Weezer's long-awaited metal album Van Weezer is finally here, and the band celebrated during their exclusive iHeartRadio Album Release Party on the album's release day, May 7th.
Van Weezer is Weezer's fifteenth full-length studio album and follows OK Human, which was released earlier this year. The band's new album is metal-inspired and is actually dedicated to late rock icon Eddie Van Halen. After Van Halen's passing, the band shared, "We're saddened to hear of Eddie Van Halen's untimely passing today. Given the news today, we want to dedicate our album Van Weezer to Eddie as a thank you for all the incredible music that soundtracked our youth and inspired the record."
Weezer's new album includes previously-released songs like "The End of the Game," "Hero," "Beginning of the End" and "I Need Some of That."
During their iHeartRadio Album Release Party, hosted by iHeartRadio's Booker, the band's Rivers Cuomo explained of what Eddie Van Halen meant to him, "Well, he kinda kicked the whole thing off as far as the shredding goes. [He] inspired all my favorites from the 80s and when I first picked up a guitar, that's the kind of music I wanted to play. So, that's really how I learned how to play the instrument was playing those kinds of riffs. So, it's fun to play it now."
Cuomo added of the Van Weezer album title, "It means we're gonna unleash some more wicked guitar riffage, but combine with a classic Weezer sound. So, big sing-alongs, big guitars, and just a little more fun on the shredding."
During the show, the band performed songs live together, including fan favorites like "Say It Ain't So," their Toto "Africa" cover, "Getchoo," "My Name Is Jonas" and "Buddy Holly," as well as songs from Van Weezer like "Hero," "All The Good Ones," "I Need Some of That" and "The End of the Game." The band also performed OK Human's "All My Favorite Songs."
During a Q&A, the band opened up about their new album, answered some fan questions, and even teased more new music that they have coming next year.
Rivers explained that the decision to finally release a metal album stemmed from a moment from a show a few years ago. He recalled, "It was just a few years ago, I think it was in between two songs at one of our shows, I just absent-mindedly did one of these kind of things [guitar shred], and the crowd went nuts, they were like 'Yeah!' So, I did it again, and went nuts again. So, I was like, maybe we should make a whole album like that."
Despite having released two albums in 2021, next year, the band has not one, not two, not three, but FOUR new albums on the way — one for every season. Cuomo explained, "2022, we have an album coming out on the first day of each season. So, it's gonna be the four seasons and each album has its own vibe and mood and genre. So, it's gonna be a really interesting collection."
Photos: Wes and Alex for iHeartRadio