Weezer's new album, Raditude, adds a few surprises to the traditional Weezer format, but doesn't move far from the Weezer that fans know and love.
The album starts off strong with ""(If You're Wondering If I Want You To, I Want You To)."" From the first strum of the guitar, Weezer sets the tone for a good album. The band released the song earlier this year, which helped give a preview of the album well before it came out. The track blends singing and spoken word, which mixes well with the backing instrumentals.
The rest of the album is exceptional, with the same Weezer sound fans are familiar with. The songs ""I'm Your Daddy"" and ""Girl Got Hot"" are both full of familiar beats, but the songs still distinguish themselves from songs on Weezer's past albums. These are songs worth blasting in the car or playing as you get ready for the day.
Raditude adds a twist when a certain well-known artist makes an appearance on ""Can't Stop Partying."" The song is remarkable to begin with and hardly needs any tweaking, but the guest artist, the one and only Weezy F. Baby (Lil Wayne) really adds to the track. Besides the fact that their names are similar, no one would think to mix Weezy and Weezer's sounds. However, the two sounds mash up perfectly and make ""Cant Stop Partying"" the standout track on the album.
The other twist on Raditude comes two songs later with a Hindi version of the Weezer standby ""Love Is the Answer.""
While the track provides a good contrast to the rest of the album, it is so different that instead of differing a little bit with the rest of Raditude, it just clashes. Weezer mixing with Lil Wayne works. Weezer mixing with Hindu does not.
Weezer slows the pace down only once on the album with ""I Don't Want to Let You Go,"" a traditional love song but without the sappiness. It is a decent slower track, but it is probably best that it is the only slow song. Weezer does a phenomenal job keeping their tracks upbeat and not over the top, that they really don't need a slower track on the album at all.
Other than the revamped ""Love is the Answer,"" the only other disappointing track on Raditude is ""Turn Me Around."" The vocals sound off, and it is the most unsatisfying track on the album.
The deluxe version of Raditude includes three bonus tracks that aren't available on Weezer's MySpace, making the album a must-buy. By combining many of their most basic musical elements with a few daring style changes, Weezer has once again made an enjoyable album almost anyone will love.
