Ween. Are they great or what?

On a different note.. I like big butts and I can not lie, those otha brothas can't deny.....

(but seriously, they're good for a laugh or two. TMBG for the pottymouthed set. faves are the live version of "dr. rock" and "don't laugh I love you," songs do the genre they're parodying justice).

Their parodies of prog-folk are better than the 'serious' revivalists of the genre. There's nothing better than "Cold Blows The Wind." The assertation that it's a traditional Chinese spiritual only makes it more brilliant. Sample this lyric for proof:

"Go fetch me a nut from the dungeon deep
and water from the stone
and white milk from the maiden's breast
that babe ere never known"

Plus, every Prince fan in the world needs to hear "LMLYP." Yet "Birthday Boy" from the same album is one of the most poignant breakup songs, capturing the confusion and resignation of a mutual breakup that just about every other breakup song misses.

And no I am not nor have I ever been stoned.

(If you haven't heard his damn-near 6 minute going-off-about-how-amazing-Ween-is rant, well, I apologize.)

I'd love to see them live again, but they don't appear to be venturing to New England any time soon. Best Ween live experience: Burlington, VT, Halloween 2003. During "LMLYP" some crazed hippie on stilts in a gigantic cat costume, complete with huge papier mache head, came out on stage. Plus, viking helmets and wizard hats and extremely short loincloth-esque thing on Deaner. And three people in an actual Poop Ship Destroyer costume.

Also, I seem to be one of the few female Ween fans. I've only known one personally, and I'm not sure that I've seen too many at shows. Girl Ween fans hollah at me?

Apparently Ween and the creators of Spongebob Squarepants have a pretty good relationship...not only was "Ocean Man" in the movie OST (in the coveted as-the-credits-begin-to-roll spot), but they did a song about HOW TO TIE YOUR SHOES for one episode that totally owns! Also, Spongebob once said something about his pet snail Gary's "wandering eye...you little mollusk, you!".

Man, I fucking LOVE Ween! I was at a show years ago and it was ex-cel... Well, uh, excellent. I remember they did this jam thing while a woman was dancing. I think they just stretched for a good twenty minutes just to have a laugh at her expense. Great show.

FWIW I know shit tons of female Ween fans...not quite as rare as female PRIMUS fans.

i also like primus. if you come buy a copy of les claypool's new album at my record store in bangor, and we sell more than anyone else in any of the stores participating in this little contest, les will come eat pizza and drink beer with us. no foolin'! i know you won't!

-- J
Mark feels the same way. This does not compute.

"Bananas and Blow" so real

"fluffy, my furry buddy, chewed his leg on the porch"

I saw them on the tour for that country album, and ... okay, you know a regular Ween crowd? Which is already like a Noah's Ark of different varieties of drug-addled weirdos? Add to that country weirdos. Seriously the strangest crowd I have ever stood in.

they're my favorite band. but la cucaracha was a huge letdown.

no way. "woman and man" is their epic -- it's worth it just for that

La Cucaracha was a huge comeback.

broke up.

found out via el-p's twitter

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/aaron-freeman-closes-the-book-on-ween-20120529

no one cares

*drops bong*

I care, this is a huge bummer.

As a sidenote, has anyone heard that Aaron Freeman record of Rod McKuen covers? Wondered if that was worth checking out.

I mean, it's sad in the same way hearing that a couple you were friends with but haven't talked to in over a decade broke up is sad. Honestly, though, if this is what Aaron Freeman needs to stay clean and sober, I couldn't be happier.

DWH otm. Sounds like he just needs to make the split to keep himself in a place where he can stay clean.

xp otm

I'd love for them to make more albums as strong as latter-day shit like La Cucaracha & Quebec, but they had a great run & I'm perfectly comfortable with the (frankly incredible) range of material they've released over the past 20+ years. Their live shows were legendary & I will definitely miss those, but I have to imagine that this is the kind of 'breakup' which can easily be dusted off when for the occasional one-off or small tour whenever they get the urge.

I don't know about this. It just seemed like an off-the-cuff remark and the journalist totally ran with it.

Naw, there's plenty of "this is the end" type verbiage in the interview.

"or what"

I know, I know. I'm just in denial. (x-post)

Can I just point out how many amazing headlines the author of that piece totally missed out on?

Aaron Freeman Cuts Ween Short
Ween: Aaron Freeman Pulls Out
Happy Trails To Aaron Freeman's Ween

Although the headline isn't bad, as is.

