When Weezer’s eponymous debut first dropped in the mid-90s, I was only eight and didn’t know any better. My older sister on the other hand, was in her sophomore-year of high school, and therefore was in a much better place to relate to this album at the time. I, however, had caught a glimpse of the “Happy Days”-themed video for “Buddy Holly” and, being a kid who stayed up late watching Nick-at-Nite, instantly fell in love.

Produced by Ric Ocasek and giving later-Rentals frontman Matt Sharp his first shot at singing in a band, a remastered deluxe edition with a bonus disc of b-sides and rarities was released in March 2004. Despite retroactive praise for follow-up album “Pinkerton” and establishing a loyal fanbase, this album set a standard that much of the band’s later releases ultimately failed to live up to.

The announcement that the band’s sixth studio album would hearken back to the band’s playful, alternative roots, include more songwriting and composition input from the other band members, and be decidedly less commercial than their previous release, the dismal “Make Believe,” was a breath of fresh-air to many longtime fans, myself included.

“Pork and Beans” is the first-single off the upcoming “Red Album,” the third eponymous release by Weezer, but we’ve managed to sample some other tracks off the 6/24 release, so try these on for size, and judge for yourself if the band is back to their “Say It Ain’t So” days, or if once again, “This Is Such A Pity.”

Check out this track, “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations On A Shaker Hymn),” a six-minute long ballad combining so many different styles of music that it can only be described as “fucking epic.”