Main menu
Fretplay home Submit tabs

Weezer
Weezer tabs Weezer discography

Channels
Guitar channel Bass channel Guitar videos Reviews

Message Forum
Guitar forum Bass forum Bands and artists Promote your band Recent discussions All categories

Fretplay.com

Weezer guitar tabs

CD reviews

Make Believe

Weezer - Make Believe Audio CD

A fair review of the Weezer "Make Believe" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Weezer reviews here, or go back to the Weezer tabs.

Band: Weezer
Title: Make Believe
Rating:

Release Date: 2005-05-10
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Beverly Hills 2: Perfect Situation 3: This Is Such a Pity 4: Hold Me 5: Peace 6: We Are All on Drugs 7: Damage in Your Heart 8: Pardon Me 9: My Best Friend 10: Other Way 11: Freak Me Out 12: Haunt You Every Day

Make Believe
I'm not sure I'll ever know. I'm not sure what happened to Rivers Cuomo after Maladroit. What I can guess is that he was deeply saddened, may even more so than with the failure of Pinkerton. When he made Maladroit, he thought he could make a new masterpiece, he thought he had finally cracked the code to a bonafide perfect pop song, and when it failed on that very basis, he must have questioned just who he was and what he wanted from life. It is my belief that Maladroit should have been his last album. It would have been a fitting conclusion, albeit not the prettiest. But Cuomo made a turn for the soul in Make Believe, and rather than despair and turn to the narcissistic pain that created such masterpieces as Pinkerton, he looked inward and tried to find out what in life really mattered. He tried to find happiness and stability in more traditional modern psychological ways. He came to a sort of peace with himself. I only say that he shouldn't have made this album, because this is the sort of place that every man wants to reach in their life, and once they reach it, they have to give up the sins of their past that made them what they were before, and Cuomo didn't quite completely give it up. He never made a 100% transformation. He could turn his gaze inward and come with peach with the world, but he couldn't give up the stardom, and he only used his stability as a launching pad for his next album, which, to be honest, is only another excuse to try to make something great, much as Maladroit was an excuse. So these songs that Make Believe are comprised of, these are formed from the inspiration of someone who is meditating and someone who is trying to be controlled. They sound horribly bland at times. While I am happy for whatever changes Rivers Cuomo made as a man, he should have left his pop art far behind and turned to something more important, such as classical music or literature, but this attempt at pop, this is made by a man who shouldn't be dealing with pop anymore. Not at all. "Beverly Hills" is atrocious. "We are All On Drugs" is even worse. The second half of the album is a drained rehash of the Green Album. The album is never all that bad, however. Despite Cuomo's low-point in creativity, you can't deny this is a smart man who can still write brilliant pop songs. There's "Perfect Situation" which is probably the best post-Pinkerton song Cuomo ever wrote. There's "This is Such a Pity" which I believe works wonderfully, despite what other people will say or think. Even the Elton-John experiment of "Haunt You Every Day" is very pretty, even if it lacks the dead-on viciousness of "Butterfly"'s similar story. Make Believe is a good pop record and it shouldn't be torn apart on the basis that it lacks in comparison to the other Weezer records. On the other hand, it's probably a record which should never have been made, and if time favors Weezer and makes them one of rock's greatest acts, this will be seen as a low point, even when the Green Album and Raditude finally get the appreciation they deserve. Oh Cuomo. Turn your gaze inward, give it all up! Must fame be your drug?.

Super, Super, Super Good Alternative Rock
From the infectious "Beverly Hills" to the ironic "Freak Me Out" this is a wonderful collection of songs that are every bit as good as the hit "Island in the Sun. My goodness! This is a terrific album with something for everybody. "

The melodies "Weezer" employs are complex and satisfying (and they will never leave your head!) If you remotely like the alternative rock of bands like:

"Emery"
"U2"
"Coldplay"
"Relient K"

You will love this album!

As far as lyrical "appropriateness" is concerned, this album is almost completely clean. There is one use of the word "crap" in "Beverly Hills" and a heaping dose of teeny bopper angst. . . however, there is almost nothing to worry about on this disc. .

When will the "Blue Album" trolls finally fade away?
, like a broken record. It seems like most Weezer fans are on autopilot because for over ten years now, all I've been hearing out of them following every new Weezer album released is their mantra, "It's no Blue Album" etc.

As for me, I did not purchase "Make Believe" when it was released because I was completely put off by the first single, "Beverly Hills," which I thought was one of the worst things I'd ever heard Weezer put out. Fast forward to about three years later, I was given this album with a bunch of other discs, and gave it a listen just for the hell of it, not expecting much. I couldn't have been any more surprised.

Make Believe is the album most of us have been waiting for. Admittedly, there are a few songs that are just "ok," but the ones that are good are phenomenal. "Perfect Situation" and "Pity"'s relationship angst, "Hold Me" and "Peace"'s loneliness, and "Pardon Me" and "Freak Me Out"'s apologies make for some of the best listening I've experienced in years. The only songs on the album I give a skip are "Beverly Hills," "Drugs," (great message though), and "Haunt You. "

While there appears to be no way to appease the "Blue Album" lemmings and their broken-record cries of injustice (as the number of one-star rating on here attests to) from one Weezer fan to another, I highly recommend this album. You cannot go wrong. .

Make Believe that this is a good album.
Namely, "Perfect Situation", "This is Such a Pity", "The Other Way" and "Haunt you Everyday" but that's it. I can't completely dimiss this album as trash, as it has a few songs that are decent. Songs like "Freak Me Out" and "We are All on Drugs" are just awful, I always have to skip them if they come up in a shuffle. I would just delete them but I'm a weezer completionist so I gotta have everything they make. I'm a fan of blue and pinkerton over the rest, as a lot of people are, but I'm open to any songs they currently make. I think the red album is astoundingly better than Make Believe, especially the bonus tracks that should have been included in the original mix that many will probably never hear. This is Weezer's weakest album, though it has its moments so I couldn't give it a one star rating. I think it's still worth getting used, but if you're someone who actually likes the song "We Are All on Drugs" then you'll probably love this album and 5 star it -_-.

*EDIT*
After some more extensive listening, I'm going to add this note to the end of my review. The album gets better the more you listen to it, but it does have a peak. I can appreciate more of the songs now, and I came to realize that Maladroit is actually the weakest album. I would change my vote to 3 stars instead of 2 if it let me.

These guys are great
Their thoughtful, smart interpretation of the words with instinctive musicality make them consistent winners. Starting with "Beverly Hills," and continuing with the other tracks on this great CD, WEEZER delivers highly enjoyable songs both musically and lyrically.

You can see a complete list of all Weezer discography, or go back to the Weezer tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.