Weezer - Blue Album

Weezer's Blue Album was released in May of 1994 as their debut album. Frontman Rivers Coumo did the majority of the composing on this album, but the studio brought in Ric Ocasek of Cars. Ocasek helped them create their bright sounds they are well known for now. 

The album rode the charts topping out at number sixteen, with the singles Undone - The Sweater Song, Buddy Holly, and Say it Ain't So. They have sold 3.3 million copies in the US and over 15 million worldwide as of 2009. 

Looking back on the time this was released, it was much needed the month after Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain passed on. The music world may have been looking for a brighter spot in a sea of despair at that time. I can remember how upset people were when Kurt passed away, and then this album, bright and poppy, yet feels familiar even though it was brand new. Rivers Coumo has proved time and time again that this album was just the beginning of many great albums to come... interestingly enough, many of them self titled, defined only by color. 

The album opens up with My Name Is Jonas, a song about River's brother, Leaves Coumo. A very poppy take on the grunge sound that had been around for the last several years. As the record progresses, we get to Buddy Holly. Rivers in Weezerpedia goes on to talk about walking across campus thinking of the lyrics. He had a friend who the rest of the bandmates would give a rough time, those were the homies dissing my girl. It initially was played slower, but they speed it up in mastering. 

Following is Undone - The Sweater Song another single that placed them firmly in peoples minds. This was the first single they released and the faith track on the album. Rivers states that it was a sad song, but everyone thinks it's hilarious. It was inspired by Einstein saying that if you pull a string on a sweater, everything comes undone. In 2009 Rivers admitted to the song being an almost complete ripoff of Metallica's Sanitarium. When he picked up his acoustic guitar, it just came out as that riff. 

The album has several other songs that are all just as catchy, some a little forgettable until you hear them again. It ends with Only in Dreams, an eight-minute slow song that ends opposite of what the rest of the album is, poppy, punky, full of hope. Only in Dreams sort of drags on, but not in a bad way. After the fast pace of the rest of the albums, it's like it is there to bring you back down to earth with a lullaby. 

Overall, this album is worth the buy and definitely a classic to keep in your library. I had this on cassette back in high school, and I have it on CD now. Getting it on vinyl record was on the list, and I am glad I did. This particular pressing was not bad, but it did have a few hiccups along the way. Even after cleaning the record, there were a few spots that the audio fell out. If you can't get an original copy, I would recommend you pick up this 2016 copy though, it's worth the $12.99 I paid. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer_(Blue_Album)

https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/My_Name_Is_Jonas

https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Undone_-_The_Sweater_Song

https://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/Buddy_Holly

Sony StrDH190 2-channel Audio Receiver

The Sony StrDH190 is a budget audio receiver that for less than $150 on Amazon will blow your socks off. For that price, you get a 2-channel amp with radio, phono, tape, and CD inputs along with Bluetooth. Currently, I am listening to this wonderful little amp with Spotify playing over Bluetooth from the laptop while I write this review. 

I've had this amp for a couple years now, having paid $90 for an open box deal on Amazon. It only has spring-loaded clips in the rear for speakers, so if you plan on running a sub, you'll need an active one with a built-in amp, to hook the speakers up. But if like me, the way you want to use this amp is just a couple bookshelf speakers, then you are in luck. Pair these with some budget Polks or Klipsch speakers and you're winning for less than $300 if you only want to use Bluetooth. 

The amp comes with a few features, like Pure Direct, which when turned off seems to lessen the sound overall, turning down the bass and treble. It comes with basic bass and treble adjustments, that are surprisingly useful. I suggest turning them up all the way to get a fuller sound. This is not an audiophile-grade amplifier, but it is Mid-Fi and a great start to someone wanting to get into the audio game. 

For $150 you get the core of your system that you easily add thrift store bargain components to and be able to listen to the tunes on your phone or laptop while you wait to find them. This brain amp even comes with a phono connection, which is becoming increasingly rare today. Buying a vintage turntable will more than likely not have a preamp built-in, so this will satisfy that need. For me, I have a turntable that has a built-in pre-amp, which means I have to hook it up to Input 1 so I don't get a loud over-amplified sound. But for a couple years, this amp was my daily workhorse, powering my dual cassette deck, CD player, MiniDisc recorder, and turntable. Be aware though that hooking an equalizer to it, like many other amps, will be confusing and take a couple hours work to figure out what is needing to be plugged in at what point. 

Overall, this has been a great amp. When I upgraded my system in the living room to a larger set of speakers and sub with a center, I moved up to an AVR amp, but couldn't bear to sell this one-off. So for the moment, it is used in the office, connected via Bluetooth to the laptop. I might add some more components to it later, maybe I'll reunite it with my old components as I upgrade them downstairs.