Geffen

If you don't count 2007's "Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo," (and you shouldn't) it's been almost three years since we have heard anything new from indie favorite Weezer.

The band's sixth studio album is more of a collective effort, with Cuomo ceding and sharing songwriting duties on a handful of songs on what is unofficially called "The Red Album."

The album's single, "Pork and Beans," with its simple chord structure, snarly guitars and sing-along choruses, could easily find a home on the band's top albums like "Pinkerton" or "The Blue Album."

Album opener "Troublemaker" is more of Weezer's sunny side: catchy and easy to absorb. With power chords dropped in favor of open strumming and melodic bass lines, "Cold Dark World" is one of the best on the new album, strikingly different in style and tone, and dissimilar from other songs on any of the group's albums.

It's no "Blue," but "Red" is the most colorful Weezer album since "Green."  

"”Joe Wertz