I'll give this 3 1/2 stars.

Musically, Weezer re-scraped all of the ingrediants used a decade ago in "Blue Album" and proved they still had the ability to some quality rock candy. W/ songs like "perfect sit," "Other way," and "Damage in your heart," Weezer are up to their usual good stuff. Then there are a few experimentations-"this is such a pity," which could be from a cure session, and bevely hills-listen to the guitar part, then listen to the likes on def leopard's "pour some sugar on me," and you'll notice a stunning similarity.

The album is downgraded, however, by something that cannot go unnoticed-the lyrics! Listen to this, "you're my best friend, and I love you, yes I love you, yes I doooooooooooooooooooooooo." Can you say 1910 fruit gum company? I didn't know that weezer was funny. And gawd, just listen to the lyrics of "hold me-" Fuel wrote better lyrics to a song than that on their tour bus on the way to a show (hemmorage). I sounds like they recorded the music, realized an hour before that they forgot lyrics, and then jotted something down. This is a good album but the lyrics are crap, especially put up against something like "the redhead said to shred the cello and I'm jello baby (el scorcho)."

So, overall, great music, lousy lyrics. I guess after four solid efforts this was bound to happen. They're not Oasis.

Weezer's music has never really been about much of anything besides being brilliantly staged power-pop ("Pinkerton" aside). They've prided the majority of their career and catelogue on being outstanding and somewhat ordinary at the same time, which can be a hard thing to do be it on purpose or by accident. But that's the great thing about Weezer: the songs don't always have to have a deep meaning or some higher calling to be enjoyed. In fact, that's the main reason they are so good and what made their debut album very pleasing to the ear.

However, the lack of album coherence can also be a hinderence; a small one, albeit, but a hinderence nonetheless. The best examples of this are the Green Album and "Maladroit." While they are both gems of power-pop records, they aren't really about anything and two albums of that back-to-back consecutive years is a bit much of nothing. I think the Green album had its place after the heart-renching "Pinkerton," but "Maladroit" seems more suited for a later release after Rivers gets another break-up/self-loathing album out of his system.

This is where "Make Believe" comes in. The album takes Weezer's album "concept" of being neither-here-nor-there to new heights...with stunning results - in a bad way. Opener "Beverly Hills" suggests another Blue Album with its novelty lyrics and crunchy/catchy guitar. The next three songs, on the other hand, suggest that the album is a second-rate "Pinkerton"-redux with lyrics like "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". This is a pity indeed.

Later tracks like "Pardon Me" and "Other Way" offer nothing new with their blandness, and, as a result, raise the album's blandness as a whole that much more. Conversely, "Freak Me Out" is a fascinating take on arachnophobia and is a nice 3 minutes of solid pop.

"We Are All On Drugs" is an interesting mid-album cut, and argueably one of the only stand-out tracks. Here, Weezer go back to having fun with a song both musically and lyrically: Cuomo sings "When your out with your friends/In your new Mercedes Benz and you're/On drugs" behind a typical Weezer pop-hard rock riffage and a new-wave synth line courtesy of Rick Rubin.

Speaking of which, Rick was an interesting choice for this album, I must say. RIck has produced everything from rap to metal to country so he's perfectly qualified to help Weezer accomplish their goal(s). As stated, the problem with hiring a guy like Rick is that he forces the artist to reach a new level sonically (and sometimes lyrically) that that artist has never pursued. With this album, however, if Weezer had the goal in mind to make a solid, coherent album from start to finish they hired the wrong producer because this album feels the complete antithesis. Don't hastily blame Mr. Rubin, though. Look at the material he had to work with; considering, I think he did a damn fine job tweeking their sound by adding synth lines and bringing every instrument to life. As good a job as he did, his effort is wasted on this collected mess of songs.

Perhaps too much was expected of Cuomo and Company after a three year absence and then having rumors circulate that Rick Rubin was behind the soundboard. Or, maybe Weezer just needed another year or two to spend working on material and just using the five-year gap as a vehicle for the come-back album. Or, just maybe the boys in Weezer needed to lock themselves away with Rick in a haunted house....or, perhaps, take a vow of celibacy.

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.

I love Weezer just as much as any angsty kid growing up in the suburbs during the 90s. That being said everyone knew the last two albums were frankly a stain on their otherwise sterling reputation. This album should be termed a comeback in every sense of the word; even a redemption.

While the Blue Album and Pinkerton will always have their place among the classic albums of the 90s spawning dozens of copycat groups such as Ozma and arguably inspiring the entire genre of "emo" Weezer had fallen considerably off track with the last two albums which despite solid singles were mediocre. This album provoked a lot of cringing on my part when, prior to its release, they put out "Beverly Hills" as a single. Despite being an "ok" song, it was certainly not classic weezer. With that being said, do NOT judge this album off of its first single or off of its likely second single "We're all on Drugs." This album instead goes back to the hard rocking days of old with only some slightly new twists. Songs such as "Perfect Situation" combine the old blue album catchiness with a new dash of piano added to the mix while "The Damage in your Heart" and "Pardon Me" elegantly combine the revolutionary and confessional mood of Pinkerton with some of the commercial cachet of the Green album.

Weezer continues to surprise its fan and they should be proud of the work they have accomplished with this new album. While many will be reluctant to purchase due to the overcommercialization of Weezer's last two bombs, they only have one message in response:
"Let it go, the damage in your heart"

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...