Customer Reviews

Make Believe

5 star:		(161)
4 star:		(69)
3 star:		(37)
2 star:		(29)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

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.

If you haven't read or heard the classic parable "The Emperor's New Clothes," look it up and learn about it. It is an integral cliché to apply to situations exactly like the warm critical reception of Weezer's latest album "Make Believe." Rolling Stone, an almost entirely solid source of valid and reliable opinion, gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, registering the album as "excellent", a step below a bona fide classic. In fact, the only ones that I know of who got it right were Pitchfork, an otherwise despairingly, endlessly pretentious group of snot-nosed indiest-of-the-indie worshippers who only praise the most bloated, self-conscious computer blips they consider good music. They gave it less than 1 out of 10, I think. Or a little bit over 1. The point is: they got it right for once.

Fans all over seem to share the anti-Pitchfork mindset, and have sided with Rolling Stone's obsequious, lazy acceptance of Weezer's newly developed art form. Some say it's their best. What I do know is that critics and fans are playing emperor's new clothes. Why they are, I really can't say for sure. I did, when I first got the album, because I wanted so badly to not be disappointed by my favorite band's new effort; to perhaps counter the philosophy that Weezer were slowly spiraling down the sinkhole since their second album. I shrouded myself in denial, and for the first month or so, told myself I enjoyed the album with only a small beacon of cognizance meekly questioning why I was accepting this dreck that is "Make Believe."

Every vapid songwriting platitude is stretched to its breaking point on this album. Cuomo yearns to be a "hero" but wistfully admits he is, gasp, a "zero!" He wants to be "rollin' like a celebrity/living in Beverley Hills," but not really, because he's being sarcastic! Wow! Not since "Candide" have I seen such unabashed ironical wit. Every time Rivers lays down a lyric, you hope, pray, burst blood vessels begging the gods of art to not allow the couplet you're about to witness end with the most obvious rhyming counterpart you've ever heard. Then you forget to think there must be no gods of art, because you're too busy cringing at "sometimes I let you go/sometimes I hurt you so."

And don't get me started on the musical merits or the supposed soul drain that this album is supposed to be. To the first one, the album is so musically nondescript that it borders on offensive. There are no more slow-churning buildups and soul crushing crescendos a la "Only in Dreams," or dynamic bursts of aggression like in "Why Bother?" It is more processed and blah than a blink-182 B-side. And as for Rivers' heart-to-heart with his listeners and his loved ones through the lyrics... if you truly listened you would see it's more contrived than a twist ending in a "Saw" movie. He's just trying to emulate the success of Pinkerton, which was truly introspective. This is shallower than Oasis, and mounds less catchy.

Perhaps, now with Weezer's merciful disbandment, fans together can be freed from the shackles limiting our views and turning us into unquestioning zombies--that is, now that we have nothing to expect from Weezer, we don't need to keep forcing ourselves to make believe they haven't lost it (get it?), and hadn't lost it long ago. The Emperor's not wearing clothes, fellas. Open your eyes.

I've been a big Weezer fan since the beginning, and looking back upon the Green Album and Maladroit now, I have to admit they were disappointing, when you know the musical depth these guys are capable of.

And therefore their fifth album, Make Believe, was much anticipated, both with a good measure of dread and a little chink of hope...

I'm just back from the shop, listening to it for the second time, and if you could see my face right now, you could tell whether the album is good or not... but well, you can't so I'm going to tell you: I'm beaming!

I'm so glad, even relieved, that the guys are back on track. Rivers's voice (you know, this voice that can make you cry) is back, and although the melodies are great, maybe they don't compare to the Blue Album and Pinkerton in terms of genius, but the songs do have what I was so craving for: emotion, power, and layers (very important, that). You can listen to a song ten times and still discover another a hidden riff at the eleventh.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to drown into the music and enjoy...

This album is easily inferior to Weezer's previous classics, the 'Blue' album and "Pinkerton". However, I get the feeling that people pretty much stopped expecting greatness out of Weezer after "Maladroit", anyway...

