Some reviewers have expressed a measure of ambivalence about this new Weezer album, and understandably so: it downplays some of the things the band's audience has come to expect and treasure.

Weezer's first record was a kind of dream come true for a certain type of bespectacled nerd--- the sort who plays Dungeons & Dragons, reads comic books, and worships Kiss (the band whose emboldening machismo is only complemented, for such listeners, by a makeup job worthy of the X-Men). For a legion of these dispossessed and marginalized geeks, "In the Garage" was an anthem, and "Only in Dreams," "Buddy Holly," and "Undone" were catchy love songs that spoke to their eccentricities.

"Pinkerton," with a raw sound that aped, according to Rivers Cuomo, the Steve Albini recording style, was a different expression of love, but it was aimed squarely at the same audience. The comic book-reading, Kiss-loving D&D player is often characterized by morbid sensitivity: for such a person (I speak from experience), love provides an idealized exaltation, and is worth clinging to and preserving at all costs, but when it goes sour (as it always does), it creates the kind of hurt that endures, that scars permanently. "Pinkerton," by comparison to the debut, was a cut nerve; it was a hypersensitive adolescent's cry of pain at lost love. With its bitterness ("Why Bother?"), its fantasies of unreal and childlike love objects in galaxies far, far away ("Across the Sea") and its tearful tales of clinging to love even when it is unhealthy to do so ("No Other One"), the record's bombastic evocations of loss hit home with anyone for whom the loss of a love was a vision of the Apocalypse. Like the debut, in other words, it was an expression of the feelings of a certain very specific demographic---only it was generally sad, while the other was generally ebullient.

None of this is meant to insult Weezer's accomplishment: both records were and are wonderful, and could locate the geek in anyone who listened without prejudice. One need not play D&D oneself to empathize with someone who does, or to be moved by the strange innocence and vulnerability Rivers Cuomo projected.

Now the NEW record retains these qualities, but expresses them far less lugubriously. "Island in the Sun" is a more plain-spoken version of the fantasy offered by the debut's "Holiday"; "O Girlfriend" is a soft-spoken and beautiful lost-love plaint that trades in the fire-and-brimstone hysterics of "Pinkerton" for a simple and poignant expression of human loss. The songs, meanwhile, are streamlined, short, and focused, produced for maximum physical force by Ric Ocasek. The record packs a sonic punch, and gets from start to finish quickly. Complaints about its brevity are misplaced; the point of a great pop record is drop a flurry of hooks in rapid succession and leave the listener wanting more. The new Weezer record does just this. In short, it offers less idiosyncratic and individualized portraiture of geek culture, and more pure pop sense. Consequently, it will hit a larger audience and be embraced by those who were somehow put off by all the nerdiness of earlier albums. But it still adumbrates enough nerdy despair to remind the nerds that Rivers is one of them, and that he understands them.

The reviewer who mentioned the early Beatles was smart to do so, but wrong to say that early Beatles records are characterized by filler (filler? where?). Early Beatles records were full of hits, but some were sleepers, while some stopped time the moment they were first heard. Weezer's new record is a more modest echo of such an achievement. Some of its songs, like "Photograph" and "O Girlfriend," will strike the listener right away. The others will sink in sooner or later. Terrific record. Go buy it.

Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome album, but its just not up to par with the other two. Thats why I only gave it 3 stars. There is somthing missing from this album that are in the other 2 that i cant quite put my finger on. The other two have more feelings in it. This album is just layed back chill music, which is fine. I just hope they go back to their harder stuff on their next album. This album has a different feel to it. Hash Pipe and Island in the sun are definatly the best songs. Knock-down Drag-out is pretty good too. This is a really short album. Its not even a half hour long. Compared to the other garbage out there these days, you will love this album.

Maybe my hopes were too high for this album - but I found that this album doesn't deserve to stand beside it's two predecessors. Don't get me wrong, I am a big weezer fan, but with the exception of two stellar tracks (Island in the sun, Hash Pipe), I honestly think this album is just mediocre. I think I would dig "the green album" more if the songs seemed more developed and if "Knock-Down Drag-Out" didn't remind me of Stink 182 (I don't like them too much you might say). I understand that the band had over 100 songs from which to choose from, and from those they decide on these 10. Hmm. I think Rivers Cuomo is a brilliant songwriter, but these 10 cuts seem more like a b-sides album rather than a proper album. I liken this record to a way early Beatles album - it clocks in at just over 28 minutes - and there seems to be a lot of filler surrounding a couple of gems. I wouldn't recommend this record unless you were a diehard weezer fan - and if so - you may not play it very much at that.

Six years. Ten songs. An album whose entire length is 28:29? Say it ain't so, Weezer?

Truthfully, these tunes are excellent. In terms of pretty, catchy, guitar-griven pop songs, few have crafted better tunes than the boys from Weezer do here. At ten songs and 28 minutes, the album is quite short, but packs more hooks than some albums twice its length.

Pick a track, listen well, and enjoy. Tunes like "Don't Let Go", "Hash Pipe", and "Knock-down Drag-out" start out rocking and don't let up, and tracks which start more subdued like "Simple Pages", "Glorious Days", "Island in the Sun" and "O Girlfriend" eventually arrive there too with soaring, simple but memorable guitar solos and impeccable hooks. It's not rocket science, it's rock and roll, and Weezer has mastered the craft of catchy song-writing on this record as well as anyone.

This record seems out of place in the age of boy bands, self-involved rap rock, and standard corporate rock. It feels more of a throwback than anything with melodies that recall the Beatles or Buddy Holly (if they drenched their songs in distortion and feedback).

Definitely a stellar recording in a summer that has brought forth outstanding efforts from Tool, Stone Temple Pilots, and others, Weezer's latest demands to be heard. Easily among the best albums of the year.

The green album is kind of a let down. Since their second CD Pinkerton, lead singer Rivers Cuomo wrote hundreds of songs. Unfortunately, only 10 made it on to the album. It clocks in at a measly 28 minutes and change, much to the chagrin of the legions of loyal Weezer fans anxiously awaiting the new CD. Despite the short run-time, the green album definitely contains some gems. The first four tracks, "Don't Let Go", "Photograph", "Hash Pipe", and "Island in the Sun" are well-written, blissful, hand-clapping, powerpop masterpieces. The rest of the tracks, however, seem to fade into each other. No individual songs stand out in the last half of the album. "Smile" has its moments, but the last few tracks all seem to have the exact same sound. The green album doesn't have the charm of either of the band's first two CD's. There's no sweet, melodic, well-orchestrated feedback, like on the blue album. There are no random whistles and pops, like on Pinkerton. Also, the guitar solos which, once made the band one of the premier guitar pop bands of the '90s, aren't anywhere near as high-flying on this album. Rivers Cuomo is a guitar god, but he's playing like he's a run-of-the-mill Noel Gallagher. Long story short, it's not as good as the blue album or Pinkerton (though it may sell more than those two combined), but it's still Weezer, and that makes it better than anything else out there.