History Music / Pinkerton

''Pinkerton'' is the second album by AlternativeRock band Music/{{Weezer}}, released in 1996. The album was initially planned as a RockOpera named ''Songs from the Black Hole'', but the concept was eventually abandoned, and the final album combined songs that were discarded from ''Black Hole'' and new CreatorBreakdown-influenced material. The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly''[[note]]whom Cuomo described as an "asshole American sailor similar to a touring rock star"[[/note]]; the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] sued for trademark infringement right before its release, only to have their case thrown out almost instantly.

However, the album would eventually gain a [[CultClassic cult following]] and [[VindicatedByHistory significantly boosted reputation]] as soon as the TurnOfTheMillennium, going on to be deemed the band's ''magnum opus'' and an incredibly influential album for rock acts of future generations (particularly in the {{emo}} subgenre), and eventually being certified Platinum in 2016. Even Cuomo would come back around to it, stating in 2008 that he found the album "super-deep, brave, and authentic" and stating in 2010 that he considered the experience of playing the songs live[[note]]as Weezer went on a tour in 2010 where they played ''Pinkerton'' alongside ''Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum'' in their entirety[[/note]] to an enthusiastic fan response to be "incredibly validating".

->''"Much like ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' is a young man’s play, I feel that ''Pinkerton'' is something of a young man’s album."''
-->-- '''Teenage Victory Songs''', [[http://tvs.soymilkrevolution.com/?p=133 "Why Bother?"]]

* RecordProducer: The band '''self-produced''' the album, with engineering by [[Music/{{Kyuss}} Joe]] [[Music/{{Tool}} Ba]][[Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge rr]][[Music/VerucaSalt esi]], Billy Bowers, Jim Champagne, David Dominguez, Greg Fidelman, [[Music/MercuryRev Dave]] [[Music/FlamingLips Fridmann]], Rob Jacobs, [[Music/FooFighters Adam]] [[Music/PearlJam Kasper]], Dan [=McLaughlin=], Cliff Norrell, [[Music/CourtneyLove Jack]] [[Music/{{Beck}} Joseph]] [[Music/GreenDay Puig]] and Jim Rondinelli.

The album's first single, "El Scorcho", stiffed on MTV, possibly due to Cuomo's refusal to indulge in the Creator/SpikeJonze-esque videos that made "Buddy Holly" a success (which he now considered "gimmicky"), and despite subsequent singles "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle", ''Pinkerton'' stalled at #19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The additional mixed critical response the album received embarrassed Cuomo, drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years, and influenced the band's more traditional and less personal LighterAndSofter direction in future albums, starting with their next album, ''Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum''.

''Pinkerton'' is the second album by AlternativeRock band Music/{{Weezer}}, released in 1996. The album was initially planned as a RockOpera named ''Songs from the Black Hole'', but the concept was eventually abandoned, and the final album combined songs that were discarded from ''Black Hole'' and new CreatorBreakdown-influenced material. The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly''; the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] sued for trademark infringement right before its release, only to have their case thrown out almost instantly.

The first single, "El Scorcho", stiffed on MTV, possibly due to Cuomo's refusal to indulge in the "gimmicky" Creator/SpikeJonze-esque videos that made "Buddy Holly" a success, and despite subsequent singles "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle", ''Pinkerton'' stalled at #19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The additional mixed critical response the album received embarrassed Cuomo, drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years, and influenced the band's more traditional and less personal LighterAndSofter direction in future albums, starting with their next album, ''Music/WeezerTheGreenAlbum''.

However, [[VindicatedByHistory the album would eventually gain a cult following and significantly boosted reputation]] as soon as the TurnOfTheMillennium, going on to be deemed the band's ''magnum opus'' and an incredibly influential album for future generations' rock acts (particularly in the {{emo}} subgenre), and eventually being certified Platinum in 2016. Even Cuomo would come back around to it, stating in 2008 that he found the album "super-deep, brave, and authentic" and stating in 2010 that he considered the experience of playing the songs live[[note]]as Weezer went on a tour in 2010 where they played ''Pinkerton'' alongside ''Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum'' in their entirety[[/note]] to an enthusiastic fan response to be "incredibly validating".

* AsianSpeekeeEngrish: The opening lines of "Across the Sea" have this, since they're quoting from a letter Rivers got from a Japanese fan (who apparently lives in a small city ''named'' Japan).

* FreudianExcuse: The bridge of "Across the Sea" tries to invoke this.

