Deviant Nation : Rivers Cuomo : Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

Rivers Cuomo - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

Label: Geffen Records

By: Diesel
Aug 14 08

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Most commonly known as the front man of the rock band Weezer, Rivers Cuomo has recently released Alone: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo. The CD features unreleased material and demos that he recorded by himself between the years 1984 and 2007. Most of the songs on this CD were created in solitude throughout his musical career and are just a small sample of the hundreds of songs he has recorded without his band Weezer.
River Cuomo actually tried to release a CD of this nature years ago but the record companies discouraged him from doing so, most likely because they wanted Weezer to become more established. Although a lot of unreleased material has become available on the internet, there is plenty that has not been heard by anyone. This CD is full of tracks that even some diehard fans may not have gotten their hands on yet.
Starting off the CD is a track simply titled “Ooh”. Recorded in 1992, it sounds like the beginning to a Radiohead as the vocals resemble Thom Yorke. Rivers Cuomo states in the CD insert that he wrote this piece as a vocal exercise and admits it is a rip off from Smetana’s “Moldau”.
Covering “The World We Love So Much” by Gregg Alexander (New Radicals) just seems so right. Although I have never heard of this song before, I can hear the sadness in it and I now grow curious of the Gregg Alexander catalog. I remember New Radicals and I still listen to them, but this is years before that. The soft acoustic guitar with River Cuomo’s raspy yelling almost reminds me of an acoustic Nirvana track. This is one of my favorites off the CD.

I love it when rap songs are covered by rock bands and Ice Cube’s “The Bomb” is no exception.

I love it when rap songs are covered by rock bands and Ice Cube’s “The Bomb” is no exception. Hearing a skinny white boy rock out to a gangster classic is simply genus. Just hearing Rivers Cuomo scream and yell, almost like something the Beastie Boys might have done in their younger punk years, is just so appealing.
Clearly sounding like a b-side to The Blue Album is “Lemonade”. Then there is the demo of “Buddy Holly”, a slowed down version of the now classic track. It sounds much better with a faster tempo. The catchy jam “Chess” is another track written around the time of The Blue Album that didn't find a home until now. Rivers Cuomo stated he wrote this song in the middle of all of the hit songs on The Blue Album. For some reason he did not see it fitting the album, but I still enjoyed listening to it.
Sounding like a Ben Folds song comes “Longtime Sunshine” complete with a beginners attempt at clarinet. This song really stands out to me on this CD as more of a personal suggestion of Rivers Cuomo’s pastime.

For any true Weezer fan who knows about the rock musical Songs From The Black Hole you are in for a treat. The unfinished album may have never hit shelves but some of the songs appear on this album including “Blast Off!” This is an entertaining track sounding a lot like happy Weezer but with some electronic vocals making for a more experimental track over a rock song.
“Who You Calling Bitch” is another track that comes from Songs From The Black Hole. This track is more of a demo of a musical track featuring an angry female character.
For anyone who remembers the alternative movie 90’s Angus you might remember Weezer being on the soundtrack. “Wanda (You’re My Only Love)” was a song written for the movie but scrapped because it was not as upbeat as other Weezer songs. This is a pretty depressing song and if you had seen that movie you might agree with me in saying it should have been included.
“Crazy One” is another more personal song for Rivers Cuomo. It is about a past relationship with a girl who he really liked. Unfortunately the roommate of the girl intervened and the result was this well written, Beatles-like song.
“This Is The Way” was written during the creation of the latest Rick Ruban produced sixth Weezer album to be released in 2008. Even though everyone loved the song according to the CD inset, it never made it to the track listing. It is really different from your typical Weezer songs. This sound is more pop rock with a tad of R&B to it. I agree with everyone else and think the song is great and am happy it at least made it to this CD to be heard by all.
Taking it back to the very first Rivers Cuomo band is “I Wish You Had An Axe Guitar”. This recording was taken in 1984 with Rivers Cuomo and friends in a band called Fury. It is hilarious to hear these kids talk about wanting to look like Kiss and have axe guitars.
Finishing off the album is “I was Made For You,” a very melodic love song. It is about a female musician Rivers Cuomo met while at UCLA. This track, as stated in the CD insert, was recorded in solitude as Rivers Cuomo wanted to be alone as he recorded this cry to love.
Where I have not been nearly as excited by the last couple Weezer releases, I can honestly say that this CD makes up for the over hyped songs that were a little to poppy for me. I like Rivers Cuomos' solitude recordings as they are very genuine. Also hearing some tracks from Songs From The Black Holecured my curiosity. really hope one day they decide to finish that album.
Be sure to also take a moment and read the CD insert as he talks about each track on the album. It is really an interesting read from a gentleman who at times seems so mysterious. You kind of have a better understanding of the song once you discover how he came upon discovering it.
Overall this is a great CD full of music that may have never made it to feature releases by Weezer but certainly deserves to be heard by any fan. As many know Rivers Cuomo is a very interesting and intelligent individual and I am thrilled that he decided to release Alone: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo.