Weezer: Make Believe

Ladies and gentlemen, I have heard Weezer album #5 and I thought I'd share a few thoughts.

Highlights:

Freak Me Out

I'm freaking out over Freak Me Out! This is my favorite Weezer song in years. The guitar parts seem to be made up entirely of harmonics and the result is very pretty. It's the most serious-sounding balled I've ever heard about such a mundane subject: getting freaked out by someone walking down a dark street. My favorite of the album.

Hold Me

River desperately cries out over the chorus: "Hold Me!" I love when he gets dramatic. This is a definite Weezer classic.

We Are All On Drugs

This song reminds me of Hash Pipe. I think Rivers gets in a certain groove when he's writing about drugs. It's extremely catchy and that's a bit of a problem because I find myself humming, "We are all on drugs..." By the way, this is an anti-drug song. I think it might be a bit of an apology for Hash Pipe and Dope Nose.

This Is Such A Pity

Groovy keyboards and a wicked glam-rock solo. I think I might hear a former Rentals member on background vocals. (It's a girl anyway).

Random Thoughts:

This album sounds very classic Weezer: Guitar driven, harmonies, un-pretentious subject matter for the lyrics.

Rivers seems to be in much more healthy frame of mind then the Malidroit days (though still weird, did anyone read the Rolling Stone article?). If you've never heard a rock star sincerely apologize in song to his fans for being a jerk then listen to Pardon Me.

The rest of the album is still a bit of a blur. I think the other songs are going to have to grow on me a bit.

This is a very good Weezer album. I already like it much more than Malidroit. Walker, you're going to go bonkers.

This is a good year for music. My musical hero, Billy Corgan is coming out with his first solo album: TheFutureEmbrace. Shakira and Ben Folds both have new albums due out soon. There's a lot to look forward to.