Weezer (The Teal Album)

Weezer (The Teal Album) is the twelfth studio album by Weezer. It received a surprise release on digital music platforms, with no prior promotion, on January 24, 2019, with a retail release following on March 1. The album features, exclusively, covers of famous songs, including the band's then-recent and successful cover of "Africa" by Toto.
==Overview==
In December 2017, Twitter user "@WeezerAfrica," run by 14-year-old Cleveland, Ohio resident Mary Klym, tweeted, "@RiversCuomo it's about time you bless the rains down in Africa."Klym, Mary. (@weezerafrica) "@RiversCuomo
 it's about time you bless the rains down in africa". 6 December 2017, 9:55 AM. https://twitter.com/weezerafrica/status/938406456302489600 After much back-and-forth between Klym and Pat Wilson, the band released a cover of Toto's "Rosanna" instead, as a digital download, on May 24, 2018. The band would, in fact, release a cover of "Africa" days later, on May 29, with limited-edition vinyl pressings of the single releasing in the following months.
"Africa" was an unexpected success for the band, giving the band their first Hot 100 hit since "(If You're Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To" in 2009. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August 2018, becoming the band's first number-one single since "Pork and Beans" in 2008. According to Karl Koch in a 2018 Weezer Fan Club newsletter, "Africa" was initially intended to promote the band's upcoming tour, but the cover's success led the band to postpone and, ultimately, scrap the release of their then-forthcoming single, "Midnight," originally planned for the band's eponymous Black Album.
The Teal Album consists of ten covers of various popular songs from the 20th century, ranging from a cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" to "Africa" by Toto. It contains no original songs, making it the band's first and, currently, only covers album.
==Release==
The Teal Album was released on January 24, 2019 with no prior announcement. It peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 within two weeks of its release. To promote the album, the band released a "Totally Tubular Teal Bundle" featuring the CD, a digital download of The Black Album, a velcro wallet, and a signed dollar bill."Totally Tubular Teal Bundle" Weezerwebstore.com. Archived by Wayback Machine on 24 January 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20190124203258/https://weezerwebstore.com/products/totally-tubular-teal-bundle A second promotional bundle followed including a featuring teal on all sides.Breen, Lissa. "Album Review | Weezer Embrace Memes on The Teal Album" HeadStuff 19 February 2019. https://headstuff.org/entertainment/music/album-review-weezer-teal-album/:File:Teal-RubiksCube.JPG The song "No Scrubs" trended on Twitter following the release of the album.Izadi, Elahe. "Everyone is talking about ‘No Scrubs’ because of Weezer. Welcome to 2019." The Washington Post. 24 January 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/01/24/everyone-is-talking-about-no-scrubs-because-weezer-welcome/?noredirect=on
==Reception==
:::—Los Angeles Times interviewWood, Mikael. "Being Rivers Cuomo: Why Weezer’s frontman put his life into a spreadsheet" Los Angeles Times. 22 Februar 2019. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-rivers-cuomo-weezer-teal-album-black-album-20190222-story.html
The Teal Album received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Metacritic assigns a rating of 58 out of 100, based on 10 critic reviews."Weezer (Teal Album)" Metacritic https://www.metacritic.com/music/weezer-teal-album/weezer In lieu of a review, Pitchfork published an article the day following the album's release titled "Will Weezer Ever Stop Being Disappointing?"Mapes, Jill. "Will Weezer Ever Stop Being Disappointing?" Pitchfork. 26 January 2019. https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/will-weezer-ever-stop-being-disappointing/
===Critics===
==Track list==
==Personnel==
*Rivers Cuomo — guitars, lead vocals, piano, keyboards, backing vocals
*Patrick Wilson — drums, percussion, backing vocals, production
*Brian Bell — guitars, keyboard, backing vocals, lead vocals (on "Paranoid")
*Scott Shriner — bass guitar, backing vocals
*Mark Rankin — producer, engineer, mixing
*Jason Clark — engineer
*Suzy Shinn — vocal engineer
*Eric Boulanger — mastering
==References==
Category:Weezer albums
Category:2019 releases
Category:Self-titled records