text: weezer ( 2001 album ) weezer ( also known as the green album ) is the third studio album by the american alternative rock band weezer , released on may 15 , 2001 , through geffen records . produced by ric ocasek , this is the only weezer album to feature bassist mikey welsh , who replaced matt sharp . the album is grounded in the power pop genre , featuring strong melodies , crisp vocal harmonies , and prominent guitar riffs . it is also weezer 's quickest - selling album . weezer received generally favorable reviews . the album was often recognized as a rebirth for the band , after a five - year hiatus following their 1996 's album pinkerton . the album attained chart success by debuting at number 4 in the us and number 2 in canada . the album also charted within the top ten in norway and sweden . since its release in 2001 , the album has sold over 1 , 600 , 000 copies in the united states . three singles were released from the album , including " hash pipe " , " island in the sun " , and " photograph " . its first single , " hash pipe " , was a worldwide modern rock hit , charting on seven different charts , despite their record label 's reluctance to release it as the first single . background and development following the commercial and critical failure of pinkerton ( 1996 ) , weezer frontman rivers cuomo placed the band on hiatus . he returned to harvard university to finish his studies , but eventually dropped out to focus on songwriting . during this time , cuomo played with a different group of musicians in the band homie , based in boston . one of the members of homie was mikey welsh , a bass player who would eventually be asked to replace matt sharp in weezer . by february 1998 , cuomo had quietly disbanded homie and headed to los angeles to begin work on weezer demos with brian bell and patrick wilson . at this point , bassist matt sharp was absent from numerous weezer rehearsals and was becoming estranged from the band . on april 8 , 1998 , sharp announced his official exit from weezer to devote all his energies to his band , the rentals . it was quickly announced that former homie member welsh would take over on bass for weezer . frustration and creative disagreements led to a decline in rehearsals , and , in the latter half of 1998 , drummer patrick wilson left for his home in portland pending renewed productivity from cuomo , who went into a period of admitted depression , during which he painted the walls of his home black and put " fiberglass insulation all over the windows and then black sheets of fiberglass so that no light could get through . " by the beginning of 1999 , weezer had once again gone their separate ways . drummer patrick wilson resumed his efforts with his side - band the special goodness , guitarist bell worked on his band space twins and welsh toured with juliana hatfield . meanwhile , cuomo focused his energy on songwriting , crafting 121 songs , nearly half of which would become demos . during this time , he isolated himself and abstained from contact with the outside world . cuomo also received braces on his teeth , further damaging his self - esteem . bell would occasionally visit cuomo and play songs with him . in turn , cuomo would eventually reveal songs he was working on to bell . unbeknownst to the band , their fanbase was connecting and growing on the internet , which was helping to boost the reputation and sales of pinkerton . when it was released , pinkerton was considered a critical and commercial failure ; however , in the years following the release of the album , it would gain a much more positive reputation due to word - of - mouth on message boards and various web pages . this expanding internet activity would later set the stage for the band 's 2001 comeback . renewed interaction between band members took place when weezer was offered a lucrative offer to perform in japan in august 2000 for the summer sonic festival . rehearsals for the show reinvigorated the band into talking about making a new album . the band returned to performing in june 2000 , playing low - key shows around los angeles under the pseudonym goat punishment , ensuring that weezer would only perform for longtime fans who would recognize the name . eventually , the band started performing at higher profile gigs such as the warped tour . cuomo later remarked , " we went in there fully expecting to be booed and to have things thrown at us . but it was exactly the opposite , people were singing along to all the songs and just going crazy , giving us the best support . and i think that gave us the confidence we needed . " the positive response to the warped tour performances led to further shows being scheduled . when touring began to wind down , mp3 demos captured live on the band 's mobile unit and sound checks began to surface on file - sharing services and eventually for downloading on the band 's official website . these songs were often referred to as summer songs of 2000 ( commonly abbreviated as ) . recording on october 23 , cuomo announced that the band would start recording material " with or without " a producer . however , the band 's record label decided to have the band employ a record producer due to the commercial failure of their self - produced album pinkerton . the band began rehearsing and arranging both the summer songs of 2000 and newer material cuomo had written at his home with engineer chad bamford . the band eventually decided to hire ric ocasek — who had also produced their debut album — as producer , and began sending demos to ocasek during the summer of 2000 . there was much debate among the band members as to whether they should record in los angeles or ocasek 's new york home , with the band eventually deciding to record in los angeles at cello studios . the band continued to demo new music daily and started to weed through more than seventy - five demos , eventually homing in on twenty - five potential album tracks in anticipation of ocasek 's arrival . ocasek worked with the band to trim these down further to eighteen songs . recording sessions for the album began in early december , with ocasek providing creative feedback to the band by telephone . on december 27 , the band embarked on what would be close to six weeks of studio work by playing songs repetitively in order to track the bass and drums parts . they also did " scratch takes " of the vocals and guitar , designed to get accurate rhythm tracks before being redone more efficiently later in the recording process . while recording the album , the band continued to perform gigs under the pseudonym goat punishment . during the recording sessions , an executive at the band 's label , geffen records , visited to observe the band 's progress and expressed dissatisfaction with several tracks . this feedback eventually forced the band to discard a few of the album 's possible songs . the band then relocated for three weeks to a smaller studio in another part of cello studios where cuomo and bell worked on guitar takes while the entire band recorded vocal tracks . ocasek said : " rivers always does his guitar parts in one take . " mixing for the album began on january 31 by tom lord - alge at south beach studios . bell was absent from the mixing process . packaging the art direction of the album was handled by chris bilheimer with photography from marina chavez and karl koch . the album cover was shot between band practices and featured mikey welsh , rivers cuomo , brian bell and patrick wilson standing left to right in front of a plain , lime - green backdrop in a manner similar to the band 's debut album . this was done as a tribute to ric ocasek , who had also produced their first album , and also to symbolize the band 's back - to - basics approach they took while recording the album . this approach is alluded to in a quote in the liner notes of the album : " all e un " , from italian opera composer giuseppe verdi that means " let us return to old times and that will be progress . " the picture inside of the cd booklet is a photo of weezer playing live , featuring ( in the lower right hand corner ) an overlay of the silhouettes of mike nelson , tom servo and crow t. robot from the television show mystery science theater 3000 . ( hence the liner note citation " mst3k silhouette appears courtesy of best brains , inc . " ) this was weezer 's first album to feature a transparent cd tray . under the cd tray of the album , the word " no " can be found on the back of the spine . some fans speculate that this is a response to the inside tray of radiohead 's album ok computer which contains the text " i like you . i like you . you are a wonderful person . i 'm full of enthusiasm . i 'm going places . i 'll be happy to help you . i am an important person , would you like to come home with me ? " weezer 's official explanation was vague , with webmaster karl koch stating " no means no . " the album contains the dedication " in loving memory of mykel and carli . " mykel and carli allan were sisters devoted to developing fan clubs for up - and - coming bands . the sisters had been influential in starting and developing weezer 's official fan club in the 1990s and , along with their young sister , died in a car accident in 1997 . release and promotion the album was met with enthusiasm from the record label ; according to weezer collaborator karl koch , " they had nothing but supportive and excited things to say about it . " however , the album 's original release date of april 17 was postponed due to executives not liking cuomo 's choice of " hash pipe " as the first single . citing the song 's lurid content about a transvestite prostitute as inappropriate , they suggested that " don 't let go " be chosen as the first single . however , cuomo continued to fight and " hash pipe " eventually became the album 's first single . the label tried to postpone the release date further until june , but the band convinced them to adhere to the original may 15 release date . singles the first single from the album was " hash pipe " . the video for " hash pipe " was directed by marcos siega and was the first of many weezer videos that siega would direct . in the video , weezer performs in an arena while a group of sumo wrestlers are fighting in the background . the song title was often censored as " h * * * pipe " ( the title employed on the music video 's title card ) or " half pipe . " the song became a huge hit on the mtv show total request live , and also received heavy rotation on radio , eventually peaking at