10 Rock Albums That Went From Hated To Loved

One of the frontrunners that looms over a list like this is Weezer’s sophomore record Pinkerton. As much as the fans may have not been interested in hearing Rivers Cuomo get more introspective in song, time has done a complete tonal shift on that record, going from a trainwreck to one of the watershed moments of the decade. Pinkerton has already gotten its due praise though…but there’s another side of Weezer that never really had the chance to shine.

Ever since Make Believe, these nerd rockers were on a bit of a downward trajectory, with Raditude being one of the worst albums of their entire career. Just before they went full pop though, the Red Album feels like an honest attempt to get everyone back on track, being much more experimental and showing the band taking a lot more chances. Though Pork and Beans was one of the only songs that managed to survive in the setlist over the past few years, something like the Greatest Man That Ever Lived deserves to be celebrated a lot more, as Weezer try to write their very own epic song by pulling from a bunch of different genres.

For as much as he is the face of the band though, not all of the best moments on this record come from Rivers, as he takes a back seat for the second half of the album and lets the rest of the guys try their hand at singing, including the brooding sound of Scott Shriner on Cold Dark World or Brian Bell’s ‘90s flair on Thought I Knew. This is by no means an undiscovered masterpiece for Weezer, but considering the two uninspired records that it’s sandwiched between, Rivers should at least be applauded for trying to learn from his mistakes.