That being said, this album is nowhere near as good as their earlier output, but in fairness is also much less unlistenable than the 'Green' album. Don't expect any of these songs to grab you, but don't expect to be completely disgusted, either. If you're not too picky when it comes to harmless, bubble-gum power-pop, you're bound to like some aspects of this album. "Perfect Situation" and "The Damage In Your Heart" are both perfectly decent songs. It's just that two of the singles from this album, "Beverly Hills" and "We Are All on Drugs", are hands down the two worst songs that Weezer have ever recorded. The other songs? They didn't seem to leave much of an impression on me one way or another. This album is for die-hard Weezer fans only...or at least the die-hard Weezer fans not already turned off by the steadily decreasing quality of their musical output, anyway.

It's disappointing to see this band lower their standards to this harmless, forgettable batch of songs. We know the greatness that Weezer is capable of, but we've seen only faint glimmers of it since they came back in 2001. It makes one wonder if they should have even come back in the first place. Sure, they've had a run of success to rival their mid 90's hey-day, but nobody is going to remember this album in 10 years. I can gurantee you, however, that people out there are still going to be talking about the Blue album and "Pinkerton" at that point in time. They're found success, but at the expense of their previous musical legacy.

There have been rumors that this is in fact their last album. It's probably for the best.

Alot of comparisons have been made between Rivers Cuomo and Brian Wilson. Both have long lost albums that are cited by fans as God-like (Weezer's "Songs From The Black Hole" and The Beach Boys' "Smile"), both are notorious for their reclusiveness, and both have written some of the greatest pop melodies of all time. But one correlation that has yet to be adressed is their similar downfalls.

After "Pet Sounds" fell as a commercial failure the Beach Boys never fully recovered. Although albums like "Wild Honey" are critically praised today, they don't hold up to the sound (and pop greatness) of the early Beach Boys. Similarly, the world lost another pop genius when Rivers let the same critics who praised the Offspring get to him with their negative reviews of "Pinkerton".

We should seriously learn from history folks. Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Rivers Cuomo, Lou Reed; these guys were all musical genius' at one point in their life. They still have the ability to write good music, but not the amazing music that they will be remembered for. Nothing lasts forever.

Now this leads to "Make Believe". Nobody likes to judge a book by its cover but I sure noticed that the album art was not only another rip-off of their already overdone "Blue Album" concept, but it was one of the ugliest album covers I have ever seen. To be truthful I have noticed a correlation between an album's content and it's artwork (Magical Mystery Tour being the ONLY exception!). The album's songs lack the cohesiveness that even Maladroit was capable of achieving. This isn't to say that the music itself it horrible. There are songs on this album that I hold in high regards as Weezer tracks.

I first heard "Hold Me" a little less than a year before this album was released. I had two different versions: a short one-minute electric clip and a longer acoustic version. The lyrics and music reminded me of the raw honesty and brilliance that Rivers is capable of producing. "The Damage in Your Heart" is very Pinkerton-esque although the lyrics are much more positive than anything you would find on Pinkerton. Other standout tracks are "Perfect Situation", "The Other Way", and "Haunt You Every Day."

Now comes the negative reviews. "Beverly Hills" is unarguably the worst song Weezer has ever released. What makes it so tragic is that it showcases Rivers' love of rap rock and the lyrics sound like they were written by a sophomore in high school who sits alone at lunch. "Pardon Me" had potential but the chorus just doesn't work, sorry. All the other songs are mediocre. The critic who called this a mix between the "Blue Album" and "Pinkerton" is, to me, an idiot.

Don't take this review the wrong way. I wouldn't have spent 20 minutes in the early hours of the morning writing a review of a band I cared little about. I love Weezer, in fact some people think I am obsessed. I know most self-proclaimed Weezer lovers dismiss anything done after Pinkerton, but I like the Green Album and Maladroit (the latter took a year or two to grow on me, but now I am infatuated with it). This isn't a bad album, but in the context of everything Weezer has done it is my least favorite.

I only hope that Rivers wont make the same mistake Brian Wilson did. Wilson waited thirty years until he finally released "SMiLE". Unfortunately Geffen records will not allow Weezer to release SFTBH and for that I hate Geffen records, even though David Geffen took a chance on John Lennon's last record.

