Raditude

Each Weezer record produces at least one radio hit. The blue album had "Undone," the green album had "Hash Pipe," and the red album had "Troublemaker." These songs were good but each had the purpose of broadening the band's audience rather than play to their die-hard fans. Raditude seems to be about gaining a "tween" fan base, and it goes to juvenile extremes to reach them.

Previous Weezer albums have kept the feel of American rock 'n' roll. When you listened to the records, you'd hear a band being recorded with minimal sound improvement and mixing; that is what made their music authentic. Raditude is filled with songs that sound as if they were produced for/by pop stars. In nearly every song Rivers Cuomo's vocals are auto-tuned to perfection while catchy loops back him the entire way through. A majority of the tracks sound similar, and the tracks that have any resemblance to "normal" Weezer feel slapped together.

What really ruins this album, though, is the final track. On most every Weezer album, the finale gave the listener a sense of accomplishment, a fitting end to the album you'd just listened to. Raditude's finale gives a faint shadow of what was expected, topping off their most unsatisfying effort to date.

This album will likely sell well, Weezer will gain a larger fan base, and many of the tracks will get radio play. True fans, however, will be disappointed, lowering substantially their expectations for the next Weezer album.

Album title: Raditude
Artist: Weezer
Songs: (1) (If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To (2) I'm Your Daddy (3) The Girl Got Hot (4) Can't Stop Partying (5) Put Me Back Together (6) Trippin' Down the Freeway (7) Love Is The Answer (8) Let It All Hang Out (9) In the Mall (10) I Don't Want to Let You Go