Weezer (Teal Album)

2019 studio album by Weezer

Weezer

Studio album of cover songs by

Weezer

Released| January 24, 2019[1]
Recorded| 2018
Studio|

* The Steakhouse
* The Village

Genre|

* Pop rock[2]
* power pop[3]
* synth-pop[4]

Length| 36:18
Label|

* Atlantic
* Crush

Producer|

* Mark Rankin
* Weezer

Weezer chronology
| Pacific Daydream
(2017)  | Weezer
(2019)  | Weezer
(2019)

|
|

Singles from  Weezer

1. "Africa"
Released: May 29, 2018

Weezer (also known as the Teal Album) is the twelfth studio album by the American rock band Weezer. It was released digitally on January 24, 2019, through Crush Music and Atlantic Records, with a retail release on March 8. The album is composed of cover songs, mostly from the 1980s, making it the band's first covers album. It was announced and released on the same day as a surprise precursor to Weezer's thirteenth studio album, which was released on March 1, 2019. The album received mixed reviews, with some praising the self-aware frivolity of the project, while others criticized the arrangements.

## Background

[edit]

Following the release of Weezer's eleventh album Pacific Daydream, an Internet fan campaign was launched to get Weezer to cover "Africa" by Toto. After initially releasing a cover of "Rosanna", a different Toto song, as a joke, Weezer released their "Africa" cover in May 2018.[5] The cover hit the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.[6]

Teal was unexpectedly released on January 24, 2019, without prior promotion or advertisement.[7] Several covers on the album have previously been performed live by both the band and frontman Rivers Cuomo at solo shows.[8][9]

Cuomo has since described his use of Spotify's data on most played songs to establish the tracklisting for the album.[10]

The album was released digitally on January 24, 2019, with the physical version planned for release on March 8, 2019. To promote the album, Weezer released a teal velcro wallet available for purchase on their website, with the first 100 copies sold including a dollar bill signed by the band members.[11] The velcro wallet sold out quickly, so Weezer released a second promotional bundle on January 24 with a teal Rubik's cube.[12] The band's cover of "No Scrubs" received significant social media attention, with the song trending on Twitter and sparking both sincere and ironic reactions from fans who found the song choice surprising,[13] while TLC member Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, who sang lead vocal on the original version, openly praised Weezer's rendition, declaring it "AWESOME!!!" on her Twitter account and adding, "It would be even better if we sang it with ya'll!!! I see a TLC/Weezer concert coming up."[14][15] Weezer themselves responded to Chilli through their own Twitter account by posting the reply, "Hope you want our number", referring to a key line in the song's chorus.[16]

At their 2019 Coachella performance, Weezer brought out TLC's Chilli, as well as English band Tears for Fears for live versions of "No Scrubs" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", respectively.[17]

Though not appearing on the official soundtrack, their cover of A-ha's "Take On Me" is featured in the 2020 animated film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run.

## Critical reception

[edit]

Professional ratingsAggregate scores

Source| Rating
Metacritic| 58/100[18]
Review scores
Source| Rating
AllMusic| [19]
Consequence of Sound| B[20]
Dead Press!| [21]
Glide Magazine| [22]
NME| [1]
Now| [23]
Punknews.org| [24]

The Teal Album was met with divided opinions from critics. At the aggregating website Metacritic, the album has received a normalized rating of 58, based on 9 critical reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. In a review of the album for AllMusic, editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "Taken on a strictly musical terms, The Teal Album is pretty anodyne stuff. Weezer replicates the arrangements of beloved songs, adds a bit more fuzz on the guitar solos, and flattens the vocal affectations, which amounts to one weird trick: Weezer doesn't attempt to make the songs their own, yet these versions unmistakably sound like Weezer."[19] Matt Beaumont at NME stated "Respectful enough to rouse any struggling family gathering but knowing enough to amuse those in on the joke, 'The Teal Album' at once satirises the covers album and makes a decent stab at perfecting it."[1]

Reviewing the album for Glide Magazine, James Roberts concluded that "The lifelessness of the covers ensures that it has a shelf life that isn't much longer than your average meme. I suppose given the origins of the album as a Twitter meme it makes sense. Everything about the album—from its conception to its surprise, digital only release—points to the fact that we aren't meant to take it that seriously. But that's kind of the problem, isn't it? Nothing Weezer does can be taken seriously anymore."[22] Nick Flanagan gave the album a grading of 1 out of 5 in the review for Now, claiming that "what's horrible about this record is the total lack of controversy, the lack of anything. It doesn't even pass as a joke album – they're just straight-ahead paint-by-numbers covers, like something a wedding band might play." Tim Sommer wrote that "… there is no reason to listen to The Teal Album. There are no revelations, no hearts are placed on sleeves, no one will be moved, and no one will bother to play one of these tracks in the future", adding that "… Weezer despise the American music consuming public, and want to prove that today's consumer will click on literally the most banal and redundant nonsense."[25]

