Weezer was the alternative-rock band that, once and for all, proved that it’s the quality of the songs, above everything, that allows musical artists to have a long-lasting career. The group was a dorkier Nirvana, with poppier songs and the good manners to hang around. Weezer is one of the most alternative rock bands of all time.

Rivers Cuomo and his bandmates have produced quite a body of work. While some of the band’s albums are idolized, while others are essentially reviled, the mission of choosing just 10 songs that fully explain the band’s career is not easy. I’ll take on the task anyway.

Here are Weezer’s top 10 songs.

Greatest 10 Songs by Weezer

10. “My Name is Jonas”

How much was Weezer a masterminded effort to take over the charts and become “The New Nirvana“? Quite a good deal so! Still, there’s not much hint of cynicism in the world-coming-down-on-you gallows humor of “My Name is Jonas.”

This is marvelously catchy, well-played, and well-crafted. And it’s not just me who thinks that. It’s also millions of Weezer and Guitar Hero nerds who share this opinion.

But this was no random accident. And it wasn’t nearly as organic as the band’s press release suggested.

Cuomo had been a flashy hair metal guitarist before discovering Kurt Cobain. He eventually managed to get Ric Ocasek, the frontman of one of the greatest power-pop bands, The Cars, to produce “The Blue Album,” Weezer’s debut.

But don’t let any of that worry you. “My Name is Jonas” is a great song just waiting for you to learn it on a guitar, or a joystick!

9. “El Scorcho”

Famously, Rivers Cuomo threw his career away with the band’s sophomore release, “Pinkerton.” Only that, in the end, he didn’t…

“Pinkerton” was a colossal departure from the sunny sounds of the debut. It was written by a tired, depressed Cuomo. It was pre-dated emo. And, yes, fans and critics loathed it.

“El Scorcho” was a sad, messy grunge tune about being a weirdo. It’s the record’s finest moment, arguably. And while it scared fans off the first time around and practically broke up the band, the impossible happened.

In the years when Cuomo had put Weezer on the back burner and apologized for “Pinkerton,” fans of the record began uniting through the internet. It became a digital cult sensation. Ironically, it became the album that Weezer fans now keep hoping the band will try to make once again.

8. “Do You Wanna Get High?”

Ok! Weezer was always a pop band. But, like I mentioned earlier, likely, this was not designed only as a cynical ploy to make money.

Post-2000s Weezer is, most often, characterized by sounding like a modern pop act with guitars.

Dedicated fans disagree about this, but most of the many later albums are quite good. What they do miss, however, is more of Cuomo’s personality.

“Do You Wanna Get High?” is a great single. It namechecks and takes inspiration from Burt Bacharach. In many ways, Cuomo is the rightful descendant of Bacharach, Brian Wilson or Paul McCartney. We’d just like more lyrics about Cuomo’s emotions, thank you!

7. “Island in the Sun”

Cuomo approached pop-rock songwriting as a formula that he could crack. It worked! It was the whole “happy Nirvana” routine that turned “The Blue Album” into such a hit.

Still, Cuomo went to Harvard University and studied the things he knew instinctively. Music was a skill he developed.

Those tricks that he learned are used to great effect on “Island in the Sun.” Unfashionable and a few years into their careers, Weezer could still score some of the biggest pop-rock hits on the charts.

6. “Beverly Hills”

“Beverly Hills” is the point at which many of the highly devoted, Cuomo-obsessed fans checked out. Sure, they saw it as a clear attempt at selling out and cashing in.

It may be just that. But, remember, Cuomo unironically loves cheap pop music. This is what “Beverly Hills,” the song and the video, is.

But, damn is it cacthy! And doesn’t it feel wrong to hate a band like Weezer?

5. “Keep Fishin'”

Ric Ocasek, Weezer’s first producer and an incredible pop hit-maker, said that he could write songs by The Cars in his sleep. Ocasek, like Cuomo, got sick of slick hits eventually.

But artsiness be damned! Both men were at their best, throwing guitar-pop lines at the wall. “Keep Fishin'” is a silly, innocent jingle. And, in my opinion, it’s one of the things that Weezer does best.

4. “Hash Pipe”

Rivers Cuomo isn’t a man who keeps a grudge. And he certainly doesn’t want fans keeping one against him. This is why, for the band’s third album, Weezer returned to what had worked the first time, Beach Boys-styled songs with loud guitars.

Cuomo even let the record label chop off his masterpiece, “The Green Album” (Weezer gets away with not naming albums by assigning a color to them), into radio singles.

“Hash Pipe”, with its Ozzy Osbourne-inspired guitar riff, was put out as the comeback single. Dedicated fans hate it. Casual listeners love it. Cast me in the latter crowd where it’s fun!

3. “Say It Ain’t So”

Cuomo’s musical journey wasn’t the one he expected. When he discovered Nirvana, he thought that “The Blue Album” would receive as much critical acclaim as “Nevermind.”

Critics did love Weezer. They just didn’t take them seriously. Cobain appeared to have been a tortured genius. Cuomo appeared to be a dorky pop trickster.

The closest Weezer got to a mainstream hit that revealed deep, dark truths about Cuomo’s life was “Say It Ain’t So.” It’s a song about his childhood and about an absent parent.

It’s a perfect grunge rocker! This is Stone Temple Pilots redone with slightly less paranoid lyrics and with fancy guitar picking. But, hey, don’t tell me that chorus ain’t earnest.

2. “Undone – The Sweater Song”

An older, wiser Rivers Cuomo may have meditated on the impact of “The Blue Album” and concluded that it was nearly unbeatable. Pop formulas and tight production can be acquired! But Cuomo’s revealing, hilarious lyrics are not something one can easily share with an audience.

“Undone – The Sweater Song” is one of the great songs of 90s alternative rock. It’s dorky, sad grunge that makes you feel like you’ll never get invited to any party for the rest of your life. But, at least, you’ll have something to whistle all the way home.

1. “Buddy Holly”

I saw the video “Buddy Holly” as a kid. The music blew me away despite knowing nothing about how a pop song was constructed. And it was many years later that I discovered what band was responsible for it.

Great power-pop songs are irresistible. They make you like them in spite of yourself. They force you to play them back. And, the song’s hooks are never worn out with time.

“Buddy Holly” was River Cuomo’s geek-friendly letter of intent. It sounded as big as any ’90s metal or grunge band. And it was so full of memorable hooks that you’d think somebody had shaken a Beatles album like a Christmas tree.

“Buddy Holly” is Weezer’s shining hour and one of the greatest alternative-rock songs of all time.