Weezer’s debut self-titled release in 1994 (better known as The Blue Album) was a cultural phenomenon. Suddenly, Weezer had made it cool to be uncool, with songs about Dungeons and Dragons and riding surfboards to work. Anticipation for the second album from the Southern California rock band was high and lead singer and songwriter Rivers Cuomo had some big ideas in mind that somehow never came to fruition.

A key factor contributing the Weezer’s early success was the iconic “Buddy Holly” music video that utilized video editing to make it seem as if Weezer was performing for characters in “Happy Days.” Cuomo did not want Weezer to be known just for one gimmick, so for their second album, he wanted to do something completely different. Cuomo settled on a rock opera to act as a metaphor for Weezer’s rapid rise to success and Cuomo’s subsequent disillusionment with the music business. He titled it, Songs From The Black Hole.

The planned story for this record can be pieced together through various released track listings and interviews with Cuomo. The story can generally be linked back to Rivers Cuomo’s real life. Five crew members embark on an intergalactic mission to save a planet. Along the way, the main character Jonas, to be played by Cuomo, would fall for the two female crew members and even have a child with one of them.

The story culminates with Jonas longing for a simpler life without the space mission, analogous to Cuomo’s stardom, with the song, “Longtime Sunshine.” Weezer began work on the album and recorded some demos. So, where did it all go wrong?

Sometime after finishing promotion for The Blue Album, Rivers Cuomo went to school at Harvard, to broaden his horizons. During this time, Weezer went on a sort of hiatus, while still recording demos for Songs From The Black Hole. This time was a very formative and important time for Rivers Cuomo. He had undergone leg length correction surgery and walked around with a cane and generally became very secluded while attending Harvard. This would change his musical output. Songs From The Black Hole is generally a light-hearted album and Cuomo found that this didn’t fit with his personality anymore. This lead to the creation of Pinkerton.

Almost half of the songs featured on Pinkerton were originally written for Songs From The Black Hole and even more appear on the deluxe edition. Despite this, Pinkerton is a very different album than what Songs From The Black Hole would have been both tonally and in terms of concept.

Pinkerton is a dark album, exploring the twisted parts of Rivers Cuomo’s mind. Songs From The Black Hole, on the other hand, is a rock opera with emotional undertones, but in general, keeps a lighthearted attitude with its outlandish plot.

Pinkerton is one of the greatest albums of all time and if Songs From The Black Hole did release, it may never have happened at all and that is a reality that I do not want to live in.

The time period of about 1994 to 1996 was the golden era of Weezer for many and to hear another album from that era would be incredible. Thankfully, there are a few ways to hear fan interpretations of Songs From The Black Hole. There are numerous playlists on Spotify that put together some demos, but far and away the greatest way to experience Songs From The Black Hole is through the fan release by Operation Space Opera.

A group of Weezer fans rerecorded the songs to be featured on Songs From The Black Hole and uploaded them online under the name Operation Space Opera. Unfortunately, the group’s Bandcamp page has since been taken down, but with some clever Googling, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

Weezer’s planned sophomore release was ambitious and exciting. Unfortunately, the cancellation of the project means that it probably will never be officially released by the band. Although, as a consolation prize we received Pinkerton, so I’m not too upset.