Against Me Isn't The Only Band With A Lead Singer Who's Changing Names And Getting Rid Of Ween

Sounds like Gener might've pulled a Frank Black: Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo Differ On Ween's Continued Performance

huge bummer.

Did Gene have a problem staying clean?

Against Me Isn't The Only Band With A Lead Singer Who's Changing Names And Getting Rid Of Ween

amazing

So nobody here heard Freeman's solo thing?

oh yeah i started listening to it..

it's all covers of the guy who wrote "Seasons in the sun" (forgot his name) so it's not stuff written by Aaron or anything.. it's nothing exciting IMO and doesn't sound like Ween at all

Rod McKuen, whose name I know only from having shopped in small-town used book stores for books of poetry for over a decade, wherein he comprises 95 percent of the stock.

Did Gene have a problem staying clean?

yeah, and touring seemed to often be a bad influence on him - Dean pulled a tour a few days in, five or six years ago, because it became immediately apparent that the road had inspired Gener to go from 0 to 70s rock star in nothing flat. He's talked about how his rehab program includes a sponsor to go on the solo tour and stay with him p much 24/7.

n/a you have no idea

can definitely understand this (if it's true) as Gene really seems to have lost control of himself lately. Regardless of what they said about La Cucaracha the fact pretty much remains that they have been pretty dormant and their recent releases don't have the same soul. I'm glad that Gene is soldiering on, hope Dean finds something to do as well (as he's really an excellent guitar player, I'd hate it if he hung it up) On the other hand I'm pretty sure they'll be back pretty soon

also the McKuen covers album really isn't that bad. Most of the source material is kind of hokey but Gene really does a great job with it. Like everyone else I'm just hoping he puts that kind of touch on his originals since the production is pretty good. More than anything I feel like this kind of thing is probably good for him and a gateway to whatever he chooses to do next. It's not really supposed to be great.

A lot of their early songs were great, but the humor was never funny. I pretty much lost interest around the time of The Mollusk & White Pepper. Still, it's sad to see such a unique band break up.

I cannot even fathom losing interest around two of their greatest albums. That post boggles my mind, but I've learned that different people look for wildly different things from Ween.

Yeah the quadrilogy of Mollusk/White Pepper/quebec/Shinola is probably going to be their legacy. Such great material all around and the replay value on those has been surprisingly high. Even though Shinola isn't even a real album. This is really why La Cucaracha was such a disappointment - it's an okay album, but it just seemed like Ween were only getting better and better

TBH, although there's some good stuff in there, that particular quadrilogy barely registers with me. It's all about GodWeenSatan/The Pod/Pure Guava/Chocolate and Cheese in my world.

ftr rod mckuen >>>>>>> all ween

it's time.... to troll

Just posted on his Facebook:

"In order to more fully explore and pursue my solo career, I've decided to end my musical relationship with Ween. I want to personally thank each and every fan for all their love and support through the years."

beneath all this "exploratory committee" horseshit, you know it's acrimonious

i dunno i can believe that dude just decided on his own and started telling the press without even talking to the other guy and is just trying to be all "i don't want to fight about it, i'm done"

It feels to me like Freeman's thinking is "gotta kill Gene before Gene kills me."

he has to take a sponsor on tour with him jeez.

just think of the master

Don't crest the weasel

Ween: homophobic?

News about Dean's forthcoming fishing show with Les Claypool and produced by Parker/Stone

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/01/mickey_melchiondo_of_ween_sets.html

But also this (given Sandy's impact):

"Holgate was my refuge," says Melchiondo, who commutes to fish in Jersey from New Hope, Pa., where he lives with his wife and son. "My parents had a house in Holgate. My father built it. He bought a little sugar shack, and he tore the roof off and built onto it. My sister and I bought a trailer and that was our place until we sold it a year and a half ago.

"Now, it's piled up like a Lionel train. The house where Ween recorded, it's like 20 feet in the air now. It was built on stilts and all the sand eroded under it. I've seen pictures. I don't want to see it in person."

Also:

Melchiondo hopes his fishing show will be an eye-opener for TV audiences who associate the Shore with a lifestyle centered on nightclubbing, rather than angling and boating. For him, Belmar is a place of serenity.

"I go alone and I don't do anything alone, except fishing and Shore-related stuff," says Melchiondo, who has a solo album in the works, as well as a new release from his experimental hard rock band, the Moistboyz.

