Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo explained

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Type:compilation
Artist:Rivers Cuomo
Cover:Rivers_Cuomo_Alone_Cover.jpg
Released:December 18, 2007
Recorded:1984, 1992–2007
Length:45:38
Label:Geffen
Next Year:2008

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo is a compilation album by American musician and Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo. It was released on December 18, 2007 by Geffen Records.[1] It is available as a digital release, CD release and 12" vinyl (released on January 8, 2008). The album features home demos that Cuomo has recorded from 1992–2007.[2]

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo leaked online on December 12, 2007.[3] When released, it opened with sales of 14,000, and debuted at #163 on the US Billboard 200.[4] The album also topped the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart.[5] The album had sold 43,000 copies as of December 2008.[6] It was followed by (2008) and (2011).

Background

Rivers Cuomo has long been known by fans to have recorded a great deal of unreleased material, nearly 800 songs in his lifetime.[7] This material was recorded with Weezer, earlier bands, and self-recorded demos.[8] Despite the large amount of unreleased material that has been made available by Cuomo on the internet, large chunks of his work remain unheard by fans. These include certain demos for The Blue Album,[9] [10] [11] various songs from the scrapped Songs from the Black Hole project,[12] over a hundred songs he composed and demoed throughout 1999[13] [14] [15] (songs which he has described as ranging from "drone-y Romantic," "abrasive dissonance" and "riffy pop-rock"[16]) and well over a hundred songs that didn't make the cut for Make Believe.[17] [18]

Cuomo brought up the idea for the compilation album to his record company in 1998. However, they discouraged him from the idea because they didn't want to "dilute the Weezer name" by putting out less polished material.[19] It was not until 10 years later that Cuomo pushed harder for the collection and it gained enough support for a release.[20]

There were some legal issues between Cuomo and Geffen about releasing the album:

Song selection

When deciding on the track listing, Cuomo listened to a great deal of his past recordings. He described choosing the songs to be very difficult. However, he knew very early in the process to include "Blast Off!" and other tracks from the aborted Songs from the Black Hole because of the well-known high demand from fans for these songs.[19] [21] "I knew 'Blast Off' and some of these other Songs from The Black Hole had to be on there, because for years Weezer fans have been wanting to hear these songs, and I knew if I put out the album without these songs on there, they would hunt me down and kill me."[20] Cuomo also considered releasing the entire Songs from the Black Hole album, but felt it wasn't right considering most of the songs have been released anyway, either as songs on Pinkerton or otherwise:

Artwork and liner notes

The album's cover photo was taken by Weezer's webmaster, friend, and historian Karl Koch. It was taken in 1993 in a rehearsal studio during The Blue Album era.[22] The original photograph featured Weezer guitarist Brian Bell, but he was cropped out for the album cover.[23] Other photos were taken by Robert Fisher, Julie Kramer, Beverly Shoenberger, and by Cuomo himself.[24] The pictures were taken during various periods of Cuomo's life.[24]

While reviewing the album, Pitchforks Jason Crock described the inside cover:

The album's liner notes featured detailed descriptions and offered much insight into where Cuomo draws inspiration to write and arrange his music, specifically stating the time and dates where songs were written.[25] [26] Pete Townshend of The Who is specifically thanked in the liner notes "for paving the way with his Scoop series."[24]

Music videos

On January 6, 2008, Cuomo announced on his MySpace blog that he would be making a video for the song "Blast Off!"[27] The video, which also features Alone track "Ooh," premiered on January 11, 2008 on Yahoo![28]

On March 19, 2008, a music video for "Lover in the Snow" was released via Rivers' MySpace page.

Reception

Alone was positively received by critics.[29] Highly praising the album, AllMusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five, stating, "...Alone will stand as an idiosyncratic gem in his catalog, showcasing him at his eccentric best."[30] Pitchfork gave Alone a positive review, stating "[The Album] remind[s] us why we fell for dorks with horn-rimmed glasses and flying-V guitars in the first place,' and that, 'If nothing else, Alone reminds us that a lot of those over-ambitious, silly-on-paper ideas often blossomed in Cuomo's hands, and [that] there was more to Weezer in their early days than just crisp power-pop and cute videos.'" PopMatters claimed that the album featured "some of the strongest material that Cuomo has ever recorded."[26]

Additional archival recordings

On December 27, 2007, Cuomo stated "I would love to put out at least one more, I'm talking with the record company (now) to figure out what's the best way for me to get more of this stuff out, and if they're gonna be involved or not. But it's certainly my hope to put out as much of this stuff as I can."[31]

Cuomo continued to release past recordings, beginning with Alone II.

