Considering they have 15 full-length studio albums under their belt, we wouldn’t argue with you if you said Weezer have sometimes valued quantity over quality — and neither would Rivers Cuomo. Speaking with Flea on the This Little Light podcast, Cuomo admitted that he thinks his band might have put out “too much” music in recent years.
“I think, if I were to go back and plan out an ideal artist’s career, I don’t know — maybe there’s too much quantity,” Cuomo said when Flea asked how he felt about Weezer’s mammoth discography. “Maybe the whole thing would be more impactful if we could go back in time and just release the very best stuff. Cherry-pick and release it in a very strategic way. But hindsight is 20/20, and hopefully future generations will sort it all out and they’ll focus on the best stuff.”
Cuomo didn’t name-drop any specific Weezer albums he would’ve left on the metaphorical cherry tree, although we definitely have our own nominees. But it does seem like, moving forward, he’s trying to be a bit more clued-in to what longtime Weezer listeners actually want to hear.
“I really want to listen and see where their [fans’] heads are at, and what they’re reacting to, and sometimes it’s not exactly where I would have gone on my own,” he added. “Specifically, they seem to like changes to happen more slowly. I would just say, ‘It’s a new day. Let’s throw out the recipe book and let’s start over from scratch with something totally new.’ For whatever reason, they want to hang onto what they loved about the past. That doesn’t mean I can’t do anything new — I just need to mix it in a little more gradually.”
You can listen to Cuomo’s entire conversation with Flea below; the above quotes begin around the 44-minute mark.
Making good on his promise to listen to fans, Cuomo is apparently crowdsourcing ideas for an upcoming musical that would serve as Weezer’s next studio album. In the meantime, Weezer are preparing for their star-studded “Indie Rock Roadtrip” next month; grab available tickets over at StubHub, where orders are 100% guaranteed through StubHub’s FanProtect program. StubHub is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.