Michael Roffman was more positive in an assessment for Consequence of Sound, writing "At best, it's a blueprint or rather a teaser for their forthcoming tours, as if to say, "Well, you loved 'Africa', look what else we can do? Come out, folks." Again, that's a more cynical outlook, but hey, maybe Cuomo is being cynical. Maybe this is the self-defeater in him, acknowledging the times, knowing damn well that if he's going to give 'em what they want, he's going to meet them at their level with a shit-eating grin and walk back to the bank."[20]

## Commercial performance

[edit]

The Teal Album peaked at number five in its second week on the Billboard 200, after debuting at number 47 the previous week.[26] This was a significant rebound from Weezer's previous album, Pacific Daydream, which only reached number 23. In its first full tracking week, it debuted with 39,000 album-equivalent units, of which 27,000 were pure album sales.[26]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Original artist| Length

|
|
|
|

1.| "Africa"|

* David Paich
* Jeff Porcaro

| Toto| 3:58
2.| "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"|

* Roland Orzabal
* Ian Stanley
* Chris Hughes

| Tears for Fears| 4:04
3.| "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)"|

* Annie Lennox
* David A. Stewart

| Eurythmics| 3:34
4.| "Take On Me"|

* Magne Furuholmen
* Morten Harket
* Pål Waaktaar

| A-ha| 3:43
5.| "Happy Together"|

* Alan Gordon
* Garry Bonner

| The Turtles| 2:25
6.| "Paranoid"|

* Geezer Butler
* Tony Iommi
* Ozzy Osbourne
* Bill Ward

| Black Sabbath| 2:44
7.| "Mr. Blue Sky"| Jeff Lynne| Electric Light Orchestra| 4:46
8.| "No Scrubs"|

* Kevin "She'kspere" Briggs
* Kandi Burruss
* Tameka "Tiny" Cottle
* Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

| TLC| 3:10
9.| "Billie Jean"| Michael Jackson| Michael Jackson| 4:54
10.| "Stand by Me"|

* Ben E. King
* Jerry Leiber
* Mike Stoller

| Ben E. King| 3:00
Total length:| 36:18

## Personnel

[edit]

Weezer

* Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals except "Paranoid", backing vocals on "Paranoid", lead guitar, piano, keyboards, production
* Patrick Wilson – drums, percussion, backing vocals, production
* Brian Bell – rhythm guitar, backing vocals except "Paranoid", lead vocals on "Paranoid", keyboards, production
* Scott Shriner – bass, backing vocals, production

Production

* Mark Rankin – production, engineering, mixing
* Jason Clark – engineering
* Suzy Shinn – vocal engineering
* Eric Boulanger – mastering
* Sam Madill – engineering

Visuals

* Sean Murphy – photography
* Brendan Walter – art direction, layout
* Jade Ehlers – art direction, layout

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

| Chart (2019)  | Peak
position

|

Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] | 49
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] | 81
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[29] | 8
Irish Albums (IRMA)[30] | 66
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[31] | 29
Scottish Albums (OCC)[32] | 35
UK Albums (OCC)[33] | 60
US Billboard 200[26] | 5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] | 1

### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (2019)  | Position

|

US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[35] | 51

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Mark Beaumont (January 25, 2019). "Weezer – 'The Teal Album' review". Nme.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
2. ^ "Weezer cover 'No Scrubs', 'Billie Jean' on surprise new album". Gulfnews.com. January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
3. ^ "Rev Ranks: Weezer's 'Teal Album' is corny, but fun | The Daily Reveille". lsureveille.com. February 21, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
4. ^ "Surprise! It's A Weezer Covers Album | News | Clash Magazine". Clash. January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
5. ^ Monroe, Jazz (May 24, 2018). "Weezer Cover Toto's "Rosanna," Trolling Viral Campaign for "Africa" Cover". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
6. ^ "Alternative Songs: Top Alternative Songs Chart". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved August 11, 2018.
7. ^ Billboard (September 14, 2018). "Weezer Release 'The Teal Album' Featuring Covers of A-Ha, Tears For Fears, Michael Jackson". Billboard. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
8. ^ "Weezer and The Pixies were happy together in New Orleans". NOLA.com. June 27, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
9. ^ "Rivers Cuomo Concert Setlist at August Hall, San Francisco on September 12, 2018". setlist.fm. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
10. ^ "Rivers Cuomo on His Data-Driven Approach To Weezer". billboard. March 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
11. ^ Weezer US. "Totally Tubular Teal Bundle | Weezer US". Weezerwebstore.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
12. ^ "Teal Rad Rubik's Cube Bundle". Weezer US. Retrieved January 24, 2019.[permanent dead link]
13. ^ "Everyone is talking about 'No Scrubs' because of Weezer. Welcome to 2019". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
14. ^ "TLC's Chilli Wants to Perform 'No Scrubs' With Weezer, Thanks to 'Teal Album' Cover". Billboard. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
15. ^ "Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas Twitter account". @officialchilli on Twitter. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
16. ^ "Weezer Twitter account". @weezer on Twitter. January 24, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
17. ^ "Watch Weezer Bring Out TLC's Chilli, Tears for Fears at Coachella 2019". Pitchfork. April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 26, 2019.
18. ^ "Weezer (Teal Album) by Weezer". Metacritic. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
19. ^ a b Stephen Thomas Erlewine (January 25, 2019). "Weezer [Teal Album] - Weezer". AllMusic. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
20. ^ a b Michael Roffman (January 23, 2019). "Weezer - Weezer (The Teal Album)". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
21. ^ "ALBUM REVIEW: Weezer â€" Weezer (Teal Album) | DEAD PRESS! | It's more than "just music" to us". Dead Press!. February 5, 2019. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
22. ^ a b James Roberts (January 24, 2019). "Weezer's Surprise Release 'The Teal Album' Covers All the Wrong Bases (ALBUM REVIEW)". glidemagazine.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
23. ^ Nick Flanagan (January 28, 2019). "Weezer - Weezer (The Teal Album)". nowtoronto.com. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
24. ^ "Weezer - Weezer". Punknews.org. January 24, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
25. ^ Tim Sommer. "Weezer's Vapid Teal Album Has Our Critic Seeing Red". RealClear Life. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
26. ^ a b c Caulfield, Keith (February 3, 2019). "Backstreet Boys Score First No. 1 Album in Nearly 20 Years on Billboard 200 Chart With 'DNA'". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
27. ^ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. February 4, 2019. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
28. ^ "Ultratop.be – Weezer – Weezer (Teal Album)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
29. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
30. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 1 February 2019". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
31. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. February 11, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
32. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 16, 2019.
33. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
34. ^ "Weezer Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
35. ^ "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2019". Billboard. January 2, 2013. Retrieved August 5, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Weezer at Discogs (list of releases)

* v
* t
* e

Weezer

* Rivers Cuomo
* Patrick Wilson
* Brian Bell
* Scott Shriner
* Karl Koch

* Matt Sharp
* Jason Cropper
* Mikey Welsh

Studio albums|

* Blue Album
* Pinkerton
* Green Album
* Maladroit
* Make Believe
* Red Album
* Raditude
* Hurley
* Everything Will Be Alright in the End
* White Album
* Pacific Daydream
* Teal Album
* Black Album
* OK Human
* Van Weezer

Compilation albums|

* Death to False Metal

Extended plays|

* The Good Life
* Christmas CD
* The Lion and the Witch
* Christmas with Weezer
* SZNZ
* Spring
* Summer
* Autumn
* Winter

Videos|

* Weezer – Video Capture Device: Treasures from the Vault 1991–2002

Singles|

* "Undone – The Sweater Song"
* "Buddy Holly"
* "Say It Ain't So"
* "El Scorcho"
* "The Good Life"
* "Hash Pipe"
* "Island in the Sun"
* "Photograph"
* "Dope Nose"
* "Keep Fishin'"
* "Beverly Hills"
* "We Are All on Drugs"
* "Perfect Situation"
* "Pork and Beans"
* "Troublemaker"
* "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)"
* "Dreamin'"
* "(If You're Wondering If I Want You to) I Want You to"
* "I'm Your Daddy"
* "Memories"
* "Hang On"
* "Back to the Shack"
* "Cleopatra"
* "Da Vinci"
* "Thank God for Girls"
* "Do You Wanna Get High?"
* "King of the World"
* "Feels Like Summer"
* "Happy Hour"
* "Africa"
* "California Snow"
* "Can't Knock the Hustle"
* "Zombie Bastards"
* "The End of the Game"
* "Hero"
* "All My Favorite Songs"
* "Tell Me What You Want"
* "Enter Sandman"
* "A Little Bit of Love"
* "Records"

Promotional singles|

* "Pink Triangle"
* "This Is Such a Pity"
* "Mexican Fender"

Other songs|

* "My Name Is Jonas"
* "Only in Dreams"
* "Lonely Girl"
* "The British Are Coming"
* "Go Away"
* "Rosanna"
* "Take On Me"
* "Lost in the Woods"

Tours|

* Summer Tour 2016
* Hella Mega Tour
* Indie Rock Road Trip
* 2024 UK and Ireland tour with The Smashing Pumpkins
* Voyage to the Blue Planet

Related|

| Articles|

* Discography
* Songs

|

Music|

* The Kitchen Tape
* Songs from the Black Hole
* Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
* Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
* "Island Holiday"

Bands|

* The Rentals
* Scott & Rivers
* The Special Goodness
* The Relationship
* Homie
* Space Twins

*   Category

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

Other|

* MusicBrainz release group

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