Weezer fans, Blue Album and Pinkerton fans; Read on... - Music

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

Should 'Songs From The Black Hole' be on BEA's catalog?

http://www.besteveralbums.com/thechart.php?a=67413

About two weeks ago I added this album to my chart and to BEA's catalog, and as I expected, it's been flagged for removal. For those who don't know about this album, I'll be brief:

Songs From The Black Hole, a space-themed rock opera, was supposed to be the band's follow-up to The Blue Album. Writing and recording took place during 1995, but Rivers enrolled in Harvard in the fall of that year, and the album was put on hold. By May of '96, when his spring semester ended, Rivers abandoned the idea, and the band recorded Pinkerton instead. A few of the songs written for SFTBH were on Pinkerton (Tired of Sex, Getchoo, No Other One, and Why Bother?). But most of the songs recorded for the album went the way of Smile by The Beach Boys.

However, between 2007 and 2011, all of the songs that were gonna be on Songs From The Black Hole were officially released. They were scattered across four albums...the three Alone: The Home Recordings releases by Rivers Cuomo, and the Deluxe Edition of Pinkerton. So while this album is technically unreleased as a whole, all of the songs are out there, but it's the fan's job to put it together. I did, and it was totally worth it. It was like discovering the Blue Album and Pinkerton for the first time.

So what are your thoughts on Songs From The Black Hole? Have you heard of it before? If so, have you listened to the tracks? How do you like them? Should the album be on the site's catalog?

MrFrogger
Where am I

Gender: Male
Age: 28
Location: Oakland

StreetSpirit wrote:

So what are your thoughts on Songs From The Black Hole?

It was scrapped for a reason, the "plot" is incredibly thin, and what they wound up with (Pinkerton) is much more cohesive.

StreetSpirit wrote:

Have you heard of it before? If so, have you listened to the tracks? How do you like them?

So I don't know where you're coming from where you think everything on it has been released, because they haven't, in some cases they were never even recorded. We have demo's of some tracks, and alternate versions of others, but none in the way they would have appeared on the album.

StreetSpirit wrote:

Should the album be on the site's catalog?

Of course not, don't be silly

CameronMB
Musicologist

I don't have skin in this game, not a fan or detractor of Weezer.

Unless the album is put out (it would be a compilation) in some official form - by the band on their website, by a record label, as a digital-only release on Amazon, whatever - it's not an album and shouldn't be listed on BEA.
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nachosbob

Gender: Male
Age: 26

CameronMB wrote:

I don't have skin in this game, not a fan or detractor of Weezer.

Unless the album is put out (it would be a compilation) in some official form - by the band on their website, by a record label, as a digital-only release on Amazon, whatever - it's not an album and shouldn't be listed on BEA.

My thoughts exactly
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Kiki

If the album has to be put together from many places it might not be an album I am afraid Sad

Although it does have a reason for being. I mean it isn't no random collection of songs.

Afraid I can't listen either, some trauma related to the band in question. I'm a bit funny in the head so some things remind me of bad things which happened. It does a great idea though. I mean I do like concepts in albums. Like in The Crimson Idol and Danger Days. Stories do make an album fantastic sometimes Smile

newbands1

Gender: Male

It's an unfinished album.The only song that had been finished the proper way was I Jusst Threw Out The Love of My Dreams from the The Good Life b side, with female vocals doing their respective parts.The other songs are rough solo home demos that Rivers made himself,he played all the instruments himself,sung the all the characters parts himself(Jonas,Laurel,Maria,Wuan).

After he enrolled in Harvard he had a shift in what album he wanted to make and wrote Across the Sea.

If you want to hear what the finished product might have souded like,check out Operation Space Opera,a fan made cover album with each character's vocal part sung by a different person and additional instrumentals parts and songs ideas taken from Rivers sketch journals he never recorded added to make the album a more complete experience.

I'll post a link since their bandcamp was taken down.Its a free tribute album.
http://www.divshare.com/download/19500926-e59

HOMiE (songs Rivers wrote after Pinkerton but before Green,they debuted some of them live)
http://www.weerez.com/homie/Lifetaker_a..._HOMiE.rar

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

MrFrogger wrote:

So I don't know where you're coming from where you think everything on it has been released, because they haven't, in some cases they were never even recorded. We have demo's of some tracks, and alternate versions of others, but none in the way they would have appeared on the album.

The sources below show the original track listings for SFTBH. And the three Rivers Cuomo Alone releases and Pinkerton Deluxe includes them all. There out there for sure. A fan can put together a rough, but cohesvie version of the album.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_from_the_Black_Hole
https://web.archive.org/web/20120315200...cHist7.htm
But you are correct to say that those rough recordings are not how the songs/album would have sounded had the band followed through. We'll probably never know. But hey, something's better than nothing, right?

MrFrogger wrote:

Of course not, don't be silly

Trust me, I know the album is gonna be removed from BEA. And I know it doesn't truly belong. The real reason for this thread wasn't to question whether it belongs on here, but to spread the word about it. Even some of the most passionate Weezer fans I know hadn't heard of SFTBH when I mentioned it. To be honest, I hadn't heard of it until this past May when I read on article commemorating the 20th anniversary of The Blue Album.

CA Dreamin

Gender: Male
Location: LA

newbands1 wrote:

If you want to hear what the finished product might have sounded like,check out Operation Space Opera,a fan made cover album with each character's vocal part sung by a different person and additional instrumentals parts and songs ideas taken from Rivers sketch journals he never recorded added to make the album a more complete experience.

Yeah when I was reading up on this unfinished Weezer album, I heard about those fans who recreated Songs From the Black Hole by themselves...very passionate fans I must say. I had listened to some of their material before, but not their whole album until you posted the link. They did a great job. I also recreated SFTBH, but I did so exclusively using Weezer/Rivers recordings and doing a little sound editing. Yeah most of the songs sound rough, but I don't care. For one, I wanted to hear them and not a cover band. Number two, I kind of lack the time and talent to record it myself, haha.

newbands1

Gender: Male

In my opinion the best unofficial Weezer songs are not from SFTBH but the other stuff he was doing at that time
.When writing The Blue Album he had 100 songs ready.SFTBH is just the one of the many gems he has that wan't officially released back then.

Check this out http://web227.xps8.microserver.de/ng/COR.html

This isn't even a complete list there's still a lot missing.

Romanelli
Bone Swah

Gender: Male
Location: Broomfield, Colorado

Moderator

The album is not an official release. Bootleg albums are not allowed on BEA.
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