Pinkerton is the second studio album by the American rock band Weezer, released on September 24, 1996, by DGC Records. After abandoning plans for a rock opera titled Songs from the Black Hole, Weezer recorded the album between lead vocalist and primary songwriter Rivers Cuomo's terms at Harvard University, where he wrote most of the album's songs. It is the last Weezer album to feature bassist Matt Sharp, who left the group in 1998. It failed to meet sales expectations, and received mixed reviews; Rolling Stone readers voted it the third worst album of 1996. Embarrassed, Cuomo returned to more traditional pop songwriting and less personal lyrics for Weezer's subsequent albums. In the years following its release, Pinkerton was reassessed and achieved acclaim, now considered Weezer's best.