Weezer Nab "National Geographic" Dog Photo for "Raditude" Cover

Is this image sufficiently "rad" or boast enough "attitude" to be deemed worthy of Weezer's new album cover? Rivers Cuomo evidently votes yes. According to Spinner, who debuted the cover, the singer-guitarist spotted the reader-submitted photo in an issue of National Geographic, got in touch with the guy who snapped it, and discovered the dog — Sidney — "is a big Weezer fan."

There you have it, folks! We've heard crazier stories behind album covers (and wackier made-up words used as album titles), but this is definitely a contender for best or worst album cover of 2009, depending on where you stand. Let us know where you'd rank it in the comments.

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Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

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