Weezer - s/t (aka The Green Album)

I began to realize with Weezer's Green Album that they had a habit of releasing albums at crucial points in my life. The Blue Album unlocked my brain to all the possibilities of music, so it would have been timely whenever it arrived. It just happened to come when I was learning to not be a social retard anymore. Pinkerton came in my pivotal senior year of high school and really helped guide some of the big decisions I made at the time. The Green Album came right after I got home from my mission and was having a hard time adjusting back to civilian life. Maladroit came out when I moved from a small town to the big city, and helped calm my nerves in a turbulent and trying time of my life. Make Believe came out right as I was graduating from college and was suffering a quarter-life crisis (all my friends were going through the same thing as well. It was weird). The Red Album came out as I was getting married. Raditude came out right after we found out that my wife was pregnant with our first child. Hurley came out when my wife and I both lost our jobs. We were living on savings at the time, couldn't get a single job interview between us, and nearly had to move in with my parents. So yeah, Weezer has always been there for me. As if I didn't have enough of an irrational reason to love this band.

Anyway, The Green Album came out after years of Weezer inactivity where rumors swirled about the band breaking up. In stark contrast to Pinkerton, Rivers set out to make a completely emotionally detached album. None of the songs have anything to do with anything that he has ever experienced in his life. If The Green Album accomplished anything for Rivers, it taught him that he didn't have to go through a personal hell in order to write great songs.

The Green Albums always flies by in a complete blur. The songs tend to be short, and they're all pretty simple. Every guitar solo on this album is a restatement of the verse. It's a very simple formula, but it's shockingly effective. This album was exactly what I needed once upon a time, so I'll never stop loving it.