Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Compilation album by Rivers Cuomo
Released December 18, 2007
Recorded 1984, 1992–2007
Genre Alternative rock, emo
Length 45:49
Label Geffen
Rivers Cuomo chronology
Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
(2007)		 Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
(2008)
Singles from Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
  1. "Blast Off!"
    Released: 2008
  2. "Lover in the Snow"
    Released: 2008

Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo is a compilation album by Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, released on December 18, 2007.[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]

"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 Billboard Top 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 Alone II: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2008) and Alone III: The Pinkerton Years (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:

[Legal issues] [were] a big part of it because the record company owns all of my demos under Weezer's contract, and my argument was that they aren't Weezer recordings; they're not part of the Weezer record deal, this is my own stuff, I should own this. So we had to negotiate for a long time to reach an agreement as to the legal ownership of the records but we agreed enough that we were able to move forward and put it out.[20]

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:

I thought about it for a long time. I thought maybe I should release it as The Black Hole and put the demos in the right order, but like I said, it was never finished, so it wouldn't really stand up, like it wouldn't be a very good listen... It was a very tough decision, but in the end I concluded that this is the best possible CD I could put out, given all the material I have. This is the best listen and this is what I want to give to the world.[20]

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, Pitchfork Media's Jason Crock described the inside cover:

The inside cover shows off a crammed collection of cassette tapes, their spines promising untold treasures-- Songs From the Black Hole is there, as well as previously unheard of titles and bandnames-waiting-to-happen like Psoriasis Babies and Angst Muffins.[25]

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.[26][27] 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!"[28] The video, which also features Alone track "Ooh," premiered on January 11, 2008 on Yahoo![29]

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

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[30]
Billboardfavorable[31]
IGN(7.8/10)[32]
musicOMH.com[33]
NewsdayB[34]
No Ripcord[35]
Pitchfork Media(7.2/10)[36]
Popmatters[37]
Rolling Stone[38]
Spin[39]

Alone was positively received by critics.[40] 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."[41] Pitchfork Media 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.'"[25] Popmatters claimed that the album featured "some of the strongest material that Cuomo has ever recorded."[27]

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."[42]

Track listing

All songs written by Rivers Cuomo, except where noted.[43]

Track listing

No. Title Length
1. "Ooh"   0:47
2. "The World You Love So Much (Gregg Alexander)"   3:40
3. "Lemonade"   2:31
4. "The Bomb (Ice Cube Cover)"   1:18
5. "Buddy Holly"   3:01
6. "Chess"   2:26
7. "Longtime Sunshine"   3:15
8. "Blast Off!"   1:57
9. "Who You Callin' Bitch?"   0:46
10. "Wanda"   3:38
11. "Dude, We're Finally Landing"   0:56
12. "Superfriend"   3:30
13. "Lover In The Snow"   3:16
14. "Crazy One"   3:14
15. "This is the Way"   4:17
16. "Little Diane"   2:41
17. "I Wish You Had an Axe Guitar"   0:36
18. "I Was Made for You"   2:34


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]

References

  1. ↑ Kharas, Kev. "Weezer's Rivers Cuomo to release solo album". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 17 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  2. ↑ Zeiss, John. "Rivers Cuomo to release demo collection". Prefix Magazine. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-16.
  3. ↑ Hurme, Hanna. "Whether You Like It Or Not, Rivers Cuomo Won't Leave You Alone". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  4. ↑ Jenison, David. "Groban's Gain, Blige's Pain on Charts". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  5. ↑ "Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo: Charts & Awards". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-04-07.
  6. ↑ Archived September 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ "The RCDotCom Archive". weezed.com. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  8. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 1". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  9. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 3". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  10. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 4". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  11. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 5". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  12. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 7". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  13. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 10". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  14. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 11". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  15. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 12". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  16. ↑ "Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  17. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 14". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  18. ↑ Koch, Karl. "The Weezer Recording History: Page 15". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  19. 1 2 Heisel, Scott. "Web Exclusive: A conversation with Rivers Cuomo". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 7 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
  20. 1 2 3 4 "Rivers Cuomo Interview with the Japanese Press". riverspodcast.com. Archived from the original on 28 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  21. ↑ Crock, Jason. "Pitchfork Feature: Interview: Rivers Cuomo". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 31 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  22. ↑ Koch, Karl. "11/13/07 Alone: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  23. ↑ "Rivers' Alone Leaks, Pitchfork Doesn't Hate It". Twelve Major Chords. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  24. 1 2 3 4 5 Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo booklet and liner notes
  25. 1 2 Crock, Jason. "Rivers Cuomo: Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo: Pitchfork Record Review". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  26. ↑ "Weezer's Rivers Cuomo to Release Record of Demo Tracks". Geffen. Retrieved 2007-10-30.
  27. 1 2 Sawdey, Evan. "Rivers Cuomo: Alone - Popmatters Music Review". Popmatters. Archived from the original on 19 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  28. ↑ Kimmich, Peter. "Rivers Cuomo Releases Video, Is Still Cool". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  29. ↑ Koch, Karl. "01/09/08 Blast Off! up to Yahoo!". Weezer.com. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  30. ↑ Allmusic review
  31. ↑ Billboard review
  32. ↑ IGN review
  33. ↑ musicOMH.com review Archived April 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  34. ↑ Newsday review
  35. ↑ No Ripcord review
  36. ↑ Pitchfork Media review Archived December 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  37. ↑ Popmatters review
  38. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  39. ↑ Spin review
  40. ↑ "Rivers Cuomo: Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 21 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  41. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo > Overview". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-20.
  42. ↑ Graff, Gary. "Cuomo Keen On Archival Releases, New Weezer CD". Billboard. Archived from the original on 30 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
  43. ↑ "Rivers Cuomo Unveils 'Alone' Tracklisting". SPIN. Archived from the original on 24 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-24.

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