Pinkerton (studio album) by Weezer

Pinkerton by Weezer
Year: 1996
Overall rank: 130th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,570 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 5 albums of 1996 (2nd)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1990s (27th)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (130th)
Product Details
Availability

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Weezer Pinkerton (Vinyl)
Condition: New


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Weezer - Pinkerton (CD, 1996) Geffen Records PROMOTIONAL RARE 🔥
Condition: Very Good


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WEEZER - PINKERTON NEW CD
Condition: Brand New


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Weezer bestography

Pinkerton is ranked 2nd best out of 26 albums by Weezer on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Weezer is Weezer (Blue Album) which is ranked number 83 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 15,279.

Weezer album bestography « Higher ranked (83rd) This album (130th) Lower ranked (927th) »
Weezer (Blue Album)PinkertonWeezer (White Album)

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Pinkerton track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 88 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
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Rating: 89 (441 votes)Comments: 2
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2.
Rating: 86 (383 votes)Comments: 4
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3.
Rating: 86 (368 votes)Comments: 2
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4.
Rating: 87 (389 votes)Comments: 1
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5.
Rating: 88 (408 votes)Comments: 2
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6.
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Rating: 90 (475 votes)Comments: 4
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7.
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Rating: 89 (452 votes)Comments: 4
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8.
Rating: 88 (415 votes)Comments: 6
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10.
Rating: 86 (385 votes)Comments: 2
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Track pick Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Pinkerton rankings

Pinkerton collection

Pinkerton ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,570 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,570 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 Report rating
3 days ago ShenBapiro  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 23083/100
 
95/100
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07/06/2025 02:09 Omahawkeye1978  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 8987/100
 
80/100
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06/20/2025 15:31 Milhaud  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,01370/100
 
90/100
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06/17/2025 20:02 idiotican  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,80274/100
 
60/100
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06/09/2025 09:42 Invader666  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 2,62765/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 83.4/100, a mean average of 81.9/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 83.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 17.2.

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Pinkerton comments

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Rating:  
80/100
From 04/13/2025 13:57
One of the few albums on BEA that has a track rating average range of 86-90, which could mean according to BEA users that all the tracks in the album complement each other and create a balance of arguably no weak points. That astonished me when II first noticed it, since it's almost completely nonexistent on BEA, therefore, elevates the album's acclaim. Some track ratings have dropped a little bit, but it still has the same effect, and it is also impressively the 35th best album of all time on BEA by track rating average.

Musically and compositionally, it is very well made as it is balanced with each track flowing naturally from one to another with the Gb Major key being used several times, and there are also some key changes, tempo changes and dynamics changes in the songs usually as the 2nd chorus ends, which overall is not very common in rock music, hence, it enriches the compositional variety of the song's rock-ish instrumental capabilities and transcends the experience, and most importantly was inspired by the operas the frontman Rivers Cuomo was listening back at the beginning of the album's production, which more commonly feature the musical technicalities Pinkerton has.

Lyrically, it shares themes of rock-star fame issues, Japan, depression and struggling finding love and hoping to preserve it. Which makes the album more vulgarly adult-oriented in the lyrical sense and discusses on some inner-feelings and issues more relatable for people in the depressive sense, although some lyrics across the album can feel openly awkward (Across the Sea is the most lyrically uncomfortable song, and Tired of Sex is quite explicit as its title etc.), which is probably a main reason why the album got mixed reviews when it was released, but later on achieved probably one of the greatest positive changes of opinions regarding an album ever in modern music history, since Cuomo in this album is generally discussing about struggling unsuccessfully finding love and its consequences and not wanting being alone, something which people can relate to, and other than that, it's compositionally very well-made.

Pinkerton is one of few albums in modern music history which started out as a big project, which was supposed to be a rock opera called: Songs from the Black Hole. Cuomo was inspired to make one after listening to a recording of the 1904 opera Madama Butterfly, which the song Butterfly takes its title from and the album's title Pinkerton is taken from one of its main characters. The US & Japan themes are inspired of the opera's story and its sad themes inspired Cuomo to make sad music. However, the project was abandoned as he felt lonely studying at Harvard university at the time, and the project turned out be a short 34-minute 10-songs album, similar to how The Who's Lifehouse was shortened and how the Beach Boys' SMiLE would be recreated as was planned decades later.

