CD Review - WEEZER - Make Believe

There are probably only about seven bands left that I will buy their new albums on the day they are released, no questions asked. Three of those (Def Leppard, U2 and Collective Soul) released new material in the last year, and now along comes Weezer's latest, Make Believe.
I must give credit to my sister Vicki for getting me hooked on Weezer, she actually owned the Blue Album before I did. Since then , Weezer has become my Beatles. I actually know every word to every song of theirs and can play a lot of those songs on guitar. Back in my glorious Cheetah Sneak days, I was always trying to push the guys to play Weezer songs (we covered Say It Ain't So and HashPipe) and Undone (The Sweater Song) was my chance to grab the mic and sing lead vocals. If I could find 3 other musicians with similar Weezer love, I'd form a Weezer tribute band tomorrow. (Actually I've been tossing around the idea of a band that only plays Weezer and Beatle songs and calling it either the "Weatles" or "Beezer", or the incredibly lame "WeezerBeatles.") Anyway.......

In a day of faceless "modern rock" bands, Weezer is refreshingly indentifiable, both in appearance and sound. Singer/Guitarist/Genius Rivers Cuomo, Guitarist Brian Bell, Drummer Pat Wilson and even new (the last 2 albums) bassist Scot Shriner exude goofy nerdiness, that may or may not be a PR gimmick, but it's still a nice change.(The exception to the faceless music thing is 3 Doors Down, who should be more faceless, as they are the ugliest band in the history of music. Seriously, if you met a guy and he said he was a musician and he was the ugliest man you've ever seen, chances are great that he's in 3 Doors Down. Why hasn't anyone had the balls to tell those guys to stop putting themselves in their videos!.) Anyway....

Though many "emo" bands have followed, Weezer is still the best and most original. They manage to reinvent themselves on every album, while still maintaining a musical identity of Weezerishness. (COPYWRITE! I just made up that word. If you want to use it, ya gotta pay me a dollar!) The Blue Album blew us all away in 1994, and established Weezer's plaintative vocals, griding guitars, ripping guitar solos and supremely catchy hooks. Pinkerton followed in 1996 and was dubbed by Rolling Stone Magazine "The Worst Album of the Year." My boycott of never buying a Rolling Stone is still in effect. The backlash forced Rivers Cuomo into self imposed exile to Harvard and we all believed Weezer was done.

Fastforward 4 years, Weezer was more popular then ever and Pinkerton has become a cult favorite and a critical success. Weezer reforms, sadly without Bassist (and falsetto vocalist) Matt Sharp (who went off to form the Rentals.) 2001 saw the release of the hook-filled pop-fest Green Album, followed by hard-rockin' 70's-ish Maladroit in 2002.

Enough history, on to Make Believe. They've joined with Super Producer Rick Rubin (Beastie Boys' Licensed to Ill, Run DMC's Raising Hell, Red hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magic) to create another great album. Beginning with the first single Beverly Hills, a power chord yell-along that seems dumb but will stick in your head for weeks, this album delivers from start to finish. Other highlights include track # 3 This is such a Pity which catches Weezer as 80's New Wave as they've ever sounded, and # 5 Peace, a midtempo love song with a way cool guitar riff. Also the rockin' track #9 My Best Friend. But I really love The Other Way buried way down at track #10, and destined to become one of my all-time Weezer favorites. You'll be singing this song after just one listen. There's also one turd. Track#6, We are All on Drugs, is one to skip. There's nothing tongue in cheek about it, it just sounds like Weezer doing a cheesy Public Service Announcement.

In the Weezer Album Catalogue, it goes like this: from Clean punk pop to raw alt rock: Green Album, Blue Album, Pinkerton, Maladroit. Make Believe falls between the Green and Blue albums. It's more complex then Green, but not as loaded with original, memorable hits as Blue. It's more mainstream then Pinkerton, and more accessible then Maladroit. It's classic Weezer and it's destined to be my soundtrack of the summer of 05.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A

(note: the other three of the "seven" band mentioned in the first paragraph are Live, Splender and Breaking Benjamin. NOOTCH!)