By Gina Salamone / New York Daily News
Weezer must have been feeling nostalgic because the Grammy-winning band just dropped an eclectic covers album titled “Weezer (The Teal Album)” that’s brimming with throwback hits.
The 10-track record includes their versions of Toto’s “Africa,” TLC’s “No Scrubs,” A-ha’s “Take on Me,” Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and more.
“The Teal Album” — and its largely Miami Vice-inspired cover art — was released digitally early Thursday morning, and, just to drive home that 20th century feeling, CD orders on their website are accompanied by Velcro wallets and coasters. (Alas, they’ve already sold out of the wallets.)
The album, Weezer’s latest with Crush Music/Atlantic Records, started coming together last summer during the group’s amphitheater tour, during which they worked covers of “Africa” and the Turtles’ “Happy Together” into their sets.
“Given the tremendous response to these songs at the shows, the band was inspired to put together a covers album — and thus ‘Weezer (The Teal Album)’ was born,” according to a statement from the band.
The rock band’s cover of “Africa” first released last May after a viral online campaign begged them to do so. Their version of “Africa” reached number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in August, Weezer’s first No. 1 single since 2008’s “Pork and Beans.”
On their interpretation of TLC’s “No Scrubs,” Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and company deadpan lyrics like, “No, I don’t want no scrubs, A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me. Hangin’ out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride, Trying to holla at me.”
So far, fans seem into it. “Dear god this just fulfilled another unknown Weezer fantasy I just discovered I had,” one wrote in the comment section for the song on YouTube.
Others tried to wrap their heads around it, but embraced it. “This whole album is like when you pay for parking and get silver dollars back as change,” another comment reads. “Did I ask for it? No. Did I want it? No. But it’s kind of cool and now I just wanna hold onto it.”
The band’s adaption of A-ha’s “Take on Me” is only slightly less upbeat than the original 1984 hit, whose video was repeatedly played on MTV and scored six awards at the cable network’s 1986 MTV Video Music Awards. The video famously featured A-ha members in a live-action pencil-sketch skit.
Other covers on “The Teal Album” include Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean,” “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears, “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” by The Eurythmics, “Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra and “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King.
Weezer’s version of “Billie Jean” even comes complete with their interpretation of The Gloved One’s signature high-pitched hollering of “Whooo.”
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
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