Weezer is one of those rare bands who no one wants to see change. If their fans had their way the band would be forever awestruck nerds releasing songs sounding incredibly similar to “Buddy Holly” and “The Good Life.” Fortunately this is precisely the path Rivers Cuomo and company have decided to follow.
Their latest release, Make Believe, is no different–it’s got the same heavily distorted guitar outbursts, the same highly self-indulgent lyrics, the same amount of catchy choruses and the same occasional bad song. Make Believe is exactly what Weezer does best, in fact, it’s all they ever really do. Despite having undergone next to no growth in their 12 year career the band has developed an incredible knack for writing helplessly endearing pop-rock songs and few are complaining.
As nice as Make Believe is it doesn’t quite live up to their first two releases, the eponymous Blue Album and its successor Pinkerton. Like any Weezer album, Make Believe contains the odd annoying song, sadly, the few duds found here are among their poorest to date. The first single “Beverly Hills” is easily the worst song Weezer has ever released, its “I Love Rock and Roll” style guitar riffing and insipid lyrics become unbearable immediately, while the now obligatory drug anthem, “We are all on Drugs,” fails to sound like anything but a bad joke.
Even with these infrequent blunders, Make Believe is still a strong album. It’s not innovative, it’s not something anyone hasn’t heard before and it’s exactly what everyone expected, which is precisely why it succeeds.