I have no problem with people giving an album I love one star, but it's only fair to Weezer, a band that has been uniquely involved in my (others too I'm sure) adolescence and early adulthood, that you justify your position. One poor track on an album is not enough grounds for it to be called a failure, and it's certainly not enough grounds to say that 'Weezer sucks now'. Here's why I think 'Make Believe' is a stunning return to the great, emotive (not emo) feelings of joy, uncertainty and nostalgia that so accurately defined Weezer in the early 90s.

Beverly Hills is clearly not a good choice for the first single. However, it makes sense that the band chose it to be so. I read in an interview that Rivers wanted the best songs on the album to be discovered after a person bought it. He didn't want his greatest creations immediately thrown out to dry over the airwaves. Considering Rivers' eccentric songwriting history and his general disposition of being extremely protective/paranoid about his work, this should come as no surprise.

That being said, the next four songs totally rock. Perfect Situation is truly Weezer. That means that it is extremely catchy, abounding with lady frustrations, and in spite of the seemingly light topic material, is powerful and moving. 'Get your hands off the girl. Can't you see that she belongs to me? And I don't appreciate this excess company.' Doesn't this remind you of, 'I want a girl who will laugh for no one else. I want a girl who puts her makeup on the shelf.' Weezer is staying the same here in the best way possible. The music has changed slightly with its incorporation of 80s sounds and more complex harmonies, but the lyrics, in their heartbreaking simplicity, are pretty much the same. That is a great thing.

Following in the same vein, This Is Such a Pity and Hold Me again present Weezery angst in an inimitable fashion. While This Is Such a Pity sounds like an awesome Cars B-side, Hold Me starts slow with classic lines of uncertainty, 'I am terrified of all things. Frightened of the dark. I am. You are taller than a mountain. Deeper than the sea', then explodes, crunching joyously into the refrain, 'Hold me!'

Peace is my favorite track and up there with Why Bother? and Say It Ain't So as my favorites Weezer songs of all time. No one states things so beautifully yet so plainly as Rivers, 'I need to find some peace.' This is true for many. Personally, I heard this song during a rough time, and like great music often does, this song helped me. It gave me some peace. I get the shivers every single time the 'Ooohhhhh oh Ooohhhhh oh Ooohhhhhhhhhhs' start.

With the exceptions of Drugs and Freak Me Out, two of the lesser tracks, the album progresses wonderfully. In particular, Pardon Me and The Other Way possess the Weezer formula and put it to great use. Stunning melodies, lyrics of apologetic doubt and self-deprecation, and an overall passionate delivery. How anyone can say this isn't classic Weezer, I don't know. The closing number, Haunt You Every Day, takes on a very stalkerish tone, one that the band doesn't usually adopt, but it works out well. It's fiery, well executed and meaningfully expressed.

Don't give up on them. If you have this already, give it another listen. If you don't have it, get it and listen to the WHOLE album. I promise, Weezer is still doing what they do best. It's right here.

Here's the thing. When a band has been around the block as long as The Weez, its die-hard fan base inevitably hails all its accomplishments -- even if it means gushing about an album that is so sub-par, so god-awful, it makes you question whether the band was ever good in the first place. Weezer fans can't hear straight. They love Rivers too much. They love flashing the big ol' W with their fingers while singing at top volume during live shows. He could burp the alphabet on a new single with the Backstreet Boys and they'd hail it as musical genius. These are not the reviews you should be reading -- and sadly, there are many here, which is why I felt compelled to write. "Make Believe" is a shameful release. The lyrics were apparently cribbed from Joel and Benji Madden's Escalade, although the drippy sentimentality behind "Pardon Me" could easily have emanated from the fifth-grade notebook diary of a Simple Plan fan. Where's the irony, Rivers? "Pinkerton" scarred his creative genius to the point where he only seems comfortable with predictable "whoa-oh-oh" choruses and lyrics like, "When you're out with your friends in your new Mercedez Benz. And you're on drugs." Hmmm ... sounds like someone's been watching "Less Than Zero" a bit too much. If it was meant to be a funny jab at rich kid chic, the joke ended up on the cutting room floor. "You're my best friend and I love you." Yeesh. Somewhere there's a Hallmark card writer waiting for a royalty check. This album couldn't have been more disappointing, a group of songs I didn't even think Rivers was capable of writing on his worst day. All good things come to an end, and sadly, Weezer's run appears over ... at least until Mr. Cuomo decides he wants to put that Harvard education to use in his songwriting. So don't listen to the Weezer fans who slapped a five star rating on this album before they even ripped off the cellophane. I'm a Weezer fan with the best of them, and trust me, I'll still listen to the first four. But the truth hurts ... though maybe if I try hard enough, I can "Make Believe" I didn't have to confront a time when Weezer was at its worst. Nope. I can still hear the words to "We Are All On Drugs" in my head.

