Weezer -- Death to False Metal

6/10

At the end of 2010, Weezer found themselves at a strange place. They'd just completed an oddball trilogy, releasing three albums in as many years, 2008's Red, 2009's Raditude, and 2010's Hurley. While this trilogy may have satisfied the band's, or at least Rivers Cuomo's creative needs, it alienated many fans, who either missed the sound of the band's earlier albums, or simply the higher quality. Those 2008-2010 albums' production all seemed to be missing a "no" person to veto bad ideas. Whatever the case, just months after Hurley's September 2010 release, the band dropped the odds-and-ends collection, Death to False Metal, in November 2010.
Death to False Metal returns to the band's rock roots. The opening salvo of songs brings back live-sounding drums, guitar solos, and a decidely more pre-2008-sounding Weezer. That makes sense, as the majority of these songs were recorded before 2008. There's even a bit of a cohesive lyrical feel here, as most of the songs seem to revolve around people stuck in menial routines, working joyless 9-to-5's just to get by (don't know anything about that). Death to False Metal definitely delivers with its opening salvo of songs, but unfortunately, it is extremely front-loaded. When the lyrical mundanity of the Nirvana-cloned "Everyone" rolls out five songs in, it becomes clear why the majority of these songs never found a place on a proper Weezer album. The remainder of these tracks aren't bad, but there's definitely a simple, "not ready for primetime" quality to them (excepting the gnarly Toni Braxton cover at the end). At least they rock, though. I'm glad they saw the light of day.


2010 Geffen Records
1. Turning Up the Radio 3:37
2. I Don't Want Your Loving 3:03
3. Blowin' My Stack 3:44
4. Losing My Mind 4:02
5. Everyone 2:49
6. I'm a Robot 2:31
7. Trampoline 2:45
8. The Odd Couple 3:07
9. Autopilot 2:57
10. Unbreak My Heart (Toni Braxton cover) 4:11