Share. At long last, Weezer's third great album has arrived. At long last, Weezer's third great album has arrived.

Weezer is a band cursed by its own greatness. After releasing Weezer ("the Blue Album") in 1994 and Pinkerton in 1996 - arguably two of the best alt-rock albums of the decade - Weezer culminated a five-year dry spell in what is widely regarded as a stumble. Two stumbles, in fact. Not that 2001's Weezer ("the Green Album") and 2002's Maladroit aren't enjoyable records in their own particular idioms. Mentioning them in

the same breath as Blue and Pink, however&#Array; that's a little difficult to reconcile. And so Weezer have found themselves in the unenviable position of having to live up to&#Array; themselves. Does the group's fifth LP, three years in the making, meet the formidable expectations with which the fans have saddled it?

Make Believe combines the novelty and musicianship of Blue with the adept emotional gravity of Pink. That's where the similarities end. This is an altogether new beast crafted by an altogether new Weezer, a Weezer unafraid to return to the keyboards and acoustic

guitars of their well-rounded musical crusade. If you want to know if Believe is as good as or better than Blue and/or Pink, well, you'll have to decide that for yourself. But at least you can put the three of them side-by-side in good conscience.

This is Weezer's "ballad album." Several tracks are structured, calculated affairs of considerable emotional weight. "Hold Me" and "The Damage In Your Heart" represent some of frontman Rivers Cuomo's most stirring vocal work

while harkening back to Pink's soulful songwriting. "Peace" and "Pardon Me" reflect upon Cuomo's ongoing searches, borne from his life-changing venture into Vipassana meditation, for serenity and forgiveness. The record concludes with the heart-wrenching "Haunt You Every Day," Weezer's best closer since "Only In Dreams."