When Weezer first appeared over ten years ago with smash MTV hit Buddy Holly (replete with its Happy Days video), a lot of people wrote them off as a lightweight geeky version of Green Day, but their Blue Album debut is now rightly acknowledged as one of the best alt-rock albums of the 90s and was even given a two-CD makeover last year. Follow-up Pinkerton fared less well commercially, but still stands up very well and is a real fans favourite. And then... silence.

Songwriter Rivers Cuomo went back to school, leaving Weezer fans wondering if they'd ever hear from him again. The silence was finally broken in 2001 by the Green Album, which was certainly very catchy, but felt a bit Weezer-lite.

There was nothing lite about quick follow-up Maladroit, which seemed to find Cuomo in a very dark place indeed, with the pop sensibilities of the first three albums replaced by crunching guitars and an almost complete lack of choruses.

Three years on from that and they are back again, with a complete u-turn in sound as the heaviness is completely gone and back are the soaring choruses and quirky sense of humour. Opener and lead single Beverly Hills is a good example of both of those, with the Space Cowboy-esque verses and dumbass singalong-a-chorus with Cuomo's tongue firmly in cheek. The opening to Perfect Situation sounds remarkably like Simple Pages from the Green Album with a hint of Ash - ironic as Weezer are probably one of the biggest influences on Tim Wheeler's songs.

Following that jaunty tune is the biggest shock of the album, in the almost 80s pop-style This Is Such A Pity. Surely a future single, it's a ludicrously catchy song and will sound great coming out of the radio this summer, although some of the hardcore fans might be slightly disillusioned by the use of synthesisers. The guitars are back for Hold Me and Peace, which both follow the classic quiet-loud-quiet formula that Cuomo is so adept at writing.

If We Are All On Drugs sounds like a dumb song title, it makes for a pretty dumb chorus too, but none the less catchy for it, with a Dandy Warhols style "whoo" for good effect. It's another of the songs that will appeal to young Sk8er Bois and Grrls, but overall Make Believe seems to be aimed squarely at the long-term fans who have matured a little since 1994, and that is certainly shown by the final four songs on the album.

My Best Friend may have a fast paced start, but the lovey-dovey lyrics "You're my best friend and I love you, I love you, yes I do" might send the youngsters scurrying off to dig their Limp Bizkit CDs out of the bin for a bit of angst. The Other Way finds Cuomo in reflective mood, while Freak Me Out is distinctly unpoppunky and Haunt You Every Day is another slow song. Whether their younger fans like it or not, Weezer have grown up and Make Believe is an excellent album that really benefits from repeat listening...