11: 17 Beautiful Demons
From the Black Room
January 1998
Another sub-minute sketch from Rivers’ romantic/droney/Oasis period. This acoustic sample is the first of four on the tape labeled Beautiful Demons, all seemingly part of a song Rivers would officially catalog on February 20 1998. This bit of the song is sweet and melodic. Definitely a teaser for more.
⭐️⭐️
12: No One Else (Monterey Jack)
From The Blue-Pinkerton Years
August 1992
When I first heard No One Else shortly after cracking open my Blue Album CD, I fell in love with Weezer. I absolutely loved the sound of the song and still do to this day.
It was also a song that had an incredible influence on the band’s sound. After Rivers produced the demo in August 1992, the band spent some time debating whether to stray from a Pixies-influenced sound or into a No One Else-inspired and into a more pop-oriented direction. So they went down the No One Else road and it changed their sound for the better.
The original demo by Rivers is structurally similar to the completed song. But the tempo is slower. The pop feel is there, but it’s not quite yet the song that it will be. Having said that, the demo is still a very good listen.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
13: He’s My Sweetheart
From The Blue-Pinkerton Years
October 5, 1992
If he were born 100 years earlier, Rivers Cuomo would have been a barbershop quartet superstar. Weezer used to do vocal warmups to barbershop and even had a barbershop tune, My Evaline, as a B-side on the Undone (The Sweater Song) single. And there are a handful of barbershop numbers (with Rivers performing all four tracks) in his home recordings.
He’s My Sweetheart is a short little ditty seemingly about friend of the band Patrick Finn. It’s a sweet little tune and it’s nice to see Rivers branch out.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
14 Crazy Rock n Rollers
From Pre-Weezer
October 1991
For years, all Weezer fans had of Crazy Rock n Rollers was a handwritten lyrics sheet and a notation from band historian Karl Koch that with this song, “Rivers was starting to explore some new writing style. “Not so “giddy,” a little more “serious.””
There is a serious element to this song. It’s about a man living up on a hill who doesn’t get the ‘crazy rock n rollers.’ He goes to join them and still doesn’t get it. It doesn’t feel like there’s an ending to the song. The last line of the song is ‘and in his defense he said,’ before the song just fades out. (And contrary to fan belief, the ‘We will/not end up in bed’ scrawled on the lyrics sheet is not part of the song).
Despite the seriousness and truncated nature of the song, it’s still a bouncy catchy tune. And despite writing a song about an old guy who didn’t get the kids, the writer of this song ended up being one of the best crazy rock n rollers.
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2⭐️
15 Ballsy
From EWBAITE
2013
Rivers Cuomo played with a lot of styles and ideas in the time between Hurley and Everything Will Be Alright in the End.
Ballsy is a riff-oriented pop jam that doesn’t quite go anywhere. The theme (married guy having a platonic meeting with an attached woman) and chords would be reused on Pacific Daydream’s Mexican Fender. But outside of the opening riff and title, nothing about Ballsy particularly stands out in the song’s 1:38 runtime.
⭐️⭐️
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