pinkerton. The band began rehearsing and arranging both the Summer Songs of 2000 and newer material Cuomo had written at his home with engineer Chad Bamford. The band eventually decided to hire Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

—who had also produced their debut album—as producer, and began sending demos to Ocasek during the summer of 2000. There was much debate among the band members as to whether they should record in Los Angeles or Ocasek's New York home, with the band eventually deciding to record in Los Angeles at Cello Studios. The band continued to demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...

 new music daily and started to weed through more than seventy-five demos, eventually homing in on twenty-five potential album tracks in anticipation of Ocasek's arrival. Ocasek worked with the band to trim these down further to eighteen songs.

Recording sessions for the album began in early December, with Ocasek providing creative feedback to the band by telephone. On December 27, the band embarked on what would be close to six weeks of studio work by playing songs repetitively in order to track the bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

 and drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...

s parts. They also did "scratch takes" of the vocals
Lead vocalist
The lead vocalist is the member of a band who sings the main vocal portions of a song. They may also play one or more instruments. Lead vocalists are sometimes referred to as the frontman or frontwoman, and as such, are usually considered to be the "leader" of the groups they perform in, often the...

 and guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

, designed to get accurate rhythm tracks before being redone more efficiently later in the recording process. While recording the album, the band continued to performed gigs under the pseudonym Goat Punishment.

During the recording sessions, an executive at the band's label, Geffen Records, visited to observe the band's progress and expressed dissatisfaction with several tracks. This feedback eventually forced the band to discard a few of the album's possible songs. The band then relocated for three weeks to a smaller studio in another part of Cello Studios where Cuomo and Bell worked on guitar takes while the entire band recorded vocal tracks. Ocasek remarked, "Rivers always does his guitar parts in one take."

Mixing
Audio mixing (recorded music)
In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

 for the album began on January 31 by Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge
Tom Lord-Alge is a four-time Grammy Award–winning record producer and mixer. He is the youngest of Vivian Lord's five children, Mark Lord-Alge, Lisa Lord-Alge, Chris Lord-Alge, Jeff Lord-Alge and Tom Lord-Alge...

 at South Beach Studios. Bell was absent from the mixing process.

Packaging

The art direction of the album was handled by Chris Bilheimer with photography from Marina Chavez and Karl Koch. The album cover was shot between band practices and featured Mikey Welsh, Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell and Patrick Wilson standing left to right in front of a plain, lime-green backdrop in a manner similar to the band's debut album. This was done as a tribute to Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

, who had also produced their first album, and also to symbolize the band's back-to-basics approach they took while recording the album. This approach is alluded to in a quote in the liner notes of the album: "Torniamo all'antico e sarà un progresso", from Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...

 that means "Let us return to old times and that will be progress."

The picture inside of the CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 booklet is a photo of Weezer playing live, featuring (in the lower right hand corner) an overlay of the silhouettes of Mike Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...

, Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...

 and Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...

 from the television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....

. (Hence the liner note citation "MST3K silhouette appears courtesy of Best Brains, Inc.
Best Brains
Best Brains, Inc. is an entertainment company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is best known for its creation and production of the comedy/sci-fi television program Mystery Science Theater 3000, aka MST3K . The company ceased producing the program in 1999 and closed its studio...

")

This was Weezer's first album to feature a transparent CD tray. Under the CD tray of the album, the word "No" can be found on the back of the spine. Some fans speculate that this is a response to the inside tray of Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

's album OK Computer
OK Computer
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...

which contains the text "I like you. I like you. You are a wonderful person. I'm full of enthusiasm. I'm going places. I'll be happy to help you. I am an important person, would you like to come home with me?" Weezer's official explanation was vague, with webmaster Karl Koch stating "No means no."

The album contains the dedication "In loving memory of Mykel and Carli." Mykel and Carli Allan were sisters devoted to developing fan clubs for up-and-coming bands. The sisters had been influential in starting and developing Weezer's official fan club in the 1990s and, along with their young sister Trysta, died in a car accident in 1997.

Release and promotion

The album was met with enthusiasm from the record label. "They had nothing but supportive and excited things to say about it," remarked Karl Koch. However, the album's original release date of April 17 was postponed due to executives not liking Cuomo's choice of "Hash Pipe
Hash Pipe
"Hash Pipe" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer , and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit...

" as the first single. Citing the song's lurid content about a transvestite prostitute as inappropriate, they suggested that "Don't Let Go" be chosen as the first single. However, Cuomo continued to fight and "Hash Pipe" eventually became the album's first single. The label again tried to postpone the release date further until June, but the band convinced them to adhere to the original May 15 release date.

Singles

The first single from the album was "Hash Pipe
Hash Pipe
"Hash Pipe" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer , and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit...

". The video for "Hash Pipe" was directed by Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega
Marcos Siega is a film, television, commercial, and music video director. He has also worked as a producer and a musician....

 and was the first of many Weezer videos that Siega would direct. In the video, Weezer performs in an arena while a group of sumo wrestlers are fighting in the background. The song title was often censored
Censorship of music
Censorship of music is the practice of restricting free access to musical works. This censorship may stem from a wide variety of motivations, including moral, political, military or religious reasons. Censorship can range from the complete government-enforced legal prohibition of a musical work, to...

 as "H*** Pipe" (the title employed on the music video's title card) or "Half Pipe." The song became a huge hit on the MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 show Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...

, and also received heavy rotation on radio, eventually peaking at number two on the US Modern Rock Charts
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

. The song even landed the band a nomination for High Times magazine's "Pot Song of the Year".

The next single, "Island in the Sun", was a successful radio hit and became one of the band's biggest oversea hits. It peaked at number 11 on the US Modern Rock Charts
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...

 and at number 31 on the UK Top 40. Two music videos were created for the song: the first video, directed by Marcos Siega, shows Weezer playing the song at a Mexican
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....

 couple's wedding reception
Wedding reception
A wedding reception is a party held after the completion of a marriage ceremony. It is held usually as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple receives society, in the form of family and friends, for the first time as a married couple. Hosts...

 and features all four band members. This version remains the more obscure of the two, receiving less airplay than the second. The executives at MTV disliked Siega's video, prompting the band to film a second video. This second version was directed by Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze
Spike Jonze is an American director, producer and actor, whose work includes music videos, commercials, film and television...

 and featured the band playing with various wild animals on a supposedly remote hill (although it was actually filmed a short distance outside of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, possibly near Simi Valley
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...

). Only Brian Bell
Brian Bell (musician)
Brian Bell is an American guitarist and songwriter. Active since 1989, he is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American alternative rock band Weezer. Bell joined Weezer in 1993 following the departure of founding member Jason Cropper...

, Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...

 and Patrick Wilson
Patrick Wilson (musician)
Patrick "Pat" George Wilson is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Weezer. He joined the band in 1992. In addition to his work in Weezer, he also fronts his own band, The Special Goodness....

 appear in this video, as then bassist Mikey Welsh
Mikey Welsh
Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer. He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie...

 had left the band shortly before shooting. It is also rumored that original bassist Matt Sharp
Matt Sharp
Matthew Kelly Sharp is a founding member and former bassist for the band Weezer. In 1994, he started a band called The Rentals and released their debut album shortly after Weezer's first release, their second album in 1999, and an EP in 2007...

 was approached to be in the video, though it is unclear if the offer was ever actually made. Scott Shriner
Scott Shriner
Scott G. Shriner is the bass guitarist for the alternative rock band Weezer.-Early life:Shriner was born in Toledo, Ohio. He took up bass in high school. After being discharged from the Marine Corps, he found his high school bass teacher Mark Kieswetter, with whom he studied until moving to Los...

, who was filling in for Welsh and would later become a permanent member of Weezer, stated in the commentary for "Video Capture Device" that he almost asked the band to let him appear in the video. The second video received much wider airplay than the original and has become the standard video for the song.

The third and final single from the album was "Photograph
Photograph (Weezer song)
"Photograph" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the third and final single from the band's self-titled third album, Weezer...

", which was released to radio in early November. The single peaked at number 17 on the US Modern Rock Charts. In Japan it was released as the first single instead of "Hash Pipe." The band felt the song didn't have the staying power of the previous singles, and thus decided to pass on a big-name director for the music video, opting instead to have Karl Koch shoot and edit a video from on-the-road footage.

Critical reception

Weezer received generally favourable reviews. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...

 score of 73 out of 100. Allmusic senior writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...

, who gave the album a rating of four and a half stars, stated that "this may seem like nothing special -- it's just punk-pop, delivered without much dynamic range but with a whole lot of hooks -- but nobody else does it this so well, no matter how many bands try." Popmatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

' writer Jason Thompson also gave the album a positive review, praising the decision of the band to have Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek
Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

 produce them again: "The guitar solos ring out as joyful as the words. And even the songs' lengths are nice and compact. Weezer comes in, plays the song, and exits. No overkill makes for many moments where you want to hear these songs again and again. Perhaps having producer Ric Ocasek back on board was one of the best ideas the band had, as The Green Album is certainly water tight all around."

Not all the reviews were complimentary. Spencer Owen in Pitchfork
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 declared that "The new self-titled Weezer album, as it turns out, is average from beginning to end. In addition, Sarah Dempster from NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

was disappointed with the album and said, "The most irritating aspect of The Green Album is, however, the maddening itch of wasted opportunity."

Chart performance

In the United States, Weezer debuted at number four on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 on the week of May 15, 2001. In two weeks the album had sold 215,000 copies. It was certified platinum on September 13, 2001. As of December 2007, the album has sold 1.6 million copies. In Canada, the album debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...

