Blast Off! Up to the stars we go!
April 29, 2010 4:19 PM   Subscribe

Songs From the Black Hole is a sci-fi rock opera written by weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and originally intended to be the followup to their self-titled debut. Never officially released, the album has become known as a one of rock's "mythical lost masterpieces," akin to the Beach Boys' SMiLE.

Some of the Songs From the Black Hole ended up on Pinkerton, weezer's eventual second album. Others were leaked over the internet in the ensuing years. A few more saw the light of day until the 2008 releases of Alone and Alone II, two collections of Cuomo's home demos.

Songs From the Black Hole:

1. Blast Off
2. You Won't Get with Me Tonight
3. Who You Callin' Bitch?
4. Oh Jonas
5. Please Remember
6. Come to My Pod
7. This Is Not for Me
8. Tired of Sex
9. Superfriend
10. She's Had a Girl
11. Dude, We're Finally Landing
12. Now I Finally See
13. Getchoo
14. I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams
15. No Other One
16. Devotion
17. What Is This I Find?
18. Waiting on You
19. Longtime Sunshine

Bonus weezer rarity awesomeness (girl's names edition):

1. Suzanne
2. Jamie
3. Mykel and Carli
4. Wanda
5. My Evaline
posted by ludwig_van (26 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
My 18 year old sell vomiting up Malibu while singing along to "El Scorcho" thanks you.
posted by AzzaMcKazza at 4:28 PM on April 29, 2010 [3 favorites]


Gross. :(
posted by basicchannel at 4:34 PM on April 29, 2010




/does not care about Weezer, hopes to hollow out thread in an effort to wear it's corspe and use it for discussion of favourite childhoods movie while taking a ride through the singularity into HEAVEN or HELL, whichevs.

/okay, maybe I'll listen to the links when I'm someplace where I have audio.
posted by Artw at 4:39 PM on April 29, 2010


Is this the thread where we get to talk about the state of being a man or a woman?

(I kid, I kid. But seriously, TWO posts on the blue about Rivers Cuomo? Holy hell.)
posted by iamkimiam at 4:40 PM on April 29, 2010


The Pinkerton b-sides, most of which were bound for SFTBH, are amazing, weird, sad songs. Burn a CD with "I Just Threw Out The Love Of My Dreams," "Waiting On You," "Devotion," version 2 of "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly," and the live acoustic versions of "The Good Life" & "Pink Triangle."

Seriously. People who don't like Weezer - this might be the way in for you.
posted by mintcake! at 4:45 PM on April 29, 2010


(Full disclosure - I haven't been into a Weezer album since the green one. I'm not here to defend "Beverly Hills" or anything.)
posted by mintcake! at 4:46 PM on April 29, 2010


But their name is a complaining word! Like Ween!
posted by Artw at 4:47 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]


Cool! A second thread to bash the snot out of Rivers Cuomo!
posted by nevercalm at 4:58 PM on April 29, 2010


But seriously, TWO posts on the blue about Rivers Cuomo? Holy hell.

According to the tags, there are now 3 "riverscuomo" posts (the prior one back in 2008), plus another 9 Weezer-tagged posts.

When written in all lower case, mushed together, Rivers Cuomo looks like River Scumo to me.
posted by filthy light thief at 4:58 PM on April 29, 2010


The Original Black Hole Trailer is the Best Trailer Ever Made. Ever.

And the trailer doesn't even have the incredible theme music. Disney's Black Hole is one hell of a movie, and I don't mind describing it that way because (spoiler alert) as the good guys pass through the black hole, they literally go through Hell! And the evil robot stands in for Satan! This dark, dark film was actually produced in the feel-good afterglow of "Star Wars" -- it flopped and the box office, but I recall it vividly.

Who's this band Weezer? They're awful.
posted by Faze at 5:01 PM on April 29, 2010 [2 favorites]


Oh, man. I think they made the right decision to abandon this. "Blast Off" is decent, but that's the only good one (apart from the stuff that made it to Pinkerton and its B-sides). I can't take the others seriously at all. And I like rock operas/concept albums/whatever.

