Weezer - Make Believe Review [3]
Posted by John Malady on 05.28.2005
Part 2 of the Rubin Sandwich Special
After eating the superb 1st half of the Rubin Sandwich Special I am ready to bite into the 2nd half and call it a wrap on lunch. If you need to know what the Rubin Sandwich Special is all about please check out my review for System of a Down’s Mezmerize album and you will find the menu.
I would like to briefly say that the 1st half of the Rubin Sandwich caused quite a stir amongst the 411music writers and they gave me a real good shit kicking for being unprofessional and a terrible reviewer. I stand by my 10 rating of SOAD and would like to say the rest of the review/rant (it was never intended to be a 100% objective review and that was obvious) was intended to be youthful and fun. It was written in the spirit of being young and loyal to the bands you praise and unforgiving to the ones you can’t stand. There is an ignorant beauty to youth and I was shooting for that rather than just picking the album apart like some boring History instructor. I feel SOAD are a band that is so extreme in what they do that you either love them or hate them. I just don’t feel they are a band who would make someone say, “They’re Ok”. They are either exactly how MM explained them or exactly how I explained them. I think the fact that those 2 reviews of that album are on this site is pretty cool. Michael wrote the smart piece and I wrote the jump the gun, beer chugging, stupid teenager piece. Back to back as reads they are quite entertaining actually. Are we cool with that? I thought so. Thanks brothers.
It is now time to step through the magic portal and prepare to Make Believe with Weezer. Let’s go kids! Many magical pop songs await us. Wheeeee!
I have been a huge fan of Weezer ever since they came on the music scene. When I saw them live on the first album tour and they had the huge W that looked like Van Halens symbol behind them in lights I could not get the smile off of my face. I have fully enjoyed all their albums except the last one, Maladroit. Don’t get me wrong I thought Maladroit was good but something about it seemed rushed. It sounded more like a Weezer B-side album to me and musically I felt they were coming too close to being the band I always thought they were a parody of which was the pretty boy guitar replaces my cock bands.
When I heard Rick Rubin was on board to produce the follow up to Maladroit I instantly knew I would be in line for the purchase. I have given Make Believe a total of 4 listens now and it is my conclusion that Rick R. and Rivers C. have successfully collaborated and gotten Weezer back to the focus I felt they were starting to lose on Maladroit. In fact I think Make Believe sounds like the record that should have been after The Green Album and Maladroit could have been a B-sides album.
The songs on Make Believe are fully realized songwriting Rivers Cuomo style and upon each listen subtle colorings begin to pop out and really make this record stronger upon each listen. Rubin not only got Weezer focused again but he lets them grow in a natural direction. This is an older and wiser Rivers Cuomo. Everything has an air of confidence about it on this record including the lyrics. There is a more realized self image coming through in the words but the old school geeky metal head that played In The Garage is still there trying to figure it all out but there isn’t that feeling of desperation that being younger brings to the table. I feel that hope is clawing its way into R. Cuomo’s heart and a content feeling about having your heart broken.
The collaboration with Rick Rubin has done a world of good for the band Weezer and lets face it they were never bad anyways just possibly losing site of what they were as a band or even better what Rivers Cuomo is as a songwriter.
That Rubin sandwich was a mighty fine meal my friends, mighty fine.
The 411: Instead of just another Weezer album in the future I can actually here shades of a different Weezer coming through. It makes me think the best is yet to come again rather than just more of the same and that can’t be anything but a great feeling. Kudos to Rubin and Cuomo for getting together and, in my opinion, getting Weezer back on track.
