Twin Peaks is Coming Back: Hurray?

Word came trickling down the grapvine yesterday that Twin Peaks, the long defunked early 90s cult classic and frequently recommended netflix television show, is going to be returning to the small screen for a limited run on Showtime (in 2016).

The initial reaction on social media would most easily be described as euphoric, old and new fans of the show giddy at the opportunity to hear Kyle MacLachlan wax poetic about a cup of coffee.  I, for my part, think a return to Twin Peaks could be a lot of fun, but I worry.

Better fire up that percolator and find my black suit :-) #Twinpeaks

— Kyle MacLachlan (@Kyle_MacLachlan) October 6, 2014

Twin Peaks was a show that started off incredibly strange, then oddly fantastic, before gradually slipping too far into darkness and obscurity.  Americans were captivated by the show's quirkiness and mysterious nature.  As the second season got underway, however, the story began to meander deeper into its rabbit hole and viewers tuned out.  After just two seasons Twin Peaks was cancelled.  A much maligned feature film prequel/sequel Fire Walk With Me all but sealed the show's fate as a one-season wonder.

So now more than two decades later, Lynch, Showtime, and Mark Frost are going to try and go down the rabbit hole one more time.  But what for?

According to Showtime Networks President, David Nevins, it is about resolution.  “Twin Peaks needed to come back. It needed answers. It was never finished in the right way.”

That may be true, but giving answers is what killed the show twenty plus years ago.  After the murder of Amanda Palmer was solved, the show lost it's sense of direction.  Previous attempts at giving answers have been met with silence (the show's finale) or disdain (Fire Walk with Me).

The Twin Peaks I would like to see would be the one that Lynch intended the show us all that time ago.  Laura Palmer's death was the starting point for the series but it was only meant to be our entree into the world of that small town and its wonderously strange characters.  The murder mystery was intended to be the spice and the characters the meat, not the other way around.

Too much time has passed to simply pick up where the show left off.  A few characters should return, for continuity and context, but the central characters should be (mostly if not wholly) completely new.

There is nothing left to learn about the death of Laura Palmer, what interests me is the world of Twin Peaks.  New characters, a new story, a fresh start in a familiar place.  That is a show I would be interested in watching, not some retread or do-over of something that is best left in the past.

Move forward, explore new worlds, Twin Peaks.  I'm sure that even in the great unknown there is still some damn good coffee.

Song by Song Breakdown of Weezer's new album: Everything Will Be Alright in the End

We're still a week away from the dropping of Weezer's new much buzzed about album, Everything Will Be Alright in the End but here at RatedWrong we're ready to talk about it now (Thanks Itunes).

Before we get into the meat of the track by track breakdown, lets ask the most important question:  how does the album work as a whole?

Really, very good.

It isn't Pinkerton reborn, but if you were hoping for that, I have a beach house I'd like to sell you in Iowa.

It is easily one of the strongest albums since the band's heyday of the 90s and a far cry better than either of their last two efforts (the uneven Hurley and the howling clunker Raditude).  Many early reviews have labeled it the best post-Green album in the band's catalogue.  it is certainly the most balanced and inspired album they've put out in over a decade.

Comparing it to Weezer's other works I'd say it goes something like this:  Pop sensibility of Green, the bombast of Maladroit, the lyrical content of Red.  The only real negative I can give it at this point is that the album lacks the manic urgency that made Weezer's early years so epic, but EWBAITE does manage to be the first album since Rivers Cuomo's rise to stardom that harnesses his angsty sincerity.

But enough about all that nonsense, to the tracks!

1. "Ain't Got Nobody"

Off to a fantastic chugging start, The rock is promised early in this album.  Fun sing-a-long type track.  One of the most regrettable things about Weezer's last few albums is the over polished production quality, there appears to be no such issues early on here.  The guitars could be a smidge louder, but the harmonies are great and, hey!  Real lyrics!

2. "Back to the Shack"

Not going to waste too much time on this one.  The first single on the album, and its been available for your eardrums for over two months.  It fits squarely into the "perfectly acceptable" realm of Weezer songs along with "Pork and Beans" and "Memories".

3. "Eulogy for a Rock Band"

Very solid rock Weezer stock.  It's like a song you might have found of Make Believe but with much better lyrics. The chorus is catchy (could they be a snarky reference to their own fans' complaints in recent years?). Either way, very good tune.

