Review Summary: A bumpy but enjoyable emotional excursion
Make Believe is probably one of the most reviled albums by a mainstream group in the past 20 years. General consensus amongst fans was that it was mediocre. General consensus amongst critics was that it was horrible and the band's worst effort yet. But still, Make Believe was a hit album. Lead single 'Beverly Hills' had been a huge hit and The follow up singles 'Perfect Situation' and 'We Are All On Drugs' were also hits on the chart. But Make Believe is still reviled by fans and critics, you'll scarcely find a hardcore Weezer fan who will consider it their best album. But is this in particular fair? Let's take a look at Make Believe and see if it deserves the hate.
The record was produced by Rick Rubin and as such, Make Believe is a noticeably slicker affair. While the guitars are still crunch, the overall roughness and heaviness that was present on Pinkerton and Maladroit is toned down. It's a very commercial LP, however it's definitely not as sterile and bland as Green had been. While definitely not as varied as Maladroit had been musically, Make Believe does try to branch out into different genres. The new wave infused gem 'This Is Such A Pity' is a good example here and one of the best tracks on the LP. 'Freak Me Out' is an odd soft rock sounding track with gentle guitar tones and Rivers singing in a soothing tone. Immediately it's love it or hate it but the calming warmth of the track make it an unusual highlight of the album. The similarly mellow and low key (bar the explosive chorus) 'Hold Me' is another demonstration of the band's ability to write simple but effective ballads. The crazed keyboard infused 'My Best Friend', while lyrically mundane, has this immediate and fun energy to it that makes it hard to hate. And to top it all off is the finale 'Haunt You Every Day'. Weezer have always made incredibly strong closing tracks ('Only In Dreams' and 'December' being noted highlights) and Haunt You Every Day is another brilliant one. The moody piano and the almost furious guitar solo blend with one of Rivers strongest vocal takes on a Weezer album to make a colossal spectacular finish to the album.
Naturally I cant really talk about Make Believe without mentioning Beverly Hills. The big hit single and one of the most notorious Weezer songs of all time. Fans, and critics hate this one for a variety of reasons. The fact it was overplayed to hell and back upon release, the chugging painfully simple guitar riff, the FM hit sound, the ridiculous lyrics. People f ucking HATE this song. Does it deserve the hate? Eh, a bit. It's certainly not the best Weezer song out there by a long long shot, but it's not the worst either. Still regardless of its infamy, it's a vital part of the band's history and catalogue. Same can't be said for the second single off the album 'We Are All On Drugs' which is pretty goddamned terrible. Be it the playground chant inspired melody (You know the one) or the hilariously bad lyrics, this song is B A D. Still the intro is nice enough, courtesy of rhythm guitarist Brian Bell, and it's worth a good laugh. I will admit the first time I heard Rivers yell "When you're out with your friends in your new Mercedes Benz and you're on drugs" I laughed hard. The last single serviced to radio was 'Perfect Situation', a piano thumping Emo gem and one of the band's finest moments. While lyrically again a little inane, the sing along chorus and the blaring guitar solo make this a massive standout on the album.
Now with the musical aspect Out the way, we're left with the album's lyrics. A massive source of criticism for the LP was the album's lyrical content and how simple it was. Indeed, Make Believe is a return to the band's emo melancholy present on Pinkerton and Maladroit, however it's much more simple here. A perfect example of how scaled back things are here, look no further than 'Hold Me' which contains the immortal gem "I am terrified of all things" and the admittedly painful line "I have many fears about rejection, I have many memories of pain". But to be honest, the lyrics are oddly effective. In their simplicity, they're actually very relatable. Rivers was again dealing with depression and was coming out of a pill addiction during the record's recording and was soon introduced to meditation by Rubin. This is dealt with In The track 'Pardon Me' which Cuomo asking for forgiveness for his previous dickheadishness. Songs like 'Peace' and 'The Damage in Your Heart' are effective and simple, not to mention catchy and great singalongs.
I can understand the hate for Make Believe, lyrically it's simple and sometimes flat out cringe worthy, it spawned a mediocre hit single which sadly is all some people know of Weezer, and gave us the horrors of 'We Are All On Drugs'. But the record finds charm in its lyrical simplicity, and overall is still a highly enjoyable album. Give it another go and open your mind. To call this Weezer's worst album is a bit much certainly considering they have made far far worse records COUGH GREEN COUGH RADITUDE COUGH PACIFIC DAYDREAM. It's not perfect, in fact it's a bit shite in places but it's still a fine album with some fun and emotional moments. It's honest, goofy and catchy. Certainly not make believe.
Standout tracks
Perfect Situation
This Is Such A Pity
Hold Me
The Damage In Your Heart
Freak Me Out
Haunt You Every Day
