History Music / Pinkerton

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 itself would eventually accrue a cult following and mass acclaim down the line]], finally going Platinum in 2016.

''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.

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 underwent 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 title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', but right before its release the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]], 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 it gathered 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 itself would eventually accrue a cult following and mass acclaim down the line]], finally going Platinum in 2016.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Goddamn, you Half-Japanese girls/Do it to me everytime...'']]

-->--'''Teenage Victory Songs''', [[http://tvs.soymilkrevolution.com/?p=133 "Why Bother?"]]

-->--'''Jeff Gordinier''', ''Entertainment Weekly''

''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.

As mentioned above, frontman Rivers Cuomo's initial plan to follow their self-titled debut ''Music/WeezerTheBlueAlbum'' was to create a RockOpera 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 CreatorBreakdown as he underwent painful surgery to correct the fact that he was born with one leg shorter than the other, 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 album was recorded in September 1995, January, March and June 1996 at a variety of studios (Sound City and Hollywood Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, Fort Apache in Boston, Rumbo Recorders in Canoga Park and Electric Lady Studios in New York) during Cuomo's breaks from Harvard, which left the other band members plenty of free time to indulge in their own projects. Intending a rawer, DarkerAndEdgier sound, Cuomo chose to have the band self-produce the record with 12 engineers, replacing [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]]'s earlier radio-friendly production with a pounding drum sound and vicious, aggressive guitar sounds accomplished by connecting them to multiple distortion pedals at once. Cuomo, bassist Matt Sharp and guitarist Brian Bell also eschewed overdubbing vocals like on their previous album, choosing instead to record them live around three microphones.

The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', but right before its release the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]], 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 critical response it gathered drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years and influenced the band's LighterAndSofter direction afterwards, though the album itself would accrue a cult following down the line. In 2016, the album finally went Platinum.

''''

The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', but right before its release the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]], 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 critical response it gathered drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years and influenced the band's LighterAndSofter direction afterwards, though the album itself would accrue a cult following down the line.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Most of the ''Pinkerton'' is about a 5, with "Tired of Sex", "Getchoo" and "Falling For You" pushing the album into a 6, and the acoustic "Butterfly" representing a 1.

** "El Scorcho"'s title comes from a packet of Del Taco hot sauce named "Del Scorcho", it quotes from Music/PublicEnemy's "Don't Believe the Hype" ("I'm the epitome of public enemy"), the lines about "listening to [[Theatre/MadameButterfly Cio-Cio San]]" and "watching [[Wrestling/ThePublicEnemyWrestling [Johnny] Grunge]] leg-drop Wrestling/NewJack through a press table" were borrowed from an essay by one of Cuomo's classmates, and the line "I asked you to go to the Music/GreenDay concert" is a reference to how [[http://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=A_Mad_and_Furious_Master a lot of the female fans Cuomo met on tour were Green Day fans]].

The title of the album comes from the character in ''Theatre/MadameButterfly'', but right before its release the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]], 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 and endured a severe critical mauling: [[NeverLiveItDown infamously]], ''Rolling Stone'''s review criticised every song save "Butterfly" (which reviewer Rob O'Connor praised and compared to Music/BigStar) and a year-end readers' poll named it one of the worst albums of 1996. The terrible response drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years and influenced the band's LighterAndSofter direction afterwards.

Despite this, the album settled on being a CultClassic and slowly but steadily gathered a fanbase, and years later [[VindicatedByHistory the consensus altered]] and it became recognised as Weezer's best album. ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' even listed it as the #108 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]] in 2013.

!''Pink Triangle Tropes'':

* DarkerAndEdgier: Big time compared to ''The Blue Album'', both in sound and subject matter. While ''The Blue Album'' dealt with themes such as failing relationships and alcoholism, ''Pinkerton'' takes it even further with songs about crippling isolation, sexual frustration, disillusions concerning the [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock star life]], and the Cuomo's own questionable (and sometimes disturbing) views of women at the time. In terms of a band following up a crowd-pleasing pop-oriented debut with a much more sophisticated, complex second album, it was like if Music/TheBeachBoys had immediately followed up ''Surfin' Safari'' with ''Music/PetSounds'', or Music/TheBeatles released ''Music/{{Revolver}}'' right after ''Music/PleasePleaseMe''.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Most of the ''Pinkerton'' is about a 5, with "Tired of Sex" and "Getchoo" pushing the album into a 6, and the acoustic "Butterfly" representing a 1.