4. "Lonely Girl"

Sounds like it could've been a B-side to "Hash Pipe".  Very pop, but sharp.  Has a clear 1998-2001 Weezer sound.  Picks up the pace a little, this album is very rockin' so far.

5. "I've Had it Up to Here"

Something about this song is quintessential 90s college radio.  Like Sister Hazel, Gin Blossoms 90s.  This is a song that if Rivers had written it five years ago it would have been terrible.  It would have been "Love is the Answer" (blech).  But here, it is refined.  It has layers and excellent use of harmonies and keyboards.  Here it works.  Here is it fun.  Rivers going a little Freddy Mercury for a second in there.

6.  "The British are Coming"

What a crazy song.  Stereogum has already labeled this as the best song on the album.  I'm not that in love with it, but it certainly is the best Revolutionary War themed song since "Swamp Fox...".  It is interesting that after allowing his fellow band-mates to particpate heavily in the songwriting process for the last few albums, Cuomo is the only bandmember to be featured in the writing credits for any song on EWBAITE.  Once again, fantastic harmonies and intelligent lyrics.

7.  "Da Vinci"

Album slows down a lot here.  Not a ballad in sight yet, but this song definitely qualifies for what Weezer would call a love song, "Even Da Vinci couldn't paint you, Stephen Hawking couldn't explain you, Rosetta Stone could not translate you".  Cute, not sure I love the "whistles" though.  And hey!  Is that the album name sneaking its way into the lyrics?  Why yes, it is!

8.  "Go Away"

Best Coast lead singer Bethany Cosentino shares the vocals with Cuomo on this track.  It sounds like a Best Coast song with chunkier guitars.  Not gonna lie, this one is a little boring.  Much like every Best Coast song since their debut album the song feels plodding.  One redeemer is that it has shades of "The Black Hole" in its songwriting (obvious reference to the other Weezer song with a female lead vocal, "I Just Threw Out the Love of my Dreams").  I think it is a good sign that this song feels like a drop off from the rest of the album, had this song been on Hurley or Make Believe it would have been every Weezer fans' favorite song.

9.  "Cleopatra"

The second single on the album.  Still haven't found the rocking pace the album started with, but this is a good song regardless.  Cuomo is loving the references/comparisons to historical figures on this album, Paul Revere, Da Vinci, now Cleopatra.  The bridge lets the rock back in, a very strong break-up song.  Thinking about it now, Weezer do not have many "break-up" songs.  They do, however, have a healthy selection of "I just got dumped" songs.

9. "Foolish Father"

Oh, there you are, rock n' roll.  At this point it is pretty safe to say Weezer made no effort to replicate their early albums with EWBAITE, instead they learned from them and created something new.  This album has the strongest lyrics of any Weezer album since Pinkerton and tries to be different in ways that actually work for Weezer (no rapping, please).  This track in particular has all the hallmarks of a Weezer song.  The harmonies, the guitars, the pacing.  But it isn't tired, it has heart.  As a chorus of "Everything will be alright, in the end" (actual lyrics) fills the speakers, its almost as though the band is speaking directly to fans wounded psyches.

10.  "The Futurescope Trilogy 1: The Wasteland"

Home stretch.  The album closes out with a 3-part song.  The first "The Wasteland" is an epic instrumental showing that Weezer can be really musically interesting when inspiration strikes.  Excellent sound.  It really sounds like the songs on this album are a lot of fun to play.

11. "The Futurescope Trilogy 2: Anonymous"

Somewhere down the line, this song had a name change from "My Mystery" to "Anonymous".  Being honest I think I like "My Mystery" better but the change is minor.  The strong guitars continue, this trilogy is more one long guitar solo peppered lyrics.

12.  The Futurescope Trilogy 3: Return to Ithaca"

Back to pure instrumental.  These last three songs represent something that Weezer should have done years ago.  In the natural progression of things, this album feels like the successor to 2002's Maladroit.  The perfection of what they first explored with that album.  It is cleaner, heavier, more complete.  They came close with The Red Album in 2008 but as we close out on the album with yet another epic guitar harmony it is clear, Weezer has finally found their way back home.

So there it is!  Listen to the album yourself on Itunes radio and be sure to download it when it comes out on October 7th.