"Say It Ain't So"

Weezer
(DGC, 1994)

Couch-bound wallowing that soars to a cathartic arena-Pavement climax, this song vents divorced-kid damage with more ache than Pearl Jam's "Alive"; it helped Weezer dodge that novelty-rock bullet (see Nada Surf) and marked their emergence as major modern-rock artists. More important, the video marked Rivers Cuomo's emergence as a major hottie, and it features the most dramatic hacky-sack game ever filmed.

-- Alex Pappademas