NEW RELEASE - HURLEY - WEEZER

The NEW CD - HURLEY by WEEZER has been released this week and I am excited to actually hear some of my Flute tracks made the final mix on a favorite song on the new CD - Unspoken!!  Often, recording on somebody's CD will seem cool, but the final mix can seem like 2 different events that occurred on different planets and maybe century's. Of course we recorded tons of ideas that did not make the final mix but some did!!

UPDATE WEEK 1 ON WEEZER - Hurley release - I am actually on a new CD that debuted in the TOP 10 on Billboard and all over the US and world! I wish THAT happened more often!!! Hurley hit #6 in the US and top 10 iTunes, UK, ect....... much success to my Weezer friends!!

As odd as it might sound (and actually was) Greg Vail was called a second time, this time to play on a Weezer CD after recording the off beat "Can't Stop Partying" live video unplugged - released on StereoGum and later YouTube (Featured Rivers Cuomo and Jermaine Dupri JD and a host of young guy band musicians with me, Greg Vail on Flute!! HAHA!!)

SEE DOWN A POST FOR THE WEEZER VIDEO and the JD JERMAINE DUPRI VIDEOS - PRETTY FUNNY! Look for a big black cowboy hat!

I don't know how long these will be left up on you tube but I did find a decent quality sounding video of Unspoken so you can hear it. Check it out! If it goes away you can hit youtube search and find one to hear ~

UPDATED REVIEWS 9.29.10 ________________________________

I think it turned out really cool! I like the vibe, the dark lyrics and the move from folk to bash in 3 minutes! Nice job!

Here are some clips from reviews on Unspoken off the new Weezer CD, Hurley - sources online - credits included.______________________________

The song "Unspoken" features a cameo from smooth-jazz saxophonist Greg Vail (on flute, no less)
- Billboard CD reviews on Reuters UK 9/3!

""Unspoken" begins with Cuomo sounding a decade younger, "dreaming of a chance to make it right" over an acoustic guitar, with contemporary jazz musician Greg Vail contributing flourishes on the flute (seriously)"
 - AP Alt Press Review - Weezer Hurley

“Unspoken” which sounds like something out of ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ is an awesome track that sees Weezer blend together old and new, quite cleverly I might add. It’s simply charming and absolutely smart.
  - CD Reviews, Frantik News 3 Sep, 2010

The song "Unspoken" features a cameo from smooth-jazz saxophonist Greg Vail (on flute, no less)...
 - The Hollywood Reporter - 9-4-10

...while “Unspoken” will leave its mark in your membrane permanently. Paced by an acoustic guitar, some flute flairs from jazz musician Greg Vail, and Cuomo’s voice cracking over the lyrics, “Our life will be broken/our hate will be unspoken.” It beams with emotional all the way to its massive climax, as the band, especially drummer Pat Wilson, flexes their musical chops.  
-  Absolute Punk - Weezer - Hurley - Reviewed by: Drew Beringer (09/13/10)

The slow-burning standout “Unspoken” starts with acoustic guitar, Cuomo’s tender vocals and pretty flute by Greg Vail. “Our life will be broken/ Our hate will be unspoken,” Cuomo painfully sings. At the 2:11 mark, there’s a blast of electric guitar and drums that changes the tone until Vail’s flute fades the song out.
-- by Nikki M. Mascali Staff Writer - The Weekender 9-28-10

The acoustic starting song called 'Unspoken' is a break from the usual hoppy songs the band offers and features a flute at times, along with a string section. They end the song by smashing your eardrums by coming down so hard on electric power chords that the guy from Nickelback is going to be jealous. You don't usually hear that from the Weez, so good job changing it up and keeping some raw power involved...the radio could use it, even if it is only 30 seconds worth of it.
 www.stereokiller.com

Even smooth jazz saxophonist Greg Vail brings something to the table, his flute flourishes nicely offsetting the ample angst of "Unspoken."
- www.slantmagazine.com - by Jakob Dorof on September 12, 2010

The next track, Unspoken, is hands-down my favorite from the disc, and has the kind of old-school Weezer sound to it that the fankids have whined about for years. It starts out with a much younger-sounding Rivers singing to an acoustic guitar played by Brian Bell, before some flutes join the party, spicing things up a bit. Rivers here is again singing about relationships, with the refrain of And if you take this away from me/I’ll never forgive you, can’t you see/Our life will be broken/Our hate will be unspoken  repeating over and over, because it’s so damn good. Two minutes in, the acousticness gives way to an oncoming electric explosion (including some bass power from Scott Shriner), and a thunderous guitar riff gives the last minute some serious “bob-along-in-your-car-as-if-no-one-can-see-you” qualities. The refrain mentioned above is one of the most quotable Weezer hooks I can remember in quite a while, and in my opinion Unspoken could and should become one of the band’s “classic” songs. It’s that good.
 -- www.behindthehype.com - Posted on 10 September 2010 by Cheese Sandwich

