Album · 30 years old this year
Pinkerton
Pinkerton is Weezer's second album, released on 24 September 1996. Rivers Cuomo wrote most of it while studying at Harvard, having dropped a planned rock opera called Songs from the Black Hole. The band produced it themselves, aiming to capture their live sound, and the result is darker and rougher than their 1994 debut. It was the last Weezer record to feature bassist Matt Sharp, who left in 1998.
Cuomo's songs deal with loneliness and disillusionment with life as a touring rock star, and the title borrows a character from Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Sales disappointed at first, and the album got mixed reviews, but it was later reassessed and went platinum in the US in 2016. Its singles were "El Scorcho" and "The Good Life", and several emo bands cite it as an influence.
Pinkerton: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 34:36Tracklist
- 1Tired of SexRivers Cuomo3:01
- 2GetchooRivers Cuomo2:53
- 3No Other OneRivers Cuomo3:02
- 4Why Bother?Rivers Cuomo2:08
- 5Across the SeaRivers Cuomo4:32
- 6The Good LifeRivers Cuomo4:17
- 7El ScorchoRivers Cuomo4:04
- 8Pink TriangleRivers Cuomo3:58
- 9Falling for YouRivers Cuomo3:48
- 10ButterflyRivers Cuomo2:53
- Produced by
- Weezer
- Recorded at
- Sound City (Hollywood), Hollywood Sound (Los Angeles), Fort Apache (Boston), Rumbo (Los Angeles), Electric Lady (New York)
- Recorded
- 22 August 1995 – late July 1996
- Label
- Geffen
- Length
- 34:36
Singles
- “El Scorcho” · 10 September 1996
- “The Good Life” · 29 October 1996
- “Pink Triangle (song)” · 20 May 1997
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 1996 | 19 |
| UK Albums Chart · 1996 | 43 |
| Swedish Albums · 1996 | 4 |
| New Zealand Albums · 1996 | 11 |
| Canadian Albums (RPM) · 1996 | 15 |
| Norwegian Albums · 1996 | 18 |
| Finnish Albums · 1996 | 35 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1996 | 38 |
| Austrian Albums · 1996 | 41 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 1996 | 47 |
All 12 charts
| German Albums · 1996 | 65 |
| Dutch Albums · 1996 | 94 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 1996 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2025 | Gold |
| United States · 2016 | Platinum |
From Wikipedia, Wikidata and MusicBrainz. Only what the sources record is shown.
77.5
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
8.7k
ListenBrainz listeners
264k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
18k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 24 September
Every year →
More from Weezer
Full discography →
Weezer
1994
The Good Life
1996
Weezer
2001
Maladroit
2002
The Lion and the Witch
2002
Make Believe
2005
Weezer
2008
Christmas With Weezer
2008
Raditude
2009
Raditude …Happy Record Store Day!
2010
Hurley
2010
Death to False Metal
2010
Everything Will Be Alright in the End
2014
Weezer
2016
Pacific Daydream
2017
Weezer
2019
OK Human
2021
Van Weezer
2021
SZNZ: Spring
2022
SZNZ: Summer
2022
SZNZ: Autumn
2022
SZNZ: Winter
2022
Weezer
2026
The best of 1996
All of 1996 →
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Down on the Upside
Soundgarden · 1996
October Rust
Type O Negative · 1996
MTV Unplugged
Alice in Chains · 1996
Everything Must Go
Manic Street Preachers · 1996
More on Geffen
The label →
Appetite for Destruction
Guns N’ Roses · 1987
Use Your Illusion II
Guns N’ Roses · 1991
“The Spaghetti Incident?”
Guns N’ Roses · 1993
On Tour Now!
Guns N’ Roses · 1991
G N’ R Lies
Guns N’ Roses · 1988
Weezer
Weezer · 2001
Incesticide
Nirvana · 1992
Make Believe
Weezer · 2005
With the Lights Out
Nirvana · 2004
Maladroit
Weezer · 2002
Live ?!★꩜ Like a Suicide
Guns N’ Roses · 1986
Use Your Illusion
Guns N’ Roses · 1998
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 24 September 1996 | ignored lone early release dated 1996-08-24 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 24 September 1996 | |
| Wikidata | 24 September 1996 | |
| US release | 24 August 1996 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 24 September 1996 | earliest UK or European date |
18 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | XE | Geffen | 720642500729 | other |
| 1996 | XE | Geffen | other | |
| 1996 | AU | Geffen | 720642500729 | other |
| 24 August 1996 | US | Geffen | 720642500712 | original |
| 24 September 1996 | CA | DGC Records | 720642500729 | other |
| 24 September 1996 | US | DGC Records | 720642500729 | other |
| 24 September 1996 | CA | Geffen | 777495140428 | other |
| 24 September 1996 | XE | Geffen | 720642500729 | other |
| 2 November 2010 | US | DGC Records | 602527535623 | other |
| 2 November 2010 | XW | Geffen | 00602527042565 | deluxe |
| 2 November 2010 | US | DGC Records | 602527042565 | deluxe |
| 2 November 2010 | XW | DGC Records | 00720642500729 | other |
| 2 November 2010 | XE | Geffen | 602527042565 | deluxe |
| 12 October 2011 | JP | Geffen | 4988005677839 | other |
| 25 June 2013 | US | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab | 821797139311 | other |
| 2016 | XW | Geffen | 00602557086515 | deluxe |
| 2016 | XW | Geffen | 00602557086102 | other |
| May 2016 | US | Geffen | 602547825216 | other |
Cover art sources
coverartarchive · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| coverartarchive ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| itunes | 3000×3000 | native |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |