10 Perfect Debut Albums In Rock Music History

At the tail end of 1994, the rock scene was in dire need of some sort of pick me up. The grunge scene may have already felt like one big downer, but the death of Kurt Cobain put things into dark perspective, casting a shroud over the rest of the rock scene. We needed something that could be a little more lighthearted now, and a couple of dorks from California had us covered.

While Weezer were definitely indebted to the sounds of alternative music when they got started, their approach was much more tuneful than what Seattle was pumping out. It’s no surprise that the Cars’ Ric Ocasek served as producer for this album, with songs like Buddy Holly and Say It Ain’t So having the right kind of power pop stomp to make them staples on the radio for decades to come. Aside from the actual sound of the record though, the lyrics were a lot more nuanced than what was happening in grunge, as Rivers Cuomo talked about being proud of his more dorky tendencies and fessing up to being a bit of a nerd on songs like In the Garage and The World Has Turned And Left Me Here.

After years of hair metal talking about being the alpha dog and ruler of everything around you, this was the first rock album in a while that made you feel a little cool for being into D&D and playing your guitar in your room a little too much. Nirvana may have been the Beatles of the alternative generation, but Weezer were the Beach Boys. Catchy, a little bit goofy, but never not endearing.