I am all about new Moistboyz.

dean's website askdeaner.com is surprisingly entertaining

http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/ween-explain-boognish-show-off-new-hope-in-rarely-circulated-clip-from-1987s-the-ween-movie/

boognish explained

turning fire to steam?
http://aaronfreeman.bandcamp.com/

I only know Voodoo Lady, is it representative of them?

there's no real representative ween song, like there's no representative steely dan song

but maybe "buenos tardes, amigo" is their "deacon blues"?

I appreciate that Aaron Freeman couldn't handle the Ween lifestyle anymore, his solo album extremely disappointing. I gave it 2 extra listens if only for what he's been a part of in the past; still, no sale. I hope the boy does well, but maybe he should find a different career path altogether.

Don't crest the weasel

What, the album of McKuen covers? Id wait until a solo album of new songs comes out - some of the ones on that bandcamp release are pretty neat.

i like marvelous clouds alot, gener has a beautiful voice

the pastry chef at a restaurant i used to work in would commute from new hope and claimed to know these guys back when. i drove him somewhere at some point and he told me an elaborate story about why he had a falling out with them, but conceded that they were an ingenious group. i think it had to do with this guy dating the sister of one of the guys from ween(?) i forget the specifics and even the generalities. but yeah. something to do with ween. happy sunday.

Every time I see a picture or video of these guys, I want to cast a biopic with Kevin Sussman as Gene and Ashton Kutcher as Dean.

Dominic West would make a good Dean Ween.

Woman and Man smokes!

http://media.tumblr.com/92f37ad66650585b69e6cebbcd101d9f/tumblr_inline_njzlzkplve1t6md0n.jpg

sold

dang its an event not an album

Thanks to this thread's reemergence I'm listening to Live at the Cat's Cradle and wishing it was like 1994 again when I'm sitting in a driveway in a buddy's smogged out Ford Probe after a night of delivering pizzas (Mountain Dew bottles strewn across the floorboards), safe from the knowledge that everything after 2001 is gonna suck ass -- CUANDO CUANDO.

setlists from their 3-night reunion:

What Deaner Was Talkin' About, Buckingham Green, Beacon Light, Bananas and Blow, Japanese Cowboy, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Now I'm Freaking Out, Roses Are Free, A Tear For Eddie, Your Party, How High Can You Fly?, Nan, Puerto Rican Power, Tick, Wayne's Pet Youngin, The Goin' Gets Tough From the Getgo, Mister Richard Smoker, Waving My Dick in the Wind, Gabrielle, Ooh Va La, Awesome Sound, The Stallion pt 3, Big Jilm, Licking the Palm For Guava> Mushroom Festival in Hell, Even If You Don't, Sorry Charlie, With My Own Bare Hands, Don't Laugh (I Love You), Boy's Club, Homo Rainbow
Encore: Fiesta, Buenas Tardes Amigo

Pork Roll Egg and Cheese, Take Me Away, Transdermal Celebration, Back to Basom, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, The Grobe, Stroker Ace, Object, Ice Castles, The Golden Eel, Happy Colored Marbles, Kim Smoltz*, Tried and True*, Baby Bitch*, Help Me Scrape the Mucus Off My Brain*, Joppa Road*, I Don't Want It*, Frank, She Fucks Me, Ocean Man, You Fucked Up, Poopship Destroyer, Transitions, Ace of Spades, Laura, Zoloft, Doctor Rock
Encore: Pollo Asado, Demon Sweat

Exactly Where I'm At, Mutilated Lips, She Wanted to Leave, The Final Alarm, Did You See Me?, The Stallion pt 1, Freedom of '76, Mononucleosis, Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy), Up on the Hill, Learnin' to Love, I Can't Put My Finger on It, Birthday Boy*, Chocolate Town*, Drifter in the Dark*, The Mollusk*, Flutes of the Chi*, The HIV Song*, Squelch the Weasel, Touch My Tooter, Papa Zit, Israel, Piss Up a Rope, Stay Forever, She's Your Baby, Never Squeal> Drums> Never Squeal
1st Encore: Tender Situation, Pumpin' 4 the Man, Common Bitch, Fat Lenny
2nd Encore: The Blarney Stone

good god

yah i saw that last one last nite. wish i could report back as someone more familiar with them, i only knew a couple songs, but ppl were intensely into it... kind of a surreal triumph of a vibe. huge show.

what are the asterisks

There's a bunch of stuff on YT. I'm having a hard time continuing to convince myself it wouldn't have been worth the drive from Georgia. I yelled OH COME ON more than once while reading these setlists.

xp they played those ones on acoustic guitars

Just Aaron & Mickey?

