Rainn Wilson stands up for Weezer's 'Raditude'

There's a large faction of rock fans who have turned hating on Weezer and the band’s leader, Rivers Cuomo, into something of a sport. The guy can’t seem to do anything -- including name a new album, in this case the forthcoming “Raditude,” due in stores Oct. 27 -- without igniting a whirlwind of controversy.

Cuomo’s pal Rainn Wilson has had enough.

It’s Wilson who's credited with naming “Raditude,” which has been openly derided on the Internet via blogs and fan sites. Yet during a recent interview with ABC in advance of the coming season of “The Office,” he dismissed anyone who had issue with the title.

Is the mini-brouhaha due solely to Wilson's actor status? Wilson thinks so.

He theorized that if Charlie Sheen had been the one who coined the name for Radiohead's 2007 album "In Rainbows," the world would be against it.

"People would be like, ‘In Rainbows,’ that’s stupid,’” he joked to interviewer Dan Harris. “It happens to be the best album of the last decade.”

There’s also footage in the ABC clip of Wilson playing the bongos on Weezer’s cover of Joan Osborne’s “What if God Was One of Us?” Music is a focus of the interview, as Wilson goes on to discuss how a tape of the Clash’s “London Calling” changed his life.

-- Scott T. Sterling

Photo: The Associated Press

Comments

[Stop getting other people involved Rivers]

People hate it because it sounds like a wannabe surfer came up with the name. Weezer always seemed surrounded by mystery but now they just sound a bit desperate to get the approval of anyone under 17. They've alienated the fan base that put them on the map and with a name like 'Raditude' they've only pushed them further away. They might as well have called it Cowabungattidue.