* LoveHurts: The general theme of ''Pinkerton''. Variations include:
** LadykillerInLove[=/=]TrueLoveIsExceptional ("Tired of Sex")
** BelligerentSexualTension or outright MasochismTango ("Getchoo")
** LoveMartyr ("No Other One")
** TwiceShy ("Why Bother?")
** LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces + FreudianExcuse ("Across the Sea")
** FriendlessBackground ("The Good Life")
** CannotSpitItOut[=/=]StalkerWithACrush ("El Scorcho")
** IncompatibleOrientation ("Pink Triangle")
** (A very confused) LoveConfession ("Falling for You")
** NotStayingForBreakfast ("Butterfly")

* MostWritersAreMale And {{Angst}}y: The lyrics of ''Pinkerton'' are essentially a TooMuchInformation-sharing of Rivers Cuomo's romantic misadventures, so at some points they can come across as creepy or self-centered.

* PopPunk: "Why Bother?".
* PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy: The chorus of "The Good Life", and some lines in "El Scorcho".

The first single, "El Scorcho", stiffed on MTV, possibly due to Cuomo's refusal to indulge in the "gimmicky" Creator/SpikeJonze-esque videos that made "Buddy Holly" a success, and despite subsequent singles "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle", ''Pinkerton'' stalled at #19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The additional mixed critical response the album received embarrassed Cuomo, drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years, and influenced the band's more traditional and less personal LighterAndSofter direction in future albums.

The first single, "El Scorcho", stiffed on MTV, possibly due to Cuomo's refusal to indulge in the "gimmicky" Creator/SpikeJonze-esque videos that made "Buddy Holly" a success, and despite subsequent singles "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle", ''Pinkerton'' stalled at #19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The additional mixed critical response the album received embarrassed Cuomo, drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years, and influenced the band's more traditional and less personal LighterAndSofter direction in future albums. However, [[VindicatedByHistory the album would eventually gain a cult following and significantly boosted reputation]] as soon as the TurnOfTheMillennium, eventually going Platinum in 2016.

* EmoMusic: ''Pinkerton'' has commonly been cited as an influence not only on AlternativeRock in general but on EmoMusic specifically, possibly due to its raw production and the lyrics painting what Pitchfork called "an uncomfortably honest self-portrait" of Cuomo. However, unlike later {{Emo}} bands that cited it as an influence, ''Pinkerton'' contains a few songs where the band's PowerPop roots shine through ("The Good Life" and "Across The Sea"), some clearly less angsty moments ("Falling for You") as well as a sense of humour, chiefly in the [[SelfDeprecation self-mocking]] lyrics of "The Good Life" and "El Scorcho" as well as Matt Sharp's backing vocals and interjections ("I've ''HAD'' it!") and the videos for "El Scorcho" and "The Good Life".

''Pinkerton'' is the second album by AlternativeRock band Music/{{Weezer}}, released in 1996. The album was initially planned as a RockOpera named ''Songs from the Black Hole'', but the concept was eventually abandoned, and the final album combined songs that were discarded from ''Black Hole'' and new, {{Creator Breakdown}}-y material. The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly''; the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] sued for trademark infringement right before its release, only to have their case thrown out almost instantly.

As mentioned above, frontman Rivers Cuomo's initial plan to follow their self-titled debut ''Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum'' was to create an ambitious album that he described as "an analogy for taking off, going out on the road and up the charts with a rock band, which is what was happening to me at the time I was writing this and feeling like I was lost in space". The songs were also influenced by Cuomo's mental state, as he had undergone painful surgery to correct one of his legs being shorter than the other since birth, and was accepted to study at [[IvyLeagueForEveryone Harvard]] with a letter describing his disillusionment with the rock lifestyle but only found himself more isolated and lonely.

The first single, "El Scorcho", stiffed on MTV, possibly due to Cuomo's refusal to indulge in the "gimmicky" Creator/SpikeJonze-esque videos that made "Buddy Holly" a success, and despite subsequent singles "The Good Life" and "Pink Triangle", ''Pinkerton'' stalled at #19 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The additional mixed critical response the album received embarrassed Cuomo, drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years, and influenced the band's more traditional and less personal LighterAndSofter direction in future albums. However, [[VindicatedByHistory the album would eventually accrue a cult following and mass acclaim down the line]], finally going Platinum in 2016.

* LoudnessWar: Played with; unlike their Ric Ocasek-produced debut album, which was mixed to sound good at lower volumes (like on the radio), ''Pinkerton'' was mixed to be ''cranked'': all the vocals and instruments were pushed right to the redline (without going over), and Patrick's drum fill at 1:15 right before the second verse actually ''clips'' (which is almost unheard of for drums).

''Pinkerton'' is AlternativeRock band Music/{{Weezer}}'s second album, released in 1996. The album was initially planned as a RockOpera named ''Songs from the Black Hole'', but the concept was eventually abandoned, and the final album combined songs that were discarded from ''Black Hole'' and new, {{Creator Breakdown}}-y material. The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly''; the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]] right before its release, only to have their case thrown out almost instantly.