Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo

For Weezer fans, hearing its main man and songwriter working through ideas in his home studio, flexing his experimental nature to better understand his own creative process, is both a fascinating and sometimes frustrating experience. After all, the creative process is filled with trial and error and while an early version of “Buddy Holly” shows just how well-formed his ideas sometimes come to him, some of the songs feel fragmentary or like ideas that aren’t likely to go much further (the 45 seconds of “Who You Callin’ Bitch?” or the 35 seconds of taped nonsense on the non-song “I Wish You Had An Axe Guitar”). But this is also often where the fun resides. “Wanda (You’re My Only Love)” uses some cheap sounding keyboards to support its sublime melody, while the less-than-a-minute “Dude We’re Finally Landing” features charming vocal harmonies that lack nothing despite the song’s incompleteness. “Superfriend” and “I Was Made for You” don’t need grander productions, since the drums and guitars are sufficient to support Cuomo’s aching vocals and counterpoint effects.