Late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning, Weezer surprise released their fifth album entitled Weezer AKA "The Teal Album" on digital streaming platforms world-wide. It would appear as though these type of color named untitled/self-titled Weezer albums have become something of a "stunt" in recent years; although, as you may recall, Weezer's first album widely known as "The Blue Album" (1994) was, and still is, widely acclaimed by fans and critics alike across the globe. After self-producing their second album, Pinkerton, Weezer once again joined forces with The Cars' former frontman Ric Ocasek for 2001's "The Green Album," which, as you may recall, featured undeniable green-tinted smash-hits such as "Hash Pipe," "Keep Fishin,'" and "Photograph." Following my personal favorite Weezer album, Maladroit, as well as "Beverly Hills"-featuring Make Believe, Weezer once again, returned to their oft-used color wheel for 2008's "The Red Album." As most die-hard Weezer fans, like myself and Matt Damon, might readily admit, Weezer have often teetered the line between Alternative/"Nerd" Rock and mainstream success... but you "Can't Knock The Hustle," as Rivers Cuomo himself has recently proclaimed.


Good, bad, or sub-par, Weezer have rapidly released four full-length albums in the eight years since "The Red Album!" Rivers, Brian Bell, Scott Shriner & Patrick Wilson again, returned in 2016 with "The White Album," as well as 2017's Pacific Daydream, and are gearing up to unleash their long-rumored "Black Album"—no, not their fabled 1994-96 "lost" album, Songs from The Black Hole—this upcoming Friday, March 1, 2019. "SURPRISE! Guess who just dropped a new album? No, it's not The Black Album (that's still coming on 3/1!) Here's The Teal Album to hold you over until then," Weezer posted on their Facebook page early Thursday morning. Said "Teal Album" kicks off with Weezer's biggest hit since "Pork & Beans" from 2008's The Red Album, their cover of TOTO's 1982 single, "Africa." It all stared when 14-year-old Cleveland super-fan Mary Klym (@weezerafrica) started a "viral" campaign quickly dubbed #WEEZERCOVERAFRICA. After a bit of back-and-forth between @weezerafrica and drummer/producer @patrick_wilson, Weezer trolled the entire music-loving world by releasing a 2018 cover of TOTO's other hit, "Rosanna."


Now, fresh on the heels of their widely-acclaimed/lauded "Africa" cover, Weezer have returned with a teal-tinted collection of nine more beloved hits. In addition to "Africa," The Teal Album, also, includes spot-on "Nerd" Rock covers of Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule The World," Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" a-ha's "Take On Me," The Turtles' "Happy Together," Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," ELO's "Mr. Blue Sky," TLC's "No Scrubs," Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean," and lastly, Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." After a few listens through the whole Teal Album today, I think, it's safe to say my early favorites are Weezer's Brian Bell-helmed Black Sabbath, TLC, and a-ha covers. The Teal Album is currently available on your favorite streaming services, as well as directly from Weezer's online web-store in a number of exclusive Teal/Black Album combo-packages. According to a very recent interview with Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe, Weezer's "next, next album"—the follow-up to their as-yet-unreleased Dave Sitek-produced Black Album—is (somehow!) already in-the-works with The White Album producer Jake Sinclair.