 An album so substantial the band misguidedly attempted to tap into its resonance through cover graphics a mere two releases later . In 1994 , 70s rock had come to mean either a bastardized version of Led Zeppelin or a bullshit reconstruction of punk rock . As guitar nerds , Weezer sought influence there but found true inspiration in forgotten bubblegum power @-@ pop like Cheap Trick , Raspberries , 20 / 20 , and The Quick . Most impressively , Rivers Cuomo rescued the thrilling guitar solo from finger @-@ tapping metal and disregarding grunge / punk . A decade later air @-@ guitaring to the album feels far less embarrassing than singing along . With the help of Spike Jonze , Weezer kept joy alive in arena rock , making the critical repositioning of Weezer as some emo touchstone even more absentminded . They called themselves Weezer , knowingly , for chrissakes . – Brent DiCrescenzo 
