Get ready to laugh, cry or do both the moment you hear Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo start rapping on the band’s third self-titled album. That he does so over a song filled with piano and choral-chanting bombast (no lie) suggests that Cuomo may have seriously lost his marbles. His hysterically loyal fan base is no doubt . . .

Since Weezer died a decade ago, fans have had a difficult time reconciling themselves with the parasitic monster that assumed the band’s corpse. At times this new, faux Weezer made a convincing case that they were the same, power-pop-loving lads as always. Faux Weezer’s 2001 green album certainly sounded like the work of the vintage band. But when held to a mirror that album gave no reflectio...