"For whatever reason, it didn't work with me at all," Cuomo says. "He gave me a lot of different assignments, but none of those songs turned out very good. I think the best songs always have parts in them, or at least a germ in them, that was created emotionally and spontaneously. I've definitely tried it the other way, but the songs just don't feel as important."

Despite protestations to the contrary, the exercises were at least partially successful. A pair of Make Believe's dozen cuts, including the album's first single, came from homework doled out by Rubin. "One [assignment] was 'Write a song like Billy Joel,'" Cuomo says. "That turned into 'Haunt You Every Day,' which I think is really great. The big one, though, was 'Write a song with the "We Will Rock You" beat.' I realized, as I was writing the song 'Beverly Hills,' that I could use that beat, and indeed it turned out really good."