(Was it the classic lineup for these? I know Claude's been in & out of Dean Ween Group)

I haven't started listening to these yet; someone on another forum claims they're "not bad."

https://archive.org/search.php?query=ween&sort=-publicdate

yeah they're decent for bootlegs but man what I wouldn't give for some nine-disc boxset of this

i watched a ween concert DVD on amazon prime
it was weird, well not actually "weird" but i guess i have a really old conception of ween and i didn't realize how they were such a "pro" like session dude type classic rock band vibe, like not quite a guitar mag vibe but close

i think i liked it?

also it occurred to me when they played it that "Dr. Rock" was probably like the entire inspiration for Tenacious D

"Buckingham Green" is a great fucking song tho

One of many concert moments seared into my neural circuitry was hearing for the first time a pre-Chocolate and Cheese song played as a band on their Chocolate and Cheese tour: it was "Big Jilm" and that whole "band sound," in contrast with the Pure Guava sound, which was like a glorified game of Simon, made me stand there with my jaw hanging open like a dental patient.

xxxp yeah Dave Dreiwitz has a long chops-heavy history, played bass and trumpet in Tiny Lights for years before joining Ween

The drummer was like super duper almost like Bernie Purdie level

Still overall I find kinda spiritually vacant and mean w them, I could appreciate it but I could never get too close to that band

Does Dean Ween get any guitar mag love? He was really shredding Zappa style

was it the live in chicago dvd?

the keyboardist used to tour with earth wind and fire lol

def funny how a couple of early 90s 4 track goofballs turned out to be great musicians

"or what"

― some dude, Tuesday, May 29, 2012 6:56 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i came in here to post this again

savage

Does Dean Ween get any guitar mag love? He was really shredding Zappa style

They got a huge jam band audience from Phish covering Roses Are Free, but I don't think the classic guitar dude market ever cottoned on

(Deaner is one of only two chopsular guitarists I ever want to hear, so this is not an educated impression.)

global - yeah live in Chicago

xp who's the other one?

That Pogues pisstake pirate song is fucking garbage

Ocean Man is a good pop song

who's the other one?

P. R. Nelson

I was at one of those gigs they used for Live in Chicago. I remember it being a good show but was sadly equally memorable for how obnoxious the audience was - they knew a taping was going on, and were acting accordingly.

xp I kinda strongly dislike "The Blarney Stone" and "Buenas Tardes Amigo."

Encore: Pollo Asado, Demon Sweat

best finale

frank ocean sounds exactly like ween https://twitter.com/mlle_elle/status/766908276374016000

lol

all i see turns to brown

Meme Ween

I'm killing it

good ween song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fshgBDgtfRg

i see i already posted about this

I don't hear it. This sounds like neither fake-Prince nor fake-Paul Mccartney.

guys

Kim Smoltz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65dRRa3GoM

how tf was this not on an album anywhere. I think I've played it a dozen times the last two weeks.

nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-J6d7zUsc8&app=desktop

really on a rare Ween track kick right now. there are so many good ones. kinda funny given some of the garbage that actually *does* make the album.

If memory serves, most of those Mollusk outtakes have merit.

https://archive.org/details/ween2018-08-17.MK4-2448

https://archive.org/details/ween2018-08-18.MK4-2448

two high-quality recordings of the band's recent Portland shows. they sound amazing.

Is the boredoms collabo any good

haven't heard it in a long time. some people really like it but it sounds like it was just recorded over a long weekend or something

this song is just the weirdest/most dumbest thing, I love it

https://youtu.be/mwjuh8HjsmY

could swore Deaner left to do his own thing

I can’t believe this band never made it big.

think the story is that Gene broke up the band due to his addiction problems, as apparently he'd get offered drugs and alcohol nonstop while the group was touring which is ahh pretty hard for an addict. Dean Ween Band is just something for Dean to do in the meantime

I'm not really sure what the status of Ween proper is now. can't really blame them for getting back together given that Ween can sell out decent sized venues while their solo acts tend to hit the local band spots. I mean they still sound great and they're still doing wild 3-hour sets, so idk what the deal is

Deaner never left: Gene left during that period of getting sober when they tell you not to make any major life decisions. Deaner started two new bands to play local bars & the rest of the live Ween band carried on playing Ween songs in clubs as The Dean Ween Group for a few years. They now have two albums of originals and a rotating membership, and don’t play any Ween hits live.