First let me preface this review by saying that I am a huge fan of Weezer's first four studio albums. In fact, Pinkerton is one of my favorite albums of all time and the Blue Album was the very first CD I ever purchased. With that being said, please let me express my anguish and sorrow over Weezer's horrific fifth album, Maladroit. While I realize I am reviewing this album about a year and a half too late, I just hope I can protect even the most casual music fan from making one of the worst purchases of his/her life.

I can still remember buying this album the day it came out in May of 2005. The sun was shining, I was just beginning my summer break after a stressful Spring semester, and I was stoked for new Weezer. Even though I had already heard the God-awful "Beverly Hills" on the radio, I remained positive as I recalled I was not particularly fond of "Hash Pipe" when it was first released, but the Green Album was still very solid. So, I bought the CD at my local Best Buy and immediately placed it into my car's stereo.

I immediately skipped the first track, "Beverly Hills," and listened to "Perfect Situation." This song was a little different than I had expected, but I thought it wasn't too bad -just not up to Weezer's previous excellence. Then, much to my dismay, beginning with the third track, "This is Such a Pity," things went down hill FAST. Every subsequent song, save for "The Damage in Your Heart," was terrible. The music, the lyrics...everything...GUT WRENCHING AWFUL. While I will be the first to admit that Weezer never really penned the best lyrics, at least they were off-beat and somewhat humorous. The lyrics present on Make Believe are the most pedestrian, trite, and overall weak lyrics I think I have ever had the displeasure of enduring. For an example of this, look no further than the steaming pile of dung that is "Freak Me Out." I can honestly say I would rather be torn out of bed at 4 A.M. every morning and round house kicked in the groin by Chuck Norris than listen to this song one more time - it's that bad.

When creating this album (a word I use very loosely), it seems as though Rivers Cuomo was just trying to sound like a parody of the former Weezer. While Weezer always was radio friendly, they always managed to have a slight edge and originality (i.e. "Undone," "Say it Ain't So," "The Good Life") to their music that made you say "that must be Weezer." But with this loose collection of songs, many tracks are just horrible renditions of genres that Rivers used to have a tight clasp on. Case in point, listen, or save your ears and just believe me, to "My Best Friend." Cliche lyrics and the most uninspired guitars ever written by Cuomo make this track one of the worst pop-punk tunes ever written. Also, "We Are All on Drugs," a song that might be funny if it didn't seem to ring so true, sounds like a sloppily written nu-metal tune created for all the keggers at your college's frat house.

Some readers may think that I am writing this after a few listens and then hastily bashing it. But that is certainly not the case. I have listened to this album with hopes that I am "just not getting it" many times to see if I like it yet. But, here it is a year later and my disdain for this album has only intensified. So please, please, for the love of everything good in this world, avoid this album like the plague. I give it 2 stars because there are only 2 songs which I believe can be listened too without all out laughter or anger. Wrapping up, it is my earnest prayer that I can somehow forget that I ever listened to this CD.

Let the negative feedback begin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was a big fan of Weezer's self titled Blue album, and when I heard that they were making a comeback I was kinda happy to see that a band from the "Grundge Era" was making a comeback. Let me tell you that I am very disappointed with this album. This album goes beyond cheezy, I mean its like listening to a bad version of the Monkees. Where are the grinding guitars that were in the other albums. I never considered them a punk band, yet I think that they did have some rawness of punk that influened the music. There is no of that on this album, and its sounds like a "Pop music" Nightmare. I realize that bands experiment with different sounds and different style as they progress, but to take all the rawness out, and place it with happy la la la tunes is absurb. I think they sold out for the times, because if they didnt write a horrible pop song that could get played on every lite fm radio station (Beverly Hills) then maybe they were afraid sale of the album wouldn't be good. If you really liked the older material, stay the heck away from this one....This one is a musical dud!