6: Two to Tango
From Pre-Weezer
November 1991
Rivers’ early demos are all over the place in terms of musical style. And there’s nothing wrong with that. There are some enjoyable songs where the only drawback is that the quality may not be as good as some of his later recordings. T
wo to Tango is a slow atmospheric jam with some definite promise. And this is an early version of the song, with Rivers barking out instructions (to himself, most likely) in the middle.
Some may call that kind of thing unprofessional, but I like that, especially in home demos like this.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2⭐️
7: pretty great piano melody 2-7-2013 8
From EWBAITE
February 7, 2013
In light of today’s news I’m foregoing the random number generator and picking the single little bit of music we know will be on Weezer’s upcoming OK Human.
Pretty Great Piano Melody is a seven-minute long sketch of Rivers improvising on the piano with a metronome in the background.
The melody will be part of OK Human’s second track, Aloo Gobi.
Rivers snuck it in the EWBAITE bundle despite him saying he wouldn’t include demos to be used in future Weezer releases.
The melody itself is, as the title says, pretty great. But the idea of this whole project is to rank the demo files as actual songs (as in how would they sound on the radio or on an album) and not their potential.
So because it’s a seven minute track of Rivers noodling on the piano focused on the same melody over and over, the rating might seem a bit harsh.
Having said that, there’s been a lot said about Weezer’s ‘masterpiece’ album – heavier songs (in terms of subjects), orchestral backing. But knowing there’s a melody like this on OK Human, something melodic (which is classic Weezer) has me looking forward to the album even more.
⭐️1/2⭐️
8: You Stupid Piece of Shit (168)
From the Green Years
Early 2000
When Weezer returned to action in 2000 after a multi-year hiatus, one of the new potential song titles that got fans’ attention was ‘The Ska Song.’
Fans got even more interested in this
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
9: Since You Came Around 15
The White Year
2015
Jacked Up is one of the best songs on Weezer’s White Album. The song’s bridge is unexpected; sounding completely different from the rest of Jacked Up and taking the tune to a whole new level.
It turns out Rivers took the bridge from a completely different song, Since You Came Around, another White Album contender. SYCA evolved from a concept Rivers had called Hawaii.
Unlike most of the other White Year demos, all the versions of SYCA contain full instrumentation.
And it’s a good laid back song on its own. Even though Rivers used the tune as the bridge for another song, the concept (how someone else changed his life) would go on to be used on Sweet Mary from Pacific Daydream.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2⭐️
10: 88 Piano and Melody
From The Black Room
May 1998
Some of Rivers’ demo bundles (most notably White Year, EWBAITE and Black Room) have a lot of sketches or voice memos, short clips where Rivers is working something out. And this is the first one of these addressed by this project.
Back in 1998, Rivers was still searching for a new sound for Weezer. He ended the previous year interested in drone rock, then shifted to Beatles/Oasis-style melodies (before landing on a final phase which would be way different).
The early 1998 time period features the fewest fleshed out songs of any time period in the released demo catalog. Most of what’s available are snippets or sketches.
88 Piano and Melody has potential. It’s sweet and melodic. But it’s only 42 seconds.
⭐️1/2⭐️
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