10. Butterfly Album-ending acoustic numbers are a bit of a tacky tradition. They’re usually throwaways, even when they’re good. “Butterfly” is fine on its own, but shines as a great closer in the context of the album — the hangover after the hand-wringing and self-flagellation that precedes it, charged with guilt and shame. I’ll also…
Sometimes, even our biggest heroes falter. Below is a list of bad songs by our favorite artists. Whether they’re disappointing, dull, or downright disastrous, these twenty tracks remind us of that lesson Billy Wilder taught us so many years ago. As always, we’ve included a Spotify playlist so you can listen as you read. Enjoy! (Or,…
I think it’s safe to say that no band has had a career trajectory quite like Weezer. The rises and falls are numerous, and nobody is quite sure what their legacy is. Let’s walk through it. Sounding like a cross between The Beach Boys, Big Star, and The Rolling Stones, they did not fit into…
This is the first in a hopefully-recurring feature where the writers of Earn This will choose some genre or theme, collectively pick twenty or so of their favorite songs under that umbrella, and write a few words about each song. If we’re motivated, we’ll even embed a Spotify playlist. For our first entry, Dan and…
This is Grant’s half of the Pinkerton point-counterpoint review. Read Dan’s half here. Pinkerton is the sound of a band afraid to become great. Representing a comeback after the hiatus Weezer took in response to their debut album’s surprise success, it doesn’t so much as reinvent the band as push their less desirable attributes to…
This is Dan’s half of the Pinkerton point-counterpoint review. Read Grant’s half here. I have this funny image in my head of Rivers Cuomo, the bespectacled frontman and songwriter of Weezer, performing the music of his first album in neatly trimmed suit with a smile. Then, just as the fans start yawning “novelty” and move…