Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo explained

Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Type:	compilation
Artist:	Rivers Cuomo
Cover:	RiversII.jpg
Released:	November 25, 2008
Recorded:	1992–2008
Genre:	Alternative rock, lo-fi
Length:	58:49
Label:	Geffen
Prev Year:	2007
Next Year:	2009

Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo is a compilation album by the Weezer songwriter Rivers Cuomo. It is Cuomo's second compilation of demos, after , and includes material written for Weezer's unfinished album Songs From the Black Hole. Alone II debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart with first-week sales of 6,000.^[1] It was followed by (2011).

Background

Rivers Cuomo has recorded a great deal of unreleased material, nearly 800 songs.^[2] This material was recorded with Weezer, earlier bands, and self-recorded demos.^[3] Of these songs, 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,^[4] ^[5] ^[6] various songs from Weezer's abandoned Songs from the Black Hole album,^[7] over a hundred songs he composed and demoed throughout 1999^[8] ^[9] ^[10] (songs which he has described as ranging from "drone-y romantic," "abrasive dissonance" and "riffy pop-rock"^[11]) and over a hundred songs that didn't make the cut for Make Believe.^[12] ^[13]

The idea for the demo collection was made 10 years previously, when Cuomo had brought up the idea to his record company. However, they discouraged him from the idea because they didn't want to "dilute the Weezer name" by putting out less polished material.^[14] It wasn't until 10 years later that Cuomo pushed harder for the collection and it gained enough support for a release.^[15]

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

Artwork and liner notes

The album's cover photo was taken while Cuomo was in high school for his senior portrait. Cuomo elaborated on the photo session:

Much like the first Alone album, Alone II features liner notes. These notes provide detailed descriptions and insight into where Cuomo draws inspiration to write and arrange his music, specifically stating the time and dates where songs were written.^[16] Cuomo commented on the liner notes:

Track origins

"Victory on the Hill" is an all-trumpet instrumental written and performed by Cuomo in late 1993. Its all-trumpet sequel, "Defeat on the Hill", was written and recorded between touring for Weezer (The Blue Album) in mid-1994.^[17]
"I Want to Take You Home Tonight" was recorded in 2002.^[18]
"Paper Face" was recorded in 1992. A full-band demo was released on the deluxe version of Weezer (The Blue Album).
"Don't Worry Baby" and "The Purification of Water" were recorded in 1992 and 1993 before the release of the band's debut album, Weezer (The Blue Album).
"I'll Think About You" was originally written in 1994 and later a contender for the never-released Homie album. The recording featured on this collection was recorded in 1997.
"Walt Disney" and "Harvard Blues" were recorded in 1995.
"Come to My Pod", "Oh Jonas" and "Please Remember" were recorded for Songs from the Black Hole, recorded in 1995.
"The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World" was recorded in 1997 during the band's hiatus as an early contender for 2001's Weezer (The Green Album). A new version ended up on Raditude as a bonus track.
"I Was Scared" was recorded in 2003 as an early contender for Make Believe.
"My Day is Coming" and "I Don't Wanna Let You Go" were recorded in 2006 and 2007, before the release of Weezer (The Red Album). "I Don't Wanna Let You Go" ended up as the closing track the Weezer's 2009 album Raditude.
"Can't Stop Partying" was written by Jermaine Dupri with additional work and writing by Cuomo, and was demoed in 2008. A version of the song appeared on Weezer's studio album Raditude featuring Lil Wayne.^[19]
"Cold and Damp" was recorded in 1999.^[20]

Notes and References

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266147/the-billboard-qa-rivers-cuomo
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .
Web site: Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006 . 2008-01-29 . Weezer.com .
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 .
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 .
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 .
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. 2008-01-28. dead.
Web site: Koch. Karl. 10/31/08 The Haunted Secret of Weezer Mansion. Weezer.com. 2008-10-31. 2008-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20081210180954/http://www.weezer.com/news/default.aspx/nid/14397. 2008-12-10. dead.
Web site: Koch . Karl . The Weezer Recording History: Page 6 . Weezer.com . 2008-01-29 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090106195239/http://makebelieve.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist6.htm . 2009-01-06 . dead .
Web site: The 4 and 5 Star Demos of Rivers Cuomo. Cuomo. Rivers. 2008-07-24. Riverscuomo.com. 2008-01-29. https://web.archive.org/web/20111005171321/http://weezerpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=The_4_and_5_Star_Demos_of_Rivers_Cuomo. 2011-10-05. dead.
Web site: Rivers Cuomo Talks Alone II, Weezer, That Hair. Thompson. Paul. 2008-10-27. Pitchfork Media. https://web.archive.org/web/20081030030539/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/146861-rivers-cuomo-talks-alone-ii-weezer-that-hair. 30 October 2008 . live. 2016-01-23.
Web site: Weezer Recording History . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070109074013/http://www.weezer.com/info/recording/WeezRecHist11.htm . 2007-01-09 .