Hi everyone, Goldthiny Onetano here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Weezer album. It... It's gold!

Here we have the newest full-length LP from legendary, influential, unstoppable California alternative rock band Weezer, which apparently, this is like their 20th studio album. I mean, I know a few of those were like, the season's EPs, but still 20? Jesus Christ! That number really makes me think.

Not just about the storied classics that many people remember from the band's early days. It also makes me remember all of the various highs and lows creatively across Weezer's career. And looking at the band's whole entire catalog, I can handily say they are the most consistent, inconsistent rock band of their generation.

Cuz few groups that hit it big in the '90s like Weezer did, can say that they have grinded out 20 whole albums since then, and still have a lick of mainstream relevancy to speak of, while also being in this constant, rapid state of evolution and development, something that was indicated early on by the group's first several records.

You have the perfect Blue album, which would bring that trademark, heavy, power-pop sound that the band would become known for.

Then the very raw, lo-fi, horny, uncontrolled, and wild Pinkerton, which many appreciate for its emo leanings, was hated by many upon release, but then later became a classic. There's also the Green album, where Weezer made their first kinda big, full-pop rock embrace.

And then also Maladroit, which saw the band embracing much heavier, grungier guitar tones. A little more metal influence, too, you could say. This was entirely self-produced, and kinda saw the band going back to their more underground rock roots.

And then, just a few years later, they made a more complete pop-rock pivot on Make Believe, an album many believed to be their worst record at the time of its release.

That is, until they dropped numerous, much worse albums, but I digress.

But yeah, all that happened, and the chaos continued from there. I had the privilege of covering a lot of that chaos on this channel, as the 2010s were very famously an odd time for Weezer.

It started with an album named after a character from a famous TV show. And then it ended with a cover of Toto's "Africa," being one of the band's biggest songs in years.

It wasn't all antics, though. I mean, after all, the White album is, one of the best in the group's catalog, hands down. And this latest act in Weezer's career, while still very odd, is also marked by surprising projects that, while not perfect, are at least ambitious and fun.

You had the hard rock camp of Van Weezer. Also all of the Baroque pop production of OK Human, an album that I loved. And then the series of Seasons EPs that had some classical leanings on many tracks and very radical mood shifts from project to project depending on the season the batch of songs held within was supposed to represent. An idea that was more interesting in concept than in execution, I fear.

Which brings us in a very abridged way to the Gold album here, whose creative angle seems to be marked by at least two things. One, the production on this one is being handled by Kenneth Bloom III, a.k.a. Kenny Beats, who made a name for himself predominantly, at one point, as a DJ and a hip-hop producer, but in recent years has made more of a transition into producing for rock bands of various types and stripes. With Weezer, here, probably being the most big legendary act he's had the pleasure to do a whole album with so far in that lane.

And in addition to that, on this record, you have pretty much the whole band taking on songwriting duties, either together or in part, as opposed to just letting Rivers do all of it, or him bringing in the occasional outside voice, which he has been known to do from time to time. And because of that, when you look at the songwriting credits on this thing, we see more Patrick Wilson on this record than we have in a minute, even penning one of the lead singles on this thing on his own. And there's several key Brian Bell credits, throughout this record, too.

So yeah, in recognition of the band having done 20 albums together, they are writing songs together as a band more. But believe it or not, that doesn't lead to any radical changes in sound and style on the surface level of this record, anyway.

I actually wouldn't be surprised if most people walked away from Gold kind of feeling like this record is Weezer returning to business as usual. Very straightforward, very no-muss-no-fuss, which in itself is kind of a surprise, considering how many Weezer albums in recent years have been kind of predicated on a gimmick or them kind of taking a shot in the dark and trying something new.

The end result is an album of 10 tracks, about 30 minutes in run-time, and it's all presented in a very straightforward way that makes the songwriting the ultimate decider of whether or not these tracks sink or swim.

And the quality of these songs ranges, even on the singles. For one, you have the perplexing "Shine Again," which was a Patrick Wilson cut, and features these really boring staccato one-note riffs and tense grooves that build up to the most unfulfilling chorus on the entire record.

I'm not sure how else to put it. I like the production on this track, but the songwriting is a no for me. And instantly makes me miss Rivers' more tombful pen, which we hear on "We Might As Well Be Strangers," featuring Karly Hartzman of Wednesday fame. And I think this is one of Weezer's best singles in years. The anthemic hook is awesome, the perfectly mixed guitars are great, I love the two perspectives brought by Rivers and Carly, and "I was Nancy, you were Vicious" is one of my favorite bars of 2026.

Then there's "C.E.O.," which, sure, has grown on me a smidge in the context of the album, but the direction of this one still makes me yack, slightly, as it's this overly meta talk-sung number that, on the surface, is giving "Undone" the Sweater song, but isn't anywhere near as passionate, anthemic, or fun. I mean, at its core, I do think the song has a sympathetic angle to it, with Rivers and the gang kind of longing for their early days of creative freedom before biting the apple of knowledge that comes along with fame and success.

