Release date: January 11, 2008 (Geffen Records)
All I can say is that this collection has been LONG overdue. A selection of raw, emotional four-track recordings from Weezer's neurotic and introverted front-man, Rivers Cuomo. Some of these songs ("Blast Off!", "Lover in the Snow", "Chess") were available for free download in the early 2000s. These dark, intense, grainy musings on loneliness, longing, lost love, death, and outer space quickly became my favorite tunes in the entire Weezer catalogue and got me through a good deal of self-inflicted (and now vaguely comical) high school angst, proms and pimples.
Cuomo recorded most of the tracks on "Alone" in his L.A. basement from 1992-2007, playing all of the instruments and singing all of the vocals in most cases. Highlights include the sad, soft piano and clarinet ballad "Longtime Sunshine," a track Cuomo resisted putting online for nearly a decade due to its profoundly personal (and borderline suicidal) lyrics. "Blast Off!" is a classic, hard-rockin' Weez demo about a hedonistic, alcoholic starship crew on a desperate mission to save the planet Normis. On the mostly acoustic "Chess," Cuomo compares a difficult relationship to the board game.
My favorite track is "Lover in the Snow," an electric guitar and tamborine masterpiece about - what else? - a former lover of Cuomo's entangled in a shady, allegorical snowy glen with another man. In moments of joy and heartbreak in my own life, the song has always resonated and haunted me with the simple, yet soul-wrenching power of its lyrics and minor chords.
This album is a must-have for any die-hard Weezer fan and a soothing cure for anyone suffering a lonely fracture of the spirit.
http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Home-Recordings-Rivers-Cuomo/dp/B000Y30ODQ
All I can say is that this collection has been LONG overdue. A selection of raw, emotional four-track recordings from Weezer's neurotic and introverted front-man, Rivers Cuomo. Some of these songs ("Blast Off!", "Lover in the Snow", "Chess") were available for free download in the early 2000s. These dark, intense, grainy musings on loneliness, longing, lost love, death, and outer space quickly became my favorite tunes in the entire Weezer catalogue and got me through a good deal of self-inflicted (and now vaguely comical) high school angst, proms and pimples.
Cuomo recorded most of the tracks on "Alone" in his L.A. basement from 1992-2007, playing all of the instruments and singing all of the vocals in most cases. Highlights include the sad, soft piano and clarinet ballad "Longtime Sunshine," a track Cuomo resisted putting online for nearly a decade due to its profoundly personal (and borderline suicidal) lyrics. "Blast Off!" is a classic, hard-rockin' Weez demo about a hedonistic, alcoholic starship crew on a desperate mission to save the planet Normis. On the mostly acoustic "Chess," Cuomo compares a difficult relationship to the board game.
My favorite track is "Lover in the Snow," an electric guitar and tamborine masterpiece about - what else? - a former lover of Cuomo's entangled in a shady, allegorical snowy glen with another man. In moments of joy and heartbreak in my own life, the song has always resonated and haunted me with the simple, yet soul-wrenching power of its lyrics and minor chords.
This album is a must-have for any die-hard Weezer fan and a soothing cure for anyone suffering a lonely fracture of the spirit.
http://www.amazon.com/Alone-Home-Recordings-Rivers-Cuomo/dp/B000Y30ODQ