The album’s centerpiece and its highlight, “Unspoken,” is one of the finest songs of Weezer’s career. Cuomo’s voice is in peak form, ranging from meekness to ferocity, and his craftsmanship has never been better. Again, the lyrics follow the prevailing theme, Cuomo’s contrition and regret here taking the form of anger: “And if you take this away from me, I’ll never forgive you, can’t you see?” The target of his venom is vague—is he referring to his fans? His critics? Himself?—which is ultimately inconsequential. In the song’s final chorus, he borrows both the trick and the riff from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” but it is employed deftly and gracefully, with enough sheer power to flatten any cynicism and dull any comparisons.
-- Long Island Press By Michael Patrick Nelson on September 14th, 2010

“Unspoken” may just be the closest thing to a Pinkerton cut that Weezer have given us. When everything breaks down at the 2:12 mark with that classic Weezer guitar jam crunch, it makes me feel good for sticking around with Weezer through this last decade. I knew they still had it in them.
-- We All Want Someone dot org

Hurley shines the brightest on the track “Unspoken,” which begins with front man Cuomo crafting perhaps the best vocal melody Weezer has crafted for years. He sings over a lightly strummed acoustic guitar before exploding in a power-cord fervor reminiscent of classic Blue Album (1994) Weezer tracks such as “No One Else.”
 -- The Free Press - Posted on September 13, 2010 by Kevin Steeves in Album Reviews

The highlight of the album is Unspoken, which begins with a solo acoustic guitar and goes crazy from there. I would cite this song as better than most of Blue and Pinkerton. Yeah, I said it.
 --  Album Review: Weezer, “Hurley”   Posted by Elliott Morgan on Saturday, September 11, 2010

Thankfully, one of the gems of the album, "Unspoken," follows it and serves as a nice pick-me-up. The vocal melody, the simple acoustic guitar and the use of the strings work well in the song. The song explodes into a rock-out, hand-waving nugget of fun shortly after the two-minute mark and saunters out into...
-- Music Review: Weezer Hurley by Katie Hess - The Stylus

Unspoken
The verses of Unspoken have a few cringe worthy moments.  Cuomo’s vocals feel strained and weak, giving him his worst performance on the album.  Wait a second, what’s going on with that vocal breakdown?  I hear feedback?!?!?!?  SAVED.  The end of Unspoken returns us to a familiar area with Weezer songs: triumphant chorus, excellent vocals, huge guitars.  Now only if there was something we could do about the production of the first few minutes of the song…
REVIEW: WEEZER “HURLEY”   September 9, 2010, 2:20 pm

“Unspoken” is a powerful ballad with dark undercurrents about a haunted man with addictive fixer drives and yearnings for fulfillment that may be impossible to realize (“Every morning, every day/I am hoping for a chance to get away/In the evening, every night/ I am dreaming of a chance to make it right”), but woe to any woman or relationship that gets in the way of him trying! “And if you take this away from me/I’ll never forgive you can’t you see?”
Music Mix  Sep 10  2010  10:19 AM ET    Hurley' by Jeff Jensen
 
This is the Weezer everybody has been wanting. "Unspoken" is classic Pinkerton-era with the line "Our hate will be unspoken" repeated with an understated violence.
  -- Ink19

Unspoken- Upon my first few listens, this is my favorite song on the album. It starts out soft but works it’s way up to ending with a bang of sorts. (10/10)

When Cuomo slows things down to a mid-tempo chug or a flute-swept ballad (“Unspoken”), he’s in trouble.
Chicago Tribune

CHECK OUT THIS TRACK: On "Unspoken," Weezer gets out of their own way for a few minutes, opting for a minimalist acoustic approach at first. You can hear the band's abilities better as Cuomo croons, before giving way to an electrifying conclusion as the machines get plugged in and the energy ramped up and the Weezer machine grinds on.
-- By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer Ron Harris, Associated Press Writer – Mon Sep 13, 6:53 am ET  

... and the best song on the album (and one of my favorites from Weezer of all time) “Unspoken,” which starts as a thoughtful acoustic ditty and, over the course of several verses, evolves into an all-out rock romp.
-- Statis Echos - Ryan Winslett - Sept. 21, 2010

“Unspoken” is more uncharacteristic of Weezer, an almost stripped acoustic ditty with a gentle flute fluttering in the background that masks its bitterer words about unrealized dreams. Cuomo’s voice sounds the best it has in years...
-- The Stanford Daily  - Friday, September 24th, 2010 | By Lauren Wilson

The most satisfying and unexpected offering arrives with “Unspoken” – an acoustic ballad that builds and builds into a crescendo – and actually features Cuomo sounding like about three or four different guys in one.
-- Featured review by: UG Team, on September 14, 2010

The album reaches its peak early, with the absolutely brilliant “Unspoken.” I’ve read a lot of reviews pointing to this song as the album’s most “Pinkerton” moment, but the track doesn’t really sound like anything off that record. With its breezy first couple of minutes, whimsical flute interludes and explosively heavy final minute, it’s an entirely new dimension for Weezer, and it’s a welcome one.
-- A Review of Hurley, by Weezer -- Posted on September 19, 2010 by thephantomprojectionist