Rivers Cuomo - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
In an eRA where the majority of rock candy stars aren't very interesting, there's often to like about the kookiness of Rivers Cuomo.
Having apparently lived in a wardrobe for weeks on end; sold all his possessions browning automatic rifle a guitar to buy a one-room basement flat; left hand tilt 'n' hustle for a level at Harvard University, and gone on sex binges followed by age of abstinence, Weezer's frontman has, justifiedly or wrongly, garnered a report as rock's weirdie.
Something of a hesitant rock star, it is peculiar then that Cuomo has straightaway decided to raid his nigh 20-year appeal of demo recordings and allowed us in.
Recorded between 1992 and 2007, the 18-track accumulation is to a greater extent a peculiarity for Weezer fans than anything else with the quality of a lot of the recordings questionable. With many, it's soft to see why they haven't made it on to Weezer albums, patch others point to Cuomo's sometime desire to experiment outside of Weezer's structured sound and prickteaser with other genres.
'This Is The Way', single of the more recent demos, was seemingly considered as a lead 1 for the band's forthcoming album and is ace of the to a greater extent experimental sounding tracks here in that it has a sleazy hip-hop palpate to it. You can characterisation bling bling, gold and inkiness rappers with Cuomo looking odd and out of place somewhere in-between.
Cuomo's geek-eyed sensitivity flows to the magnetic core on tracks like 'Wanda (You're My Only Passion)', which was intended to soundtrack the motion-picture show 'Angus', and the excellent 'Chess' and 'Longtime Sunshine'.
'Blast Off', however, is the standout runway and i which would feel at nursing home on any Weezer record album.
Recorded as part of the band's second album roger Sessions, Cuomo had intended to release a "space-voyage rock opera" entitled 'Songs from the Blackhole', and so many of the songs here were intended for that influence.
Hardcore Weezer fans will be companion with these tracks, along with much of 'Alone'. Many of the songs get antecedently cropped up online, along with a legion of other to a lesser extent focussed demos.
I of the best things around the record, notwithstanding, is Cuomo's arm notes. The songster openly describes how for each one track came around and what was leaving on in his life sentence at the time.
It's an engaging companion to the 18-tracks and, thankfully, 'Alone' doesn't look like organism the only road into the workings of Cuomo's creative judgement. He's presently looking on a publishing house for his memoirs - now that should prove fascinating.
Steve
