9 Later Day Musical Crimes Perpetuated By Great Artists

Purists will argue that Weezer’s musical crimes began after the Green Album, or even after the final notes rang out on Pinkerton. And while the band’s first two records eclipse the rest of their catalogue by an embarrassing degree, there’s stuff to enjoy on some of their mid period albums.

Things didn’t get truly dire for Rivers Cuomo and co until 2005’s Rick Rubin produced Make Believe, which was right around the time the band became more interested in producing music videos than music. Weezer went from a band capable of great, self-lacerating insight to bland, Steve Miller Band-aping songs about Beverly Hills.

Worst of all was “We Are All On Drugs”, a droning, smart alec attack on conformist culture. It’s tuneless and smug, reflective of a band whose once-great powers of observation had seemingly completely deserted them.

There was nowhere to go but up for Weezer, whose more recent work has been substantially better. Granted, they probably still should have split up some two decades ago, but odds are they’ll not be putting out anything quite as bad as Make Believe ever again.