* RealityEnsues: "Falling for You" is a song about Rivers finally finding his one true love. The very next song, "Butterfly" is about him having lost said love due to his own selfish behavior.

!! Tracks from the Deluxe Edition:
# "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly" (1:57) *
# "Devotion" (3:11) *
# "The Good Life" (radio remix) (4:08)
# "Waiting on You" (4:13) **
# "I Just Threw out the Love of My Dreams" (2:39) **
# "The Good Life" (live and acoustic) (4:40)
# "Pink Triangle" (radio remix) (4:02)

# "Pink Triangle" (live and acoustic) (4:18)
# "Interview – 107.7 The End – Blue vs. Pinkerton" (1:32)

# "The Good Life" (live at Y100 Sonic Session) (4:37)
# "El Scorcho" (live at Y100 Sonic Session) (4:07)
# "Pink Triangle" (live at Y100 Sonic Session) (4:10)
# "Why Bother?" (live at Reading Festival 1996) (2:18)
# "El Scorcho" (live at Reading Festival 1996) (4:09)
# "Pink Triangle" (live at Reading Festival 1996) (4:52)
# "The Good Life" (live at X96) (4:13)
# "El Scorcho" (live and acoustic) (4:26)
# "Across the Sea Piano Noodles" (0:38)
# "Butterfly" (alternate take) (2:48)

# "Tired of Sex" (tracking rough) (2:58)
# "Getchoo" (tracking rough) (2:57)

-> * "El Scorcho" b-side
-> ** "The Good Life" b-side

** "El Scorcho"'s title comes from a packet of Del Taco hot sauce named "Del Scorcho", it quotes from Music/PublicEnemy's "Don't Believe the Hype" ("I'm the epitome of public enemy"), the lines about "listening to [[Theatre/MadameButterfly Cio-Cio San]]" and "watching [[Wrestling/{{TPE}} Grunge]] leg-drop Wrestling/NewJack through a press table" were borrowed from an essay by one of Cuomo's classmates, and the line "I asked you to go to the Music/GreenDay concert" is a reference to how [[http://www.weezerpedia.com/wiki/index.php?title=A_Mad_and_Furious_Master a lot of the female fans Cuomo met on tour were Green Day fans]].

[[quoteright:350:''Goddamn, you Half-Japanese girls/Do it to me everytime...'']]

* DarkerAndEdgier: Big time compared to ''The Blue Album'', both in sound and subject matter. While ''The Blue Album'' dealt with themes such as failing relationships and alcoholism, ''Pinkerton'' takes it even further with songs about crippling isolation, sexual frustration, disillusions concerning the [[SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll rock star life]], and the Cuomo's own questionable (and sometimes disturbing) views of women at the time.

# "Tired of Sex"
# "Getchoo"
# "No Other One"
# "Why Bother?"
# "Across the Sea"
# "The Good Life"
# "El Scorcho"
# "Pink Triangle"
# "Falling for You"
# "Butterfly"

* DarkerAndEdgier: Big time compared to ''The Blue Album''.

The title of the album comes from the character in ''MadameButterfly'', but right before its release the [[PinkertonDetective Pinkerton security agency]] [[FrivolousLawsuit sued for trademark infringement]], 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 and endured a severe critical mauling: [[NeverLiveItDown infamously]], ''Rolling Stone'''s review criticised every song save "Butterfly" (which reviewer Rob O'Connor praised and compared to Music/BigStar) and a year-end readers' poll named it one of the worst albums of 1996. The terrible response drove Weezer into a hiatus for three years and influenced the band's LighterAndSofter direction afterwards.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: Rivers lets out a few wordless screams between verses of "Tired Of Sex", and the relatively soft "No Other One" starts with a burst of feedback and a scream. These instances mainly stand out because Weezer songs almost never include that style of vocal.

* Music/{{Emo}}: ''Pinkerton'' has commonly been cited as an influence not only on AlternativeRock in general but on {{Emo}} 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".

** (A very confused) LoveConfession ("Falling For You")

Despite this, the album settled on being a CultClassic and slowly but steadily gathered a fanbase, and years later [[VindicatedByHistory the consensus altered]] and it became recognised as Weezer's best album. ''Magazine/{{NME}}'' even listed it as the #108 [[UsefulNotes/NME500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime greatest album of all time]].

Despite this, the album settled on being a CultClassic and slowly but steadily gathered a fanbase, and years later [[VindicatedByHistory the consensus altered]] and it became recognised as Weezer's best album.