Weezer - Make Believe

Sat 21st May, 2005 in Music Reviews

This is Such a Pity. We Are All on Drugs. Pardon Me. Freak Me Out. No,these are not statements of the disappointing nature of Weezer’s fifth album, Make Believe, they’re song titles.

It’s no secret that Rivers Cuomo is all out of ideas. Since the band’s mid-1990s classics, Weezer(Blue)and Pinkerton, countless bands have been guilty of trying to be Weezer. In 2005, who would’ve thought that Weezer would be one of them?

While 2000’s self-titled album, known as Green was a desperate attempt to re-establish the Weezer sound and reclaim their fan-base after a lengthy absence, 2001’s Maladroit laid out a few interesting ideas hinting that the band were ready to reinvent the classic Weezer formula.

Sadly, Make Believe fails dismally. Opening track and lead single Beverly Hills is easily the worst thing the band have ever recorded. With a single-chord verse bordering on rap and a chorus suspiciously reminiscent of Joan Jett’s I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, one can’t help but cringe.

It gets better though, but only a touch. The next track is Perfect Situation which reeks of Simple Pages from Green, which is followed by This is Such a Pity, a nod to The Cars and the band’s other 1980s influences. While these two aren’t particularly bad (the latter is, in fact, one of the few highlights) Weezer sound uncomfortable, be it trying too hard to be Weezer, or trying too hard not to be Weezer.

Apart from This is Such a Pity, the highlights are the moments where the band doesn’t stray too far from the band’s signature sound. Cuomo’s trademark guitar sounds mark Peace, The Damage in Your Heart and My Best Friend, while the power chords of Blue and Pinkerton are back on We Are All on Drugs, and kick in part-way through The Damage in Your Heart, saving an otherwise poor track.

Though they sound quite similar, the difference between these tracks and the ones that came out all those years ago lies in Cuomo. While the likes of Buddy Holly, Say it Ain’t So, El Scorcho all captured an early-20s middle-American who approached even his darkest moments with an amusing “fuck you” attitude and youthful enthusiasm, Make Believe shows that the man has well and truly lost what made him great.

Mr Cuomo: it’s 2005 and you’re old, cynical and boring.The closing stages of the album though, are almost as bad as the first. The keyboards on Freak Me Out are bad enough, but when the harmonica comes in after two minutes, you really notice that it has been eleven years since it showed up on My Name is Jonas.

As the album draws to close with Haunt You Every Day, a dull and dreary rehash of 1994’s Only in Dreams, you’ll be desperate to get Pinkerton and Weezer out again to remind yourselves that Weezer once were a great band.