An importantly great album which is an all-time favorite for me, because of the natural flow of the tracks' music.
II've always preferred it over the Blue Album since for me and as the track ratings on BEA shows: five songs of it are strong while the other five are weak, so it enlarges the imbalance, which Pinkerton doesn't have.
The album's B-side (tracks 6-10) is the strongest part of the album for me since it showcases strong tracks one by one, so it's possibly one of musically strongest B-sides on any album ever, and is thematically the album's climax.
Could it be one of best music albums of all time? Absolutely so! As it is very well-composed, planned & themed! It is the Pet Sounds of the 90s!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
From 03/30/2025 10:20
More overrated than Radiohead's OK Computer. Nope, I don't get it at all...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
95/100
From 01/02/2025 14:49
Album Rating: 87.20
(872/10)

Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Pinkerton

24.09.1996

1.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Tired Of Sex 95
2.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Getchoo 91
3.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - No Other One 80
4.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Why Bother? 81
5.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Across The Sea 84
6.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - The Good Life 93
7.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - El Scorcho 81
8.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Pink Triangle 90
9.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Falling For You 89
10.Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Butterfly 88

Ranked in order:

* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Tired Of Sex 95
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - The Good Life 93
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Getchoo 91
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Pink Triangle 90
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Falling For You 89
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Butterfly 88
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Across The Sea 84
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - El Scorcho 81
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - Why Bother? 81
* Weezer (Pink - US - Sep 96) - No Other One 80
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/25/2024 17:50
Yeah, this album is very cringey at times, but at the same time it's irresistibly catchy power pop. If I ignore some lyrics and painful (at least for me) vocals I can vibe to it. I still slightly prefer Blue Album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 09/17/2023 11:38
played this countless times since 96 and never understood why it's highly regarded, 2 or 2.5 stars at best - glad I kept chipping away at it as listening last night (Sept 17 2023) something just clicked into place! fantastic stuff..
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 06/29/2023 11:08
An album that is quite honestly as fantastic as every Weezer fan says it is. This was Weezer at their artistic peak.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/11/2023 10:55
There is a lot of fun to be had with this record but there isn't much substance backing this up. The music isn't complex or multi layered which means it heavily relies on every hook hitting which it doesn't on here unfortunately. There are some obvious exceptions where the hook gets completely stuck in your head for ages but this is only on around 4 of the tracks on here. The rest of the music on here is mediocre and doesn't have much to keep you coming back as it is quite basic. Overall, this record is very over rated on this site which might lead to people over hating on it, with possibly myself included right now, but there just isn't enough quality on here for it to be amongst the greatest of all time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 02/08/2023 19:39
More consistent than anything I heard from Weezer.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 08/31/2022 03:45
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 03/29/2022 07:08
I do not get the ratings in BEA, IMHO this is not 112th best album ever, no way.
I can barely stand it for the energy the joy of making. It sounds very garage the playing is nothing special here. Some fun songs, yes, But not 112th best., no
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1996
1. If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle And Sebastian
2. Pinkerton by Weezer
3. Endtroducing..... by DJ Shadow
4. Ænima by Tool
5. Odelay by Beck
6. Long Season by フィッシュマンズ [Fishmans]
7. Soundtracks For The Blind by Swans
8. ATLiens by OutKast
9. Tigermilk by Belle And Sebastian
10. Everything Must Go by Manic Street Preachers
11. The Score by Fugees
12. Reasonable Doubt by Jay-Z
13. Richard D. James Album by Aphex Twin
14. Murder Ballads by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
15. Sublime by Sublime
16. Beautiful Freak by Eels
17. New Adventures In Hi-Fi by R.E.M.
18. Being There by Wilco
19. On Avery Island by Neutral Milk Hotel
20. Tidal by Fiona Apple
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