Given grunge's overwhelming associations with fun things like heroin, suicide and sludgy, self-loathing torment on the whole, you can well imagine even if you weren't there at the time what a delightful breath of HubbaBubba-scented fresh air Weezer's classic debut album was when it arrived kinda out of nowhere in the spring of 1994.

Weezer -- or the "Blue Album," as it's become known -- proved you could have it both ways: the guitars were thunderously heavy to fit the tenor of the "alt"-rock times, yet Rivers Cuomo et al. had a seemingly bottomless capacity for summery melodies to pair with those guitars. An instant hit was born, its overall gift for tunes, tunes, tunes, tunes, tunes helped along by smashing Spike Jonze videos for the inescapable MuchMusic/MTV staples "Buddy Holly" and "Undone - The Sweater Song." It remains the Weezer record to beat to this day. 

Sorry, Pinkerton. It's just the truth.

TRACKLISTING:

1. My Name Is Jonas
2. No One Else
3. The World Has Turned And Left Me Here
4. Buddy Holly
5. Undone - The Sweater Song
6. Surf Wax America
7. Say It Ain't So
8. In The Garage
9. Holiday
10. Only In Dreams