Weezer – Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)
Deluxe Edition doesn’t offer any real initiative to purchase it unless one isn’t familiar with Pinkerton, in which case the bonus tracks are just like icing on a cake
Weezer’s Pinkerton, released in 1996 is a classic of the band’s catalogue, but this review isn’t rating the actual Pinkerton album, but rather the Deluxe Edition itself and the extras it features.
With a host of live tracks, b-sides, unreleased versions, alternate and acoustic versions, as well as rough takes, the Deluxe Edition boasts 25 bonus tracks and an interview spread over 2 discs. The unreleased tracks effectively highlight the extensive amount of material Weezer still have to share with their fans but downsides of this edition are repetitive live versions of the songs, like live takes of “The Good Life”for instance, of which there are 4 excluding the original album version. It makes it seem like this edition is focused more on quantity rather than quality. Same goes for the other live versions; one may as well go onto Youtube to listen to those and even get some visuals with it rather than repurchasing the same album. This gives the impression that this release was more for commercial reasons rather than sharing valued tracks with loyal Weezer fans. As a result the Deluxe Edition doesn’t offer any real initiative to purchase it unless one isn’t familiar with Pinkerton, in which case the bonus tracks are just like icing on a cake.
Re-releases require something special or personal, like the material on Nirvana’s Lights Out disc set. If the Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition) included more home recordings, or songs in progress rather than a bunch of live versions it would simply be amazing. This release is a disappointment especially for such a great album like Pinkerton. What’s next? Another re-mastered version of the Blue Album and the rest of their discography? For the next Deluxe Edition, I suggest some raw footage and old tracks from the album’s writing process rather than a recurrence of live versions.
(Geffen Records)