Creator In-Joke: Scooter Ward originally dismissed the melody for "Stupid Girl" as sounding too much like a Weezer song. He later approached their frontman Rivers Cuomo for input. Not only did Cuomo end up finishing most of the song, but he eventually sang back up on the recording.
Executive Meddling: After the release of Year of the Spider, Geffen Records inexplicably cancelled the video for "Suffocate" and stopped promoting the album, causing frustrations that led to several line-up changes and the band leaving the label.
The success of their debut album was also halted when their record label, A&M Records, folded just seven months after release. Thankfully their contract managed to be salvaged and transferred over to Geffen, but the band has gone on to say that moment really hurt the momentum they had early on.
What Could Have Been: "Stupid Girl" was originally going to be a duet between Scooter and Rivers Cuomo as part of an extended inside joke among him and the band.
"Without You" was a song originally written for Year of the Spider that didn't make the final cut; It eventually appeared on The Things We Can't Stop over a decade later.
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