Track listing

Track origins

All information is taken from the liner notes.[24]

Changes from earlier versions

Personnel

All information is taken from the liner notes.[24]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kharas . Kev . Weezer's Rivers Cuomo to release solo album . 16 October 2007 . . 2007-10-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20071017051234/http://drownedinsound.com/articles/2494715. 17 October 2007 . live.
  2. Web site: Zeiss . John . Rivers Cuomo to release demo collection . Prefix Magazine . 2007-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071016233553/http://www.prefixmag.com/blog/rivers-cuomo-alone-demos/7539 . 2007-10-16 . dead .
  3. Web site: Hurme . Hanna . Whether You Like It Or Not, Rivers Cuomo Won't Leave You Alone . Cinema Blend . 2007-12-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20071216061046/http://www.cinemablend.com/music/Whether-You-Like-It-Or-Not-Rivers-Cuomo-Won-t-Leave-You-Alone-7763.html. 16 December 2007 . live.
  4. Web site: Jenison . David . Groban's Gain, Blige's Pain on Charts . . 2008-01-04.
  5. [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1266691|pure_url=yes}} Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo: Charts & Awards ]. . 2007-04-07.
  6. http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266147/the-billboard-qa-rivers-cuomo
  7. Web site: The RCDotCom Archive . 2008-01-29 . weezed.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20070912031729/http://www.weezed.com/rc/old/indexx.html . 2007-09-12 . dead .
  8. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 1 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081011084330/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist1.htm . 2008-10-11 .
  9. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 3 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081120212956/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist3.htm . 2008-11-20 .
  10. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 4 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106142142/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist4.htm . 2009-01-06 .
  11. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 5 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081120205138/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist5.htm . 2008-11-20 .
  12. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 7 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106170020/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist7.htm . 2009-01-06 .
  13. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 10 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081120214535/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist10.htm . 2008-11-20 .
  14. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 11 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081120200647/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist11.htm . 2008-11-20 .
  15. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 12 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090107005159/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist12.htm . 2009-01-07 .
  16. Web site: Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006 . 2008-01-29 . Weezer.com .
  17. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 14 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106171641/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist14.htm . 2009-01-06 .
  18. Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 15 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106191837/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist15.htm . 2009-01-06 .
  19. Heisel . Scott . Web Exclusive: A conversation with Rivers Cuomo . . 2007-11-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071107090525/http://altpress.com/features/111.htm . 7 November 2007 . dead .
  20. Web site: Rivers Cuomo Interview with the Japanese Press. riverspodcast.com. 2008-01-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20080128140024/http://www.riverspodcast.com/Podcast/B1AC2E3A-7A63-44B3-A150-8C3257D1CE57.html. 28 January 2008. dead. dmy-all.
  21. Web site: Crock . Jason . Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Rivers Cuomo . . 2008-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080131064154/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/48163-interview-rivers-cuomo . 31 January 2008 . dead .
  22. Web site: Koch . Karl . 11/13/07 Alone: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo . Weezer.com . 2008-03-12 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081226001636/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/community/news_comment.asp?ParentAssetID=1605277&ArtistID=479&Start=&FullStory=Y&type= . 2008-12-26 .
  23. Web site: Rivers' Alone Leaks, Pitchfork Doesn't Hate It . https://web.archive.org/web/20071222140044/http://www.twelvemajorchords.com/?p=789 . dead . 2007-12-22 . Twelve Major Chords . 2007-03-17 .
  24. Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo booklet and liner notes
  25. Web site: Weezer's Rivers Cuomo to Release Record of Demo Tracks. Geffen. 2007-10-30. https://web.archive.org/web/20080906190949/http://www.geffen.com/artist/news/default.aspx/nid/12141/aid/372. 2008-09-06. dead.
  26. Sawdey . Evan . Rivers Cuomo: Alone - Popmatters Music Review . . 2007-12-20.
  27. Web site: Kimmich . Peter . Rivers Cuomo Releases Video, Is Still Cool . Cinema Blend . 2008-01-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20080116145242/http://www.cinemablend.com/music/Rivers-Cuomo-Releases-Video-Is-Still-Cool-8254.html. 16 January 2008 . live.
  28. Web site: Koch . Karl . 01/09/08 Blast Off! up to Yahoo! . Weezer.com . 2008-01-14 .
  29. Web site: Rivers Cuomo: Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2007): Reviews . . 2007-12-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20071221164746/http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/cuomorivers/alone. 21 December 2007 . live.
  30. Web site: Erlewine . Stephen Thomas . [{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r1266691|pure_url=yes}} Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo > Overview ]. . 2007-12-20.
  31. Graff . Gary . Cuomo Keen On Archival Releases, New Weezer CD . . 2008-01-04. https://web.archive.org/web/20071230073337/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1046974/cuomo-keen-on-archival-releases-new-weezer-cd. 30 December 2007 . live.

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