WHAT THE FUSS?

By: B -- 5/22/05

I’m going to take half the blame for my slight disappointment in Weezer’s latest album Make Believe. When I learned that Weezer has a catalog of hundreds of unreleased tracks, and considered the fact that the band hasn’t released an album in over three years (2002’s Maladroit), my anticipation of the new album swelled to impossible proportions.

Make Believe is vintage Weezer, with a few minor adjustments. The album is 45 minutes in length, marathon level by Weezer standards. Frontman Rivers Cuomo stretches his voice like he did in the good old days, dedicating his pipes to gloomy concerns of being an outcast. (Or, in “Freak Me Out,” being scared of a spider: “Man, you really freak me out/ I’m so afraid of you/ And when I lose my cool/ I don’t know what to do.”) Two songs, “Perfect Situation” and “Pardon Me” are by far the best tracks on the album.

Lofty expectations or not, Weezer’s Make Believe sounds like a recycled version of the band’s earlier, ballsier work. Weezer’s trademark components are in full effect on Make Believe -- basic chord structures, short track times and take-‘em-as-they-are lyrics – but beyond a few excellent tracks, Make Believe plays like an agreeable collection of b-sides from the mid-90s.

Buy Weezer's Make Believe from Amazon

CRITICAL RATING: 6.5

POP RATING: 8

B’S RATING: 7

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