Never assume you know a band until you listen to the B-sides of their best album(s).

Take Weezer as an example. It’s no secret that their self titled 1994 debut fondly known as The Blue Album is an archetypal example of the alternative rock movement of the 90’s. The Say It Ain’t So‘s and Buddy Holly‘s of the world have been abiding indications of that star-power for decades. It’s songs like “Only In Dreams” however, that serve as virtually unnoticed guideposts of longevity. Weezer’s early B-sides like “Only In Dreams” had the staying power to predict their 20+ years of endurance with the flick of a few guitar-wielding wrists.

“Only In Dreams” wraps up The Blue Album with all the nervous young apprehension that made 90’s rock great. Lead singer Rivers Cuomo sits the listener down in an chair of Weezer’s emblematic lyrical obscurity for a oddly familiar tale of irresistible yet unattainable love. The concluding instrumental breakdown and subsequent build-up is where the real Weezer boasts their lovably grungy faces. The extended and calculated jam professes the same message as “Stay” by Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs without physically saying anything, as Weezer’s wordless wails scream that “We could play on forever for the adoration of the rock lifestyle alone.” They aren’t in any rush to walk off that stage because through all the inspirational tragedy and heartbreak mentioned in the first half of the song, rock and roll is evidently what saved them.