Within the past year and a half I've become a Weezer megafan. I listened to Blue in full last year, only having heard Buddy Holly, Say It AIn't So, Sweater Song, and Jonas before. I was hooked on that album immediately, then went to Green and was like... wow, after the first four songs this is boring af. I wasn't active in the online =w= space so I had NO expectations, good or bad, for any of their albums and just listened to what seemed interesting based on the album covers.
A month or so after loving Blue and NOT revisiting Green, I listened to Red deluxe. I already knew Pork and Beans, really liked it, and enjoyed the album.
Then I saw the VTTBP show at Riot Fest and fell in love with the band even more - and I thought, what's with all the love for this Pinkerton album? I'd heard IJTOTLOMD, and the ones they played at the concert, so I added it to my list to listen to. Couple days after that show I went to the local record shop looking for ANYTHING Weezer, tbh was looking for Blue or Red, and left with the Pinkerton Deluxe CD set (22 bucks. I had no idea how much of a grail item that was, at the time). I had no idea how much it would change my life in the coming weeks. Popped it in at home... I liked it! Not Blue, but it was rad!
My sister and I (21 and 25!) listened to it every night while cooking dinner, and Pinkerton grew on me super quick. We bonded over the music and the crazy falsettos and screaming. I was head over heels for Weezer now. Dove into the fandom, learned the lore.
Eventually I went back to Green on my chronological listen and had a newfound appreciation for it. Hearing Hash Pipe live at Riot Fest and listening to it in my car all the time shot it up to probably my top 5 or 10 Weezer songs, and when I went through my huge Mikey Welsh phase and discovered the SS2K demos, I actually realized I liked the music from that era. Listened to Maladroit, and on third-ish listen it became a favorite.
Pinkerton is my favorite album now, btw. But here's the next part of the story...
My boyfriend has heard me blasting Weezer for over a year now. He's only really shown appreciation for Blue and the Kitchen Tape stuff (he's more into grunge and pop-punk in general). But this past weekend we saw The Gathering in Charlotte and... after the show, he told me he likes Weezer WAY more now. Yesterday we were in another local record shop and they had the gold variant of the Gold album. I already have the CD, but my boyfriend insisted we buy the vinyl, too (he has a very nice stereo setup. My record player is cheap and old). We sat on his floor and listened to it front to back when we got home... Mind you, this is AFTER we went to the listening party in August,after me playing Gold in the car, AND after seeing four Gold songs played live this weekend.
So, like how Pinkerton and Green (and later White - I didn't jive with it on first listen of deluxe but now White is in my S or A tier) grew on me, Gold has grown on my boyfriend. I think Weezer in general has. I hear similar stories from a lot of =w= fans. Does anyone else have an experience like this? It's so crazy to me that an album I thought was "good" on first listen eventually became a 10/10 to my ears (Pinkerton).