Weezer (The Blue Album) By Weezer (1999-03-20)

Groovy Man just Groovy

This review is for the vinyl version, not the album itself, which is great. The pressing quality overall is pretty good -- clean, good dynamics, good mastering... BUT the Side B pressing is VERY off center (at least a couple of millimeters back and forth). I ordered a replacement because I hoped the first one I received was just a fluke. Nope, the second one was just as bad. It's bad enough that you can hear it affecting tracking force back and forth, sounds like a whoosh in alternating channels as the LP rotates. If I'd paid any more than ten bucks for it, I wouldn't keep it.

This review is for the standard Geffen pressing that was released in October 2016, not the MSFL pressing. If you don't know, this album is an alt-power-pop classic, one of the greatest albums of the 90s. As for the pressing: the vinyl is quiet with great clarity, no clipping, and really open sound. I noticed that the art is a little grainy, but looking at the CD I bought in 1994, it was kind of grainy there, too. Blowing it up probably emphasizes it. Over all, a really nice pressing and a great value at under $20. If you don't have it on vinyl, it's a no-brainer!

Music reviews are kind of strange, especially vinyls in today's day and age. If you're buying a vinyl album, chances are you already love the album. So rather than write a review about the album, I'll try and make this more about the quality and value of the vinyl. The packaging is well done and the case is vibrant. As someone who's just starting a vinyl collection, it's comforting to feel like the hardware will stand the tests of time. The mastering is fantastic, I even found myself picking out some nuances that I hadn't heard, despite listening to this album 100+ times in my youth. I will say though, the price tag is rather steep (~$40 at the time of purchase) when compared to other vinyls. I purchased Kid A by Radiohead and Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd from amazon on the same day, and the Blue Album was more expensive than both combined.

Specifically reviewing the MoFi vinyl AAA remaster of this album....I was in high school when this album came out and was never a massive Weezer fan, never hated or loved them, but I always thought they had good electric guitar sounds, and therefore this would probably be an album worth hearing all-analog. I was right. You can crank this record up and it will never sound harsh, just thick and meaty. There are a number of good songs on this record, and there absolutely is a fun vibe to it (while also dark at times). This pressing was done a little bit on the quiet side, and therefore some surface noise and crackle is evident (yes, I played it multiple times to "polish" the groove like MoFi suggests), and the mastering is darker than the original mastering, but in some ways it's better, as this version sounds very smooth and listenable and not fatiguing on the ears. I take off 1 star for the noisiness of the vinyl and the fact that they weren't true to the original mastering work. I never bothered listening to the cheaper and more available DMM vinyl, as this MoFi version is actually all-analog, and when it comes to spending money on vinyl, it better be all analog or else there isn't a ton of reason to buy it over the CD.

This is a great album. I was never a huge Weezer fan, I liked the Sweater Song but that was about the extent of my Weezer knowledge. I always liked bands like Pearl Jam, Radiohead and Nirvana and didn't love Weezer's sound for some reason but I now realize that I didn't give them a real chance.My 4 year old son has been into music since before he was 12 months (he used to know every CD we had and would demand songs--if a song he didn't like came on the radio he would get upset and make a car ride miserable). He loves bands like Greenday and Coldplay that I had not appreciated much before. He heard a few Weezer songs on the radio and wanted a Weezer album so we bought this one.This album has made me appreciate the band. It album is very solid. Not one song on here is bad, they all have merit. It is very solid and consistent. I am now a Weezer fan thanks to my 4 year old son (and a Coldplay fan and a Greenday fan and an Imagine Dragons fan). He is usually right about music and this is no exception.

This is a review of the 2016 press. The first LP I got was presed off center and on side A it caused a noise on every rotation. I got replacement and side A is fine but side B has major distortion/noise all through out the B side but really bad the first 60 seconds or so. I got another replacemt and its like the 2nd one with all the noise but not as bad but still really annoying. I will be looking for an older press of this album now.Where is the quality control at with all of these new albums being pressed? I never had problems like this before. Some of do listen to the album and just don't "collect" them.

Lots of people are complaining about the record being warped and songs not playing well do to this issue. Not for me. The album played fine. The Album is a SOLID blue vinyl and i have seen pictures looking different but I love how this looks.But why the 4 Star rating? Whenever I listen to a record on Vinyl I love the sound it produces, i dont own any MoFi records untill this one and i was just disappointed... I owned this album on CD along with buying the much clearer and better sounding Deluxe version on CD. I expected this to sound just as good if not better... Nope, i think the CD version Non Deluxe sounded better. This was just really really really warm, almost flat sounding. Some songs sounded better but as far as sound quality i was disappointed. I dont think ill ever spend the extra cash on a MoFi album again after this. Just didnt think it was worth it.All in all i still LOVE this album, idk how many times ive listened to this over the years and i still Prefer to listen to this on this vinyl but save the money and dont buy this version. Its not worth the extra $$