weezer. make believe. review by alan haber. buhdge

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Make Believe Weezer Geffen (2005) The back-and-forth is flying all over the place: Is it as good as Pinkerton? Is it as good as the Blue Album? The Green? Maladroit? Oh, who cares? The real question is, is it as good as itself? The answer is yes, as if you had to ask. The major buzz about Make Believe seems to center around the leadoff track, "Beverly Hills," which I just can't understand, because it's the worst song on the album. Well, I take that back--it's not the worst, just the dumbest. It's kind of Weezer's "Bang the Drum All Day," which doesn't make it bad; on the contrary, it's catchy, catchy, catchy, but it's not really much of a song, more a goofy idea stretched out to three minutes. First, you get a variation on the riff from "We Will Rock You." Then you get Rivers Cuomo doing his best rap imitation as he lays out the story of a loser who wants to live in Beverly Hills, but knows he's doomed to the trailer park. You also get that retro-Peter Frampton guitar sound on the solo. You think I'm being mean, don't you? Well, I'm not. "Beverly Hills" is just a dumb song, however great (and it is--I seriously can't get it out of my head), and there's really not much more you can say about it. But you can say a whole lot about the rest of this album, which makes "Beverly Hills" seem like it was flown in from an Eminem tribute. "Perfect Situation" is the song radio should be jumping all over. The happy, peppy music, driven along by a thumping piano track, plays the yang to the yin's story, about a guy who can't get the girl. He wants to find love, but he just can't seem to make it happen. The guitars crunch along, the drums bang heavy, and the sweet chorus, almost sure to put a tear in your eye, comes and comes again: "Singin' oh oh, oh oh, oh oh." The guy might be resigning himself to the Might Have Been club, but he really ought to get it together. He's probably not so bad. The Cars groove that underlines the upbeat "This is Such a Pity" recalls Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom," but only in the sense that they're both Cars tributes of sorts. They're actually very different songs. Weezer's is about a couple at odds with each other, with one lamenting, "Right now everything is black/I don't think we'll ever give." How many times have you fought with a loved one only to regret it as the hurting words left your mouth? The chorus sums up the feeling: "This is such a pity/We should give all/Our love to each other/Not this hate that destroys us/This is such a pity." Words of wisdom, indeed. The rocking, anti-drug song "We Are All on Drugs" theorizes that people don't need marijuana and all that jazz to get high or travel to a higher level of consciousness; the stimuli already present in this world constitutes drugs enough for anyone. The lyrics seem a bit banal, sort of simplistic, but how else do you express the point? Kudos to Cuomo for a fairly straight ahead approach, and a good song. Another guy mourning loss is at the heart of the poppy, upbeat "The Damage in Your Heart." This guy just keeps doing the wrong thing and loses the girl. "Now I have no hope anymore," he sings. And: "One more tear/Falling down your face/Doesn't mean that much/To the world." In the mega-catchy "Pardon Me," a selfish guy, who admits he "can be the meanest person in the world," attempts to apologize to everyone he's hurt. "But I can learn self-control/So pardon me...", he cries. "The Other Way" tells the story of a guy who's afraid of intimacy, full of doubt and fear. Is Cuomo trying to tell us something? Can it be that bad? I hope not. But one thing is for sure: the head Weezer guy has come up with a solid set of songs, produced with perfection by Rick Rubin. And Cuomo's even included a basically happy rock and roll number, "My Best Friend," in which he salutes the person who's always there with a kind word and a load of support. Of course, this being a Weezer song, the guys betrays a bit of uncertainty when he says that he "won't be messing with the one thing that brings light to all my darkness." Just in case he screws up? So there you go. Solid, man. Join the back-and-forth. Alan Haber May 16, 2005
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Make Believe
Weezer
Geffen (2005)

weezer's make believe The back-and-forth is flying all over the place: Is it as good as Pinkerton? Is it as good as the Blue Album? The Green? Maladroit? Oh, who cares? The real question is, is it as good as itself? The answer is yes, as if you had to ask.

The major buzz about Make Believe seems to center around the leadoff track, "Beverly Hills," which I just can't understand, because it's the worst song on the album. Well, I take that back--it's not the worst, just the dumbest. It's kind of Weezer's "Bang the Drum All Day," which doesn't make it bad; on the contrary, it's catchy, catchy, catchy, but it's not really much of a song, more a goofy idea stretched out to three minutes. First, you get a variation on the riff from "We Will Rock You." Then you get Rivers Cuomo doing his best rap imitation as he lays out the story of a loser who wants to live in Beverly Hills, but knows he's doomed to the trailer park. You also get that retro-Peter Frampton guitar sound on the solo.

You think I'm being mean, don't you? Well, I'm not. "Beverly Hills" is just a dumb song, however great (and it is--I seriously can't get it out of my head), and there's really not much more you can say about it. But you can say a whole lot about the rest of this album, which makes "Beverly Hills" seem like it was flown in from an Eminem tribute.

"Perfect Situation" is the song radio should be jumping all over. The happy, peppy music, driven along by a thumping piano track, plays the yang to the yin's story, about a guy who can't get the girl. He wants to find love, but he just can't seem to make it happen. The guitars crunch along, the drums bang heavy, and the sweet chorus, almost sure to put a tear in your eye, comes and comes again: "Singin' oh oh, oh oh, oh oh." The guy might be resigning himself to the Might Have Been club, but he really ought to get it together. He's probably not so bad.

The Cars groove that underlines the upbeat "This is Such a Pity" recalls Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom," but only in the sense that they're both Cars tributes of sorts. They're actually very different songs. Weezer's is about a couple at odds with each other, with one lamenting, "Right now everything is black/I don't think we'll ever give." How many times have you fought with a loved one only to regret it as the hurting words left your mouth? The chorus sums up the feeling: "This is such a pity/We should give all/Our love to each other/Not this hate that destroys us/This is such a pity." Words of wisdom, indeed.

The rocking, anti-drug song "We Are All on Drugs" theorizes that people don't need marijuana and all that jazz to get high or travel to a higher level of consciousness; the stimuli already present in this world constitutes drugs enough for anyone. The lyrics seem a bit banal, sort of simplistic, but how else do you express the point? Kudos to Cuomo for a fairly straight ahead approach, and a good song.

Another guy mourning loss is at the heart of the poppy, upbeat "The Damage in Your Heart." This guy just keeps doing the wrong thing and loses the girl. "Now I have no hope anymore," he sings. And: "One more tear/Falling down your face/Doesn't mean that much/To the world." In the mega-catchy "Pardon Me," a selfish guy, who admits he "can be the meanest person in the world," attempts to apologize to everyone he's hurt. "But I can learn self-control/So pardon me...", he cries. "The Other Way" tells the story of a guy who's afraid of intimacy, full of doubt and fear. Is Cuomo trying to tell us something? Can it be that bad?

I hope not. But one thing is for sure: the head Weezer guy has come up with a solid set of songs, produced with perfection by Rick Rubin. And Cuomo's even included a basically happy rock and roll number, "My Best Friend," in which he salutes the person who's always there with a kind word and a load of support. Of course, this being a Weezer song, the guys betrays a bit of uncertainty when he says that he "won't be messing with the one thing that brings light to all my darkness." Just in case he screws up?

So there you go. Solid, man. Join the back-and-forth.

Alan Haber
May 16, 2005