Make Believe

by

Weezer

Edit

For a bit of a background about the meaning of this album:

I first met weezer sometime after pinkerton came out, during a time when weezer was thought to be no more. Their first two albums quickly became my favorite (and still are). To clarify, i am a pinkerton-weezer fan.

so, naturally, i was overjoyed when i heard weezer had suddenly come back to give us the green album. I bought it and was disappointed in less than 30 minutes. (that's it? were's the rest?). yeah, there were a few catchy tunes, but it wasn't the weezer we all knew and loved. Then maladroit came out, and i thought, finally! we'll get the real weezer back! but sadly no, it wasn't.

For those who are not aware, the green album brought about a segregation between weezer fans. Some fans (the "green" fans) love the pop-tunes of the green album, maybe they liked a few songs from the blue album once they found them later, but they all agreed that pinkerton somehow sucked. Then there was the "blue" fans who loved the old weezer and thought pinkerton was the greatest album ever. Even though most were happy that weezer was back, they were disappointed that weezer wan't weezer and had become nothing more than shallow pop music.

As for album #5, i think this album has the power to unite the fans so that we can all listen to a single weezer CD together. it's all 4 CDs roled into one. Actually, I think this album is a bit of an apology to pinkerton fans, who he knows were disappointed with the last two albums (or maybe i'm just happy thinking that it is). Tracks like "Pardon Me" and "The Other Way" are what give me that feeling.

This is the weezer hopefully everyone can be content with. Don't buy it and expect pinkerton. it isn't pinkerton, that was the past, it seems Cuomo somehow got hurt from it and we'll probably never get that side of him again. However this is not the lazy, shallow crap of the last two albums either. Weezer is moving forward, it's changing, and it's changing for the better.

For an actual review of the CD (for the CD in itself):

The musical quality varys from simple 3-chord songs to sweet guitar rifs. The song's lyrics alternate from fun, finger-snapping, meaningless crap, to the nice depressing emo-ish sap we all crave. From happy moods to depressing tunes, private songs to party-worthy tracks, overall, it leaves you satisfied. Not completely happy and not worthy of 5 stars, but it's good enough to listen to and give you a good feeling.

Some of the songs -notably "Beverly Hills" and "This is such a pity" -are simple catchy songs which will most likely get some air-time. The lyrics are a bit cleche and nothing that we haven't heard before, but they're tollerable and good to listen to while driving with your friends. However, some of the songs -such as "Freak Me Out", "Hold Me", and "Peace" -are the kind that become your own. You keep them to yourself, listening to them alone with your bedroom door locked. But to prevent the album from feeling melancholy, the two types of songs alternate nearly every track.

Overall, perhaps it could have been better (simply by deleting a few of the stupid ones), but it's pretty darn good as it is. Buy it if you're a long time fan, buy it if this is the first cd you've ever heard of weezer. You're bound to like the majority of it. As a fun bonus, the CD booklet (yes, we actually get one this time!) has some nice artwork, i think it's very fitting.

As I awaited the release of this, Weezer's 5th studio album, I could hardly contain myself. I am such a huge fan of Weezer's first 2 albums and I enjoyed much of Maladroit and the green album, though I do admit I was disappointed a bit in the last two. Not that either albums were terrible, they just weren't up to the standards that were set by the first two albums. The blue album was a classic 90s album for so many reasons and I felt that Pinkerton was fantastic for its introspective and brooding qualities expressed throughout this sophomore release.

But as I stripped off the cellophane and popped the disc into my player knowing, just knowing I was gonning to be blown away, I was instead shocked and horrified. Not only was this not a good disc, it was a terrible attempt to reclaim the power of their first two albums.

Rivers Cuomo is now a man in his mid-thirties, but his lyrical content still sounds like he's a 20 year old kid down on his luck with his teenage girlfriend. I played this disc thru twice, back to back, just to make sure I hadn't been mistaken.

Sadly enough, each track was so dull and unimaginative that the second play didn't add any credibility to this musical mud.

Each song's guitar and bass line's are simple 3 or 4 cord progressions that sound like they were written by garage band when I was 15. I'm sure there were some nuances that I missed in the playing, but when the core of the music is so lacking I usually don't stick around to search for something worthy in the tracks. The drumming is solid but nothing special. And the solos, usually a Weezer strong point, were lame and bland as everything else on your typical top 40 programming.

I guess this disc would be fun for a teenager who hasn't followed Weezer from their high points until now, but for anybody who likes any of Weezer's previos material, steer clear.

I really wish I could have a single redeeming thing to say about a single track on this disc. Then I could at least keep it near the end of my CD wallet for the every so infrequent listen. But this crappy disc doesn't even get that lucky. It got sold back to my local Hasting's as quick as I could mash eject and get this stink out of my player. Do yourself a favor and don't even pick up the used copy at a discount price; you still would have spent far to much for such bland music.