number two on the us modern rock charts . the song even landed the band a nomination for high times magazine 's " pot song of the year " . the next single , " island in the sun " , was a successful radio hit and became one of the band 's biggest oversea hits . it peaked at number 11 on the us modern rock charts and at number 31 on the uk top 40 . two music videos were created for the song : the first video , directed by marcos siega , shows weezer playing the song at a mexican couple 's wedding reception and features all four band members . this version remains the more obscure of the two , receiving less airplay than the second . the executives at mtv disliked siega 's video , prompting the band to film a second video . this second version was directed by spike jonze and featured the band playing with various wild animals on a supposedly remote hill ( although it was actually filmed a short distance outside of los angeles , possibly near simi valley ) . only brian bell , rivers cuomo and patrick wilson appear in this video , as then bassist mikey welsh had left the band shortly before shooting . it is also rumored that original bassist matt sharp was approached to be in the video , though it is unclear if the offer was ever actually made . scott shriner , who was filling in for welsh and would later become a permanent member of weezer , stated in the commentary for " video capture device " that he almost asked the band to let him appear in the video . the second video received much wider airplay than the original and has become the standard video for the song . the third and final single from the album was " photograph " , which was released to radio in early november . the single peaked at number 17 on the us modern rock charts . in japan it was released as the first single instead of " hash pipe . " the band felt the song didn 't have the staying power of the previous singles , and thus decided to pass on a big - name director for the music video , opting instead to have karl koch shoot and edit a video from on - the - road footage . reception critical reception weezer received generally favorable reviews . at metacritic , which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics , the album received an average score of 73 out of 100 . allmusic senior writer stephen thomas erlewine , who gave the album a rating of four and a half stars , stated that " this may seem like nothing special -- it 's just punk - pop , delivered without much dynamic range but with a whole lot of hooks -- but nobody else does it this [ sic ] so well , no matter how many bands try . " popmatters ' writer jason thompson also gave the album a positive review , praising the decision of the band to have ric ocasek produce them again : " the guitar solos ring out as joyful as the words . and even the songs ' lengths are nice and compact . weezer comes in , plays the song , and exits . no overkill makes for many moments where you want to hear these songs again and again . perhaps having producer ric ocasek back on board was one of the best ideas the band had , as the green album is certainly water tight all around . " drowned in sound gave the album a very positive review , saying " after creating the two greatest pop - rock records in existence it 's time to add a third . one listen to the green album has you eating out of rivers cuomo 's hand just like in the past . [ ... ] rivers cuomo is one of the greatest song - writers that has picked up a guitar . anyone who can with hold the charms of the geek - rock quartet are obviously made of stone and complete assholes . sorry to be blunt but it 's the way it is . god i think the sun 's finally taking its toll . " the album would later rank at number 3 in their list of the best albums of 2001 , tying with system of a down 's toxicity and mogwai 's rock action . q listed weezer as one of the best 50 albums of 2001 . not all the reviews were complimentary . spencer owen , writing in pitchfork media , called the album " average from beginning to end . " in addition , sarah dempster from nme was disappointed with the album and said , " the most irritating aspect of the green album is , however , the maddening itch of wasted opportunity . " chart performance in the united states , weezer debuted at number four on the billboard 200 on the week of may 15 , 2001 . in two weeks the album had sold 215 , 000 copies . it was certified platinum on september 13 , 2001 . as of august 2009 , the album has sold over 1 , 600 , 000 copies in the united states . in canada , the album debuted at number two on the canadian albums chart . in june 2001 , the album was later certified platinum by the canadian recording industry association ( cria ) for sales of 80 , 000 units . the album debuted at number thirty - one on the uk albums chart . in australia , the album peaked at number twenty - five . the album has since been certified two - times platinum by the australian recording industry association ( aria ) for shipment of 140 , 000 copies . weezer also peaked in the top ten in norway and sweden , charting and eight and seven respectively . track listing all songs written and composed by rivers cuomo . uk and japanese bonus tracks japanese bonus track charts and certifications singles personnel accolades