. In June 2001, the album was later certified platinum by the Canadian Recording Industry Association
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...

 (CRIA) for sales of 80,000 units.

The album debuted at number thirty-one on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

. In Australia, the album peaked at number twenty-five. The album has since been certified two-times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) for shipment of 140,000 copies. Weezer also peaked in the Top Ten in Norway and Sweden, charting and eight and seven respectively.

Track listing

UK and Japanese bonus tracks

Japanese bonus track

Charts and certifications

Charts
Chart Peak
Position
Canadian Albums Chart
Canadian Albums Chart
The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada. It is compiled every Wednesday by U.S.-based music sales tracking company Nielsen Soundscan, and published every Thursday by Jam! Canoe and Billboard, along with its sister charts the Canadian Singles Chart and the Canadian BDS...

2
Austrian Albums Chart
Ö3 Austria Top 40
Ö3 Austria Top 40 is the name of the official Austrian singles chart, as well as the radio show which presents it, aired Fridays on Hitradio Ö3. The show presents the Austrian singles, ringtones and downloads chart. It premiered on 26 November 1968 as Disc Parade and was presented by Ernst Grissemann...

15
Australian Albums Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

25
Finnish Albums Chart
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

22
French Albums Chart
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...

42
Japanese Albums Chart
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

14
New Zealand Albums Chart
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

25
Norwegian Albums Chart
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...

7
Swedish Albums Chart
Sverigetopplistan
Sverigetopplistan, earlier known as Topplistan and Hitlistan and other names, is since October 2007 the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from Swedish Recording Industry Association ....

8
UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

31
US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

4

Certifications
Country Certification
Australia
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

2× Platinum
Canada
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...

Platinum
New Zealand
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

2× Platinum
United States
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...

Platinum

Singles
Year Song Peak positions
US Modern Rock
Modern Rock Tracks
Alternative Songs is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in Billboard magazine since September 10, 1988. It lists the 40 most-played songs on modern rock radio stations, most of which are alternative rock songs...


US
Main-
stream Rock
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...


UK
Top 40
Norway
VG-lista
VG-listen is a Norwegian record chart. It is weekly presented in the newspaper VG and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation program Topp 20. It is considered the primary Norwegian record chart, charting albums and singles from countries and continent around the world. The data is collected by...


2001 "Hash Pipe
Hash Pipe
"Hash Pipe" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. Released in 2001, it was the first single off the band's long-awaited third album, Weezer , and the only one of the SS2K The Summer Sessions songs to make it onto the album, although "Dope Nose" and "Slob" were released on Maladroit...

"
2 24 21 74
2001 "Island in the Sun" 11 31
2002 "Photograph
Photograph (Weezer song)
"Photograph" is a song by American alternative rock band Weezer. It is the third and final single from the band's self-titled third album, Weezer...

"
17

Personnel

Band members
  • Rivers Cuomo
    Rivers Cuomo
    Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...

     – guitar, vocals, keyboards
  • Patrick Wilson
    Patrick Wilson (musician)
    Patrick "Pat" George Wilson is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Weezer. He joined the band in 1992. In addition to his work in Weezer, he also fronts his own band, The Special Goodness....

     – drums, percussion
  • Brian Bell
    Brian Bell (musician)
    Brian Bell is an American guitarist and songwriter. Active since 1989, he is best known as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist for the American alternative rock band Weezer. Bell joined Weezer in 1993 following the departure of founding member Jason Cropper...

     – guitar, backing vocals, synthesizer
  • Mikey Welsh
    Mikey Welsh
    Michael Edward "Mikey" Welsh was an American artist and musician, best known as the former bassist of Weezer. He played with Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo during Cuomo's time in Boston during the hiatus in the band Homie...

     – bass, backing vocals


Other personnel
  • Ric Ocasek
    Ric Ocasek
    Ric Ocasek is an American musician and music producer. He is best known as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band, The Cars....

     – producer, backup vocals ("Don't Let Go")
  • Karl Koch – backup vocals ("Don't Let Go")
  • Chris Bilheimer – art direction
  • Femio Hernández – assistant engineer
  • Alan Sanderson
    Alan Sanderson
    Alan Sanderson is a Grammy Winning recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. Alan Sanderson is credited with working on some of the most successful albums during the 1990s while working as an engineer at Cello and Ocean Way Studios in Hollywood, California...

     – assistant engineer
  • Ken Allardyce – engineer
  • Vladimir Meller – mastering
  • Tom Lord-Alge – mixing
  • Atom Willard
    Atom Willard
    Adam David Willard , known professionally by the pseudonym Atom, is an American drummer who has been a member of several notable musical acts. Willard's drumming career began in 1990 when he joined Rocket from the Crypt, whom he remained with until 2000...

     – Drum Technician


Accolades

Year Publication Country Accolade Rank
2001 Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...

United States Best Albums of 2001 9

External links

— United States — United Kingdom — Japan
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