Weezer - Christmas With Weezer

Where is VH1’s Behind the Music when you need it? I would give anything for an insider’s look at how the new Christmas with Weezer album came into being. I purchased the album on a whim based on the fact that my Christmas playlists have gaping holes when it comes to alt/rock/pop variations of yuletide jingles. I was willing to settle for a flippant and high-paced tour de force through the holiday, but that was a faulty assumption.

The album kicks off well with a brief version of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. It’s peppy with a fair share of distorted electric guitar, and feels classically Weezer. But from there the album pleasantly surprises in both pace and content. One might anticipate a selection of songs that celebrate the more secular foci of Christmas, but there is nary a blinky-nosed reindeer, a jolly snowman nor a disloyal parent’s amorous encounter with Santa to be found. It’s all incarnation, all the time. And it is done with due respect to more traditional versions of the songs.

Which then begs the question: How did this album get made? It is difficult to imagine music execs pitching an album such as this where three of the six songs are essentially Baby Jesus hanging out on the left side of the metronome. But it is equally as difficult to imagine Weezer successfully convincing someone that this is the optimal playlist for an album that will serve as a soundtrack for their Guitar Hero-like iPhone application.

How it went down, we may never know. But what we do know is that Christmas with Weezer is a good album. Each song has a short guitar solo. The selections are all driven by drum parts that shine a spotlight on the downbeat. But most importantly, each performance rings authentic.

On “O Holy Night”, the band does an admirable job of balancing the delicate portions of the ballad with the intense crescendos that are called for mid-song. And with it being the longest song on the album, they also provide an opportunity for the listener to hear verses that are lacking from some versions of the song. It’s a little comical that it took Weezer’s version of the song to make me realize how missional the third verse is. “Truly He taught us to love one another/His law is love and His gospel is peace/Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother/And in his name all oppression shall cease.”

By the time Weezer works through “O Come All Ye Faithful”, “The First Noel”, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and “Silent Night”, you feel like you have spent an all-too brief evening around the piano singing carols with your good buddies. When it’s over, you look around and ask “Did that really just happen?”. The disc is fun and spontaneous and rings true in a way that you didn’t anticipate. But the again, sometimes that kind of thing happens at Christmas.

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The Burnside Writers Collective fundraising campaign has begun. If you can donate a few bucks, we’d be grateful. Here are a few ways we want to say thank you:

Donations under $35: A Burnside sticker.

$35-$59: A copy of Donald Miller’s upcoming book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and a Burnside sticker. The book is due out in 2009. We may or may not be able to get copies before they hit the stores. Regardless, you’ll get when we get it.

$60-$99: An autographed copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, a book of your choice penned by one of our contributors* (list of options below) and a Burnside sticker.

$100-$199: An autographed copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, two books penned by our contributors, a Burnside t-shirt and a Burnside sticker.

$200 or more: An autographed copy of A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, all five books penned by Burnside contributors, a Burnside t-shirt, a Burnside sticker and your name listed as a Burnside Patron on the new site.