of "The 101 Best Albums of the 90s", and Visions of Germany ranked it number 32 on a list of "The Most Important Albums of the 90s." In November 2011, the Blue Album was ranked number three on Guitar World magazine's top ten list of guitar albums of 1994, with Bad Religion's Stranger than Fiction and The Offspring's Smash in first and second place respectively. The album also peaked at number 25 on Guitar Worlds "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. Reviews of the album when its deluxe edition was released have reflected its rise in stature continuing to be positive. In 2004, PopMatters gave the album a very positive review, saying "I'd go so far to declare the 'Blue Album' one of the greatest records of the last 20 years." And Rolling Stone reiterated their original positive review by further describing it as "big, vibrant pop-rock that would inspire thousands of emo kids". Blogcritics gave the album 10/10 and described it as "one of the most important debut albums of the last ten years". In naming Weezer the 26th best album of the 1990s, Pitchfork summed up the album's critical recognition: NME credited the album as a formative influence on melodic emo. AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album 5/5, writing: "Although the group wears its influences on its sleeve, Weezer pulls it together in a strikingly original fashion, thanks to Cuomo's urgent melodicism, a fondness for heavy, heavy guitars, a sly sense of humor, and damaged vulnerability, all driven home at a maximum volume." Accolades Since its release, the Blue Album has featured heavily in various "must have" lists compiled by the music media. Some of the more prominent of these lists to feature the Blue Album are shown below; this information is adapted from Acclaimed Music. ( * ) designates lists which are unordered. Track listing Original release Deluxe Edition Personnel Weezer Rivers Cuomo – lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar, keyboards, harmonica Patrick Wilson – drums Brian Bell – rhythm guitar (credit only), backing vocals Matt Sharp – bass, backing vocalsAdditional musicians Mykel Allan – spoken intermission on "Undone – The Sweater Song" Karl Koch – dialogue, piano outro on "Undone – The Sweater Song"Production Ric Ocasek – producer Chris Shaw – engineer Hal Belknap – assistant engineer David Heglmeier - assistant engineer Daniel Smith - assistant engineer Michael Golob - art direction