Weezer (commonly known as the Blue Album) is the debut studio album by the rock band Weezer, released on May 10, 1994, by DGC Records. It was produced by Ric Ocasek.
Weezer formed in Los Angeles in 1992, and initially struggled to engage audiences, who were more interested in grunge. In November, they recorded a demo, The Kitchen Tape, which brought them to the attention of DGC owner Geffen Records. Urged to choose a producer instead of self producing, Weezer selected Ocasek for his work with the Cars. Most of the album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City between August and September 1993. The group treated the guitars and bass as a single, 10-string instrument, playing in unison. Guitarist Jason Cropper was fired during recording, as the band felt he was threatening their chemistry; he was replaced by Brian Bell.
Weezer was supported by the singles (Undone )The Sweater Song, Buddy Holly, and Say It Ain’t So, whose music videos became MTV hits. It reached number sixteen on the US Billboard 200, and was certified triple platinum in 1995. It remains Weezer‘s best selling album, having sold at least 3.3 million copies in the U.S. and over 15 million copies worldwide by 2009. It received critical acclaim, and in 2020 Rolling Stone ranked it number 294 on its updated list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Tracklist:
- My Name Is Jonas
- No One Else
- The World Has Turned and Left Me Here
- Buddy Holly
- Undone The Sweater Song
- Surf Wax America
- Say It Ain’t So
- In the Garage
- Holiday
- Only in Dreams
Weezer
Rivers Cuomo: lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, harmonica
Patrick Wilson: drums
Brian Bell: rhythm guitar (credit only), backing vocals
Matt Sharp: bass, backing vocals
Additional musicians
Mykel Allan: spoken intermission on “Undone: The Sweater Song”
Karl Koch: dialogue, piano outro on “Undone: The Sweater Song”
Production
Ric Ocasek: producer
Chris Shaw: engineer
Hal Belknap: assistant engineer
David Heglmeier: assistant engineer
Daniel Smith: assistant engineer
Michael Golob: art direction
Peter Gowland, Peter Orth: photographer
Karl Koch: designer
Todd Sullivan: A&R
George Marino: mastering
