On Rock Music: A Tribute to Weezer, popular and not-so-popular punk and emo bands from all over have gotten together to make a tribute album that does NOT, I repeat does NOT, even contain Weezer's biggest hits, "Buddy Holly" or "Undone (The Sweater Song)." What it does contain is proof that even the catchiest Weezer songs can be easily ruined by what appears to be a lack creativity and/or apathy. However, the somewhat decent covers here are able to keep the album from being a complete waste of time and money.

The CD starts off with Affinity's emo/hardcore version of "My Name is Jonas." They get props for adding their original screams to the song, but it is pretty absurd listening to lyrics like "Fresh out of Batteries!" screamed at the top of someone's lungs. Next up is Electric Theater favorites Piebald with their rendition of "No One Else," which sounds exactly like the original, but without the cleaner-sounding backup vocals. After that is the snotnosed-sounding Glasseater's terrible version of "Holiday" (which ends with an embarrassing screaming frenzy) and Grade's pointless cover of "Surf Wax America." Some balladeer named Christopher John does a drowsy version of "The World has Turned and Left Me Here" that sounds like it's being played on super-slow speed (warning: do not listen to this song while driving or operating heavy equipment). The Stereo's boring version of "El Scorcho" certainly proves that a Weezer song that isn't that great to begin with is pretty much a Weezer song that isn't that great to begin with.

The two truly awful tracks that I'm sure tempted Cuomo and company to consider legal action, include Mycomplex's complicated "Tired of Sex" and The Impossibles' pathetic take on one of the catchiest Weezer songs, "The Good Life." I expected better from a Weezer-esque band like the Impossibles, who happen to write catchy songs themselves, but it seemed like their jumbled creativity really went to their head on this one and the result can only be described as disastrous. Dashboard Confessional's "Jamie" and Ataris' "Butterfly" are two enjoyable acoustic tracks, and Midtown's "Susanne" is turned into your typical pop-punk ditty that isn't too bad. The only two songs that sound like there were any actual hard work or inspiration put into them are Further Seems Forever's piano-laced "Say it Ain't So," and Mock Orange's emotional, style-changing "Only In Dreams." With those two exceptions, "Rock Music: A Tribute to Weezer" proves that the unique and brilliant songs that Weezer have created cannot be improved upon, and that's a good thing - even if this record isn't.