Weezer's true 'Blue' 10 years later

About two weeks ago a special two-disc "Deluxe Edition" of Weezer's 1994 self-titled debut (aka The Blue Album) and a retrospective DVD were released into stores. Nearly 10 years after its original release, The Blue Album still leaves sizable ripples in American pop music. Let's start with some brief history. Late '93-early -  early '94, in the wake of grunge, record labels were sign-happy for alternative bands which could replace a rapidly self-destructing Nirvana and an experimental, video-less, Vitalogy-era Pearl Jam. A plethora of raw talent signed record deals during this time, some still relevant (No Doubt, Radiohead, the Flaming Lips), some not (Veruca Salt, Spacehog).\nSomewhere in the mix was Weezer, an L.A. quartet formed in 1992 which had so-so luck playing clubs around town. Eventually, they gained a following and were signed to DGC Records, a subsidiary of Geffen. Thus, laying the seeds of greatness. \nHuge fans of new wave, the Weez employed the production of Ric Ocasek (frontman for The Cars) and went to New York City to record their debut. Watching the DVD, you get to see extensive footage of the group laying down each track cinéma vérité-style, boring for those who don't care, but imagine if you could watch your favorite band make your favorite album of theirs. Pretty remarkable. \nOn May 10, 1994, The Blue Album was released; one month and five days after Kurt Cobain took his own life. The timing is poignant; it's as if there was a changing of the alternative rock guard. And a more optimistic one at that. There is quite a leap from "Rape Me" to "Buddy Holly," just as there is a leap from flannel and ripped jeans to khaki's and Airwalks. But that was the youth culture shift. \nObviously there is the "Great Man" theory to be taken into account, meaning for every shift or change there is one man given responsibility, when really there's a huge group behind it. One could write that Green Day's Dookie or the Offspring's Smash had just the same or more of an impact than The Blue Album did. But they didn't for some fundamental reasons.\nThe Videos: To put it bluntly, Weezer would be nothing without their first three videos. Their first video, "Undone -- The Sweater Song" was directed by Spike Jonze. It featured upside down camera work and a bunch of dogs randomly running through the band performing. It was essentially a performance video made much more interesting by Jonze's sensibilities and the fact that the band looked like people we picked on and they were in fact; rocking. \nJonze also directed their second video, which happens to be their most famous, "Buddy Holly." Unless you didn't have cable during middle school, "Buddy Holly" was the band spliced in with "Happy Days" footage creating the illusion that the group was playing at Al's Diner. It was this video which catapulted the band from "120 Minutes" to "Dial MTV" (the precursor to "TRL"). The attention scared the reclusive Rivers Cuomo, fearing that he would be a one-hit video wonder.\nThe third and final video/single from The Blue Album, "Say It Ain't So" was directed by Sophie Mueller and showed the band in a more domestic light, lounging around the house, playing hackey sack. The song "Say It Ain't So" is so dynamic that the simple video concept is perfect to let the song be the centerpiece. \nA quick word on Spike Jonze: it has been debated whether he made Weezer or Weezer made him. Ten years later, it is safe to say they made each other. \nStarting with "Undone -- The Sweater Song" to "Sabotage" to "Being John Malkovich" or "Adaptation" Jonze makes geeks look cool. Probably because he's one himself. \nAlthough much has been said and written about Weezer being a "geek" band, it goes way beyond that. The Blue Album went double-platinum -- this is an insane amount of records. Geek or cool, old or young, everyone likes Weezer. They didn't become geeks, we did. \nBecause I was the last kid on my block to get a CD player, I first bought the "Undone -- The Sweater Song" single from Coconuts Music Store (anyone remember those?) and head-banged to that song so much I couldn't lift my neck in the morning. I can't remember when a song since has had such physical, let alone emotional, effect on me. I got the album that Christmas and still have the same copy to this day. It is still fresh every time I listen to it, and yet I don't know what "My Name is Jonas" is about. The Blue Album Deluxe Edition debuted at #2 on the Billboard catalogue charts and the DVD debuted at #1 on Billboard's Top 50 Music DVD's, this band and especially this album has an unbelievable following. The Blue Album is the first album I fell in love with, will any other have such an impact? "Only in Dreams"