Which is fine. But then this track frames what is kind of being done now as just making, like, lame business moves, or playing into the irrational and annoying expectations of your audience. Which okay, we're right here, we can hear you.

With Rivers also singing that he needs to stop thinking like a mad professor and how it's getting him nowhere. Like, in what way? By experimenting or trying new things? Doing that has led to some of the biggest moments in Weezer's career.

And also, there have been numerous points in Weezer's history where the band has dragged their fanbase kicking and screaming through album cycles that they had to know on one level they were gonna hate. Like, if this was a band that was truly afraid of its audience revolting, would we have gotten Pacific Daydream? I rest my case.

So I don't know. I just find some of the lyrics on this track to be a little petty, and I think the assessment that 'Oh, we're kinda like, chained to our old sound and this perceived notion of 90s jams,' as being a little self-imposed.

Moving on to the deeper cuts, while I wouldn't say they're all infinitely better, they do all go down easier. "Say Yes" is a very energetic start to the album, but the transition into the chorus is awkward to say the least.

Still, I do kinda like the energy of the song, talking about being ready and willing. Life getting in the way, maybe telling you to stop, and then going to do what you have to do anyway. Obviously, this is a commentary on the existence and resilience of this very band. And yes, sometimes life can feel like a chore, but also writing music about that feeling, I think, leads to this song feeling like a chore to listen to itself.

By contrast, the song "Don't Make It Weird," I feel like, is classic Weezer without even trying. It's heavy, catchy geek rock with unapologetically uncool lyrics with, by virtue of being so painfully uncool, it makes them cool. "I was walking down Montana/When I bumped into a lady that I know/I tried to make small talk/And then it got weird, yo." "It got weird, yo!" "Some people call me River/And then they tell me that I don't got any flow."

I'm sorry, but this song is equally fun and catchy and is just about those moments in your life where you're overthinking and come to the realization that maybe it's not as horrible as you're making it out to be in your head.

The songs "Hoops" as well as "Nowhere" both have bones to pick. My issue with them is that I wish that they just dug a little bit deeper. As with "Hoops," the lyrics make reference to all of these petty, small, stupid annoyances in life that lead to you having to jump through hoops.

I just wish that the band lyrically picked maybe some bigger fish to fry in terms of things about modern existence that are just a pain in the ass to deal with. Meanwhile, "Nowhere" kind of decries a loss of a loss of a loss of personal connection and also the destruction of our world and the nature around us, being symbolized with kind of these shitbox condos being erected. Problems, symptoms, issues that the song has no issue pointing out, but I wish it did a better job of kind of contextualizing them or making some kind of prescription, maybe.

Still, for all its issues, I do think the Gold album comes to a strong finish. "The Show Must Go On" features some of the beefiest guitars on the record, as well as a classic blues progression that's pretty fun and rockin'. A lot of the lyrics on this track are pretty much a trip down memory lane into the early days of the band, going out and performing.

And I think the track does a better job of kind of getting to the heart of, again, one of the more consistent themes on this record. And that's the idea that we're still a band, we're still doing this. And rather than that merely being us kind of going through the motions in this case, it's epic! And it's awesome! And it's exciting! And it's fun!

I see a lot of these feelings extended into "Up In The Clouds," which is, yes, more of a low-key, ballad-type moment with lots of beautiful, harmonized guitar work. Not as riffy or as energetic as many other cuts here, but I feel like this track, writing-wise, is more along the lines of the Weezer that I love. The band that dreams big and hopes for the best and is fueled by a kind of youthful idealism that is now, on this record, mixed with the pain and poetry of experience.

And then we have the closer "The LA Sound," which I really do love. Not only for how sharp and catchy it is, but I just find the title and angle of this one funny from the outset. Given that the L.A. sound is being given to us by a guy singing from Connecticut, who's being produced by a dude behind the boards who's also from Connecticut, I guess that's just the L.A. sound and a couple of guys from C.T.

Still, I do like the sentiment of the song overall. Essentially, Weezer planting its flag in the ground and saying, "We're Weezer! And we're here to rock! And melt your face! But in the most adorkable way possible! Aaaaahhhhhh!"

And yeah, as geeky as that sounds, I mean, that is kind of the magic of Weezer, though. You can't get mad at them for it, it's literally what they do best. And they're still doing a pretty great job of it here, as well. That is when the songwriting is decent. Which, given the songwriting approach they took on this one, it isn't always. Which is why I'm feeling a strong six to a light seven on this one.

Tran-sition, have you given this album a listen? Did you love it? Did you hate it? What would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best. What should I review next? Hit the like if you like, please subscribe, please don't cry. Hit the bell as well. Over here next to my head, it's another video you can check out. Hit that up, or the link to subscribe to the channel. Weezer. Gold. Forever.