I wonder what was going through the other band members' heads the first time they heard this. Can you imagine having to sing this "Dude, We're Finally Landing" in front of a crowd of "alternative" kids every day for 6 months?

"I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" is a great song, though. mintcake! is right; their B-sides from this era are very nice.
posted by equalpants at 5:01 PM on April 29, 2010


IIRC The Beta Band had this one track that, for no particular reason, became an extended sample from The Black Hole partway through. I never really got into them that much, but that one track was awesome.
posted by Artw at 5:06 PM on April 29, 2010


People who don't like Weezer

I'm not one of those, but I never really paid attention to them after their first record. I liked "Say It Ain't So" off that. Recommend me another record of theirs to check out, I don't want to feel like I'm missing something.
posted by DecemberBoy at 5:17 PM on April 29, 2010


Displays only bitter message on IPhone.
posted by Artw at 5:19 PM on April 29, 2010


I love love love Weezer. Awesome pop rock music at its finest. Not so into the tracks here, but I love those guys for the sole reason that they write great hooks and are into having fun.
posted by V4V at 5:25 PM on April 29, 2010


"I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams" is a great song, though

I would marry that song if I could. Have babies with the synth.

"O Lisa" from the green album era is also a pretty great B-side.

I'm kinda cool on most of this material, although I gotta say, I enjoyed "You Won't Get With Me Tonight" more than I probably should have.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:32 PM on April 29, 2010


Wow, I don't know how I escaped hearing "Devotion" until now. "Black Hole" indeed--Christ in a bucket, what a depressing pit of despair and contempt. Mr. Cuomo has outdone even The Wall.
posted by equalpants at 5:54 PM on April 29, 2010


Love Weezer. Hate "rock operas" with the burning passion of one thousand million sexually aroused suns. Used to want to sleep with Rivers Cuomo real bad.

Make of this what you will.
posted by Never teh Bride at 6:11 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]


Aside from the songs that made it to Pinkerton, I think Blast Off, I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams, Waiting On You, Devotion, and Longtime Sunshine are all fantastic. Up there with weezer's best material.

I've always loved Jamie and Suzanne and Wanda and Mykel and Carli, too.
posted by ludwig_van at 7:04 PM on April 29, 2010


at this rate, rivers is going to mess up mefi forever.
posted by the aloha at 8:52 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]


I think the most important thing an artist does is self-edit. Dude never put it out there. I can respect that.

Except for the poem "September, 1 1939." Auden plain got that edit wrong.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:25 PM on April 29, 2010


Wiki lists the spelling as Susanne. I know I've heard this song before, but I don't know where. Haunting and delightful like that.
posted by knile at 9:31 PM on April 29, 2010


For whatever it's worth, Sady Doyle from Tiger Beatdown has a really great post up at The Awl that does a really great job explaining everything that's wrong/right/wrongright about Weezer and why Rivers Cuomo inspires such a strong "EUUUGH" reaction even among people who like a lot of the band's stuff (I count myself among that group, though I don't think the fact that this is my favorite of their albums earns me any respect from anyone), and furthermore why people who aren't at least a little "euuughh"ed out by Cuomo themselves frequently turn out to be a little "euughh", or at least "eugh."
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 10:13 PM on April 29, 2010 [1 favorite]


You Can't Tip a Buick et al, your doubtlessly scintillating opinions about that ridiculous article might be more appropriate for the FPP about it. This thread is about music. Thanks!
posted by ludwig_van at 6:45 AM on April 30, 2010


Wiki lists the spelling as Susanne. I know I've heard this song before, but I don't know where.

End of Mallrats, perhaps? Jay and Silent Bob walk off into the distance(sunset? it's been a while) with an orangutan while this song plays.

Love the song.
posted by owtytrof at 9:25 AM on April 30, 2010 [1 favorite]


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