Betsy II embarks on a galaxy-wide mission. Crew members Wuan (Bell) and Dondó (Sharp) are in high spirits, but the ship's captain, Jonas (Cuomo), has mixed feelings. The ship's robot, M1 (Koch), urges the crew to stay focused on their objective. Jonas becomes involved in a love triangle with "good girl" Laurel (Haden), and the ship's cook, "bad girl" Maria (Wasser), with whom he fathers a child. When the Betsy II reaches its destination, Jonas is disillusioned and longs to return to a simpler life. Cuomo conceived the story as a metaphor for his conflicted feelings about touring in a successful rock band. The ship's name Betsy II is taken from Weezer's first tour bus, nicknamed Betsy; M1 represents Weezer's management and record label; Wuan and Dondó represent the part of Cuomo that was excited about success; Jonas represents his doubts and longing; Laurel and Maria represent his relationships with women. Recording and abandonment Cuomo recorded demos for Songs from the Black Hole on an 8-track recorder at his family home in Connecticut over Christmas 1994. Most of the songs already existed and were rewritten to fit the Songs for the Black Hole concept. Cuomo performed every part himself, pitch-shifting his voice for the female characters. To add a science fiction element to Weezer's sound, he used synthesizers including an Electrocomp 101 he had recently purchased from a pawn shop in rural Connecticut. By February, he had completed an initial track list. While Weezer was on tour in Europe later that month, Sharp returned to America due to a family emergency, leaving the band stranded in Hamburg for a week. Cuomo and drummer Patrick Wilson rented a studio and recorded additional demos, including a version of "Blast Off!" using a vocoder for the robot character of M1. In March 1995, Cuomo, who was born with one leg shorter than the other, had extensive surgery to lengthen his leg followed by months of painful physiotherapy. This affected his songwriting, as he would spend long periods hospitalized under the influence of painkillers. According to Cuomo, around this time the rock opera concept "started to feel too whimsical for where I was emotionally, going through the pain of the procedure ... I went to a more serious and dark place." Recording began in August 1995 in New York City's Electric Lady Studios, where Weezer had recorded their debut album, but the sessions were