In the eyes of many Weezer purists — including this one — Weezer essentially has two albums. In actuality they have five studio-length albums; however, “The Blue Album” and “Pinkerton” are the two albums that are worth buying.

Weezer’s first album, simply titled “Weezer,” has gained a massive following over the years and is now almost universally known as “The Blue Album.”

“The Blue Album” is full of irresistible pop classics such as “My Name is Jonas,” “In the Garage” and “Say It Ain’t So,” as well as the hit "Buddy Holly." “The Blue Album” is easily one of the best albums to come out of the 1990s and is one of the catchiest albums, song for song, in history.

Despite all the brilliance displayed on “The Blue Album,” “Pinkerton” still contains the greatest music Weezer ever recorded. Whereas the “Blue Album” was totally irresistible pop, “Pinkerton” was perfect pop with confessional lyrics and more guitars and drums.

“Pinkerton” begins with “Tired of Sex,” which signals a departure from the clean-sounding pop of their first album, with its distorted guitars and screams.

Tracks two though four are the only tracks on “Pinkerton” that are not essential. Granted, they are some of the best songs of the band’s career, but they do not stack up to the remaining songs on “Pinkerton.”

Rivers Cuomo, Weezer’s singer, songwriter and guitarist, handled all the writing duties for the album, and made what the other band members have come to call a solo album.

“Pinkerton’s” lyrics are still the most confessional lyrics that Cuomo has ever written, and “Across the Sea” was probably the most personal song on the album.

When Spin Magazine reviewed “Pinkerton,” they called “Across the Sea,” “the greatest song ever written about jerking off to one’s fan mail.”

The song recounts the story of an “18-year-old girl who lives in a small city in Japan.” She becomes obsessed with Rivers and Rivers begins to fantasize about her.

“Across the Sea,” is viewed by many Weezer fans as the greatest track ever recorded by the band. “The Good Life” follows and is a very likely contender for the second greatest Weezer track ever recorded. Some will call it the greatest, as it contains the catchiest chorus the band ever laid down.

The first single off of “Pinkerton,” “El Scorcho,” follows and continues the trend of pop excellence set by the two preceding tracks.

“Pink Triangle,” another brilliant track, was the third single for the album and contains one of the band’s best choruses, “I’m dumb she’s a lesbian, I thought I had found the one, we were as good as married in my mind, but married in my mind is no good.”

“Falling for You” is the last rocker on the album, consciously written by Cuomo in a Nirvana-esque style. The album closes the gentle acoustic track, “Butterfly,” a great song despite the fact that it is Weezer’s only true ballad.

Looking back on “Pinkerton,” pop-culture guru Chuck Klosterman would say, “Several thousand people heard the songs on ‘Pinkerton’ and felt the shape of their heart change; unfortunately, the rest of the world merely thought Rivers was a weird, alienated dude with a weird, alienating beard.”

Many have speculated over the years that Weezer has consciously strayed away from the confessional lyrics and in your face riffs that made “Pinkerton” what it was.

“Rolling Stone” magazine initially gave the album a two-star rating; however, by the end of the 1990s, they changed it to a five-star rating and it is now in the “RS Hall of Fame.” Interesting, huh?

“The Green Album,” as it has come to be called, followed “Pinkerton” and contains several “Weezer-worthy” tracks. However, as a whole, the album is very lackluster when compared to the band’s first two efforts.

“Maladroit,” which followed “The Green Album,” is the most unpopular Weezer album amongst fans, despite the fact that many critics praised the album and the new “heavy metal” direction the band was taking.

Weezer’s most recent album, “Make Believe” came out in 2005 and contained the hits “Beverly Hills” and “Perfect Situation.”

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