Gener tried to play Ween-sized venues off the back of his solo album of Rod McKuen covers, unsurprisingly flopped hard, licked his wounds and after a few years played a reunion show at Red Rocks. It doesn’t seem likely that they’ll write & record together again, but Ween now play handfuls of big shows through the year, and Dean keeps playing bars at home and clubs on the road.

xpost

I can't believe this movie had 8 minutes of Ween-related scenes in it. my god they look so young

https://vimeo.com/115094989

I can't believe Gene Ween & Slash covered "Wiggle Wiggle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=digqBlJlyKE

last night's show in Milwaukee was excellent. we missed the first song ("Buckingham Green", I'm told), and the second was "Laura", a song I didn't even know they played live. in all, they played like, half of The Pod, and a bunch from Pure Guava too. they also did a cover of Bowie's "Lets Dance". kind of wish I wasn't so wasted for it, but that's Ween for ya. I gotta say, their crowds are exactly as advertised.

the show last night in st. paul was stupendous. 'fluffy' solo blew the roof off the palace. excited for 2nd show tonight. i'm sober now so knowing gene was too was sort of helpful and inspiring? but yes their fans are dirt twirling hippies and weirdos, it's great

show is already up, wow. well fluffy was the last song of main set- also funny was '# Deaner plays Gener's guitar to sound more like "Jerry" wherein he put on heavy mutron and got that gooey 78 estimated prophet sound. they can be such hams, dean especially

https://archive.org/details/Ween2018-11-03.MK012

😊

all i see turns to brown

This is a very good semi-officially band-approved fan comp that I never knew about for some reason. About 2/3 pulled from Pod-era. Flows nicely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi8HeoaLCaQ

I wish their live shows would include a 20-30 minute section with cassettes as the backing tracks. Pure Guava songs sound weird live imo.

it's weird they turned into the grateful dead for people who know who Steve Albini is

great post

yah perfect

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K65dRRa3GoM

this isn't on that comp but it's probably one of my favorite songs full stop.

I think if I made a list of "Top 10 songs I can't believe weren't ever on a studio album", Ween would have like 6 of them

True, without pulling from any b-sides they could easily fill an all-killer Shinola Vol 2. I don't get why it hasn't happened yet.

it's weird they turned into the grateful dead for people who know who Steve Albini is

― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

Omg this is so accurate

Did they have a jam band audience at all before Phish started playing Roses Are Free (1997)?

I don't think so, they were marketed as an "alternative" act when they arrived on the scene in the height of 90s alternative music marketing mania.

I don't know, but I definitely knew some guys in college circa 1994-95 that listened to a lot of jam bands but also listened to a ton of Ween.

In fact, now that I think about it, it was the guy that taped me my first batch of Dead tapes in college that also introduced me to Chocolate and Cheese and Pure Guava.

True, without pulling from any b-sides they could easily fill an all-killer Shinola Vol 2. I don't get why it hasn't happened yet.

Dean said the process of making the first one was really exhausting - apparently a lot of the demos weren't really in releasable condition, so a lot had to be recorded fresh. Also they don't really like revisiting old songs. Still, a Shinola Vol. 2 would sell a ton of copies so yeah idk why they didn't make it

I'm not exhaustive in keeping up with Ween in message boards or anything, but a buddy sent me a 4-disc, 100-song rarities thing years ago that I understand to be pretty widely appreciated. It's still my most listened to Ween thing:

::VOLUME 1::
1.I Smoke Some Grass And Get Really Really High (B-side)
2.Mango Woman (B-side)
3.Puerto Rican Power pts.1&2 (B-side)
4.Now I'm Freaking Out (C&C outtake/B-side)
5.There's A Pig (B-side)
6.Vallejo (B-side)
7.Ode To Rene' (B-side)
8.Bakersfield
9.Skycruiser
10.Cruise Control
11.Sweet Texas Fire (Piss Up A Rope B-side)
12.Albino Sunburned Girl (Holland 1990-From Jug Is Quaid Tape)
13.Hippy Smell
14.I'm Fat
15.I'm Fat pt.2
16.Fat Albert
17.Little Peta
18.Oblongs (Little Peta diff.mix)
19.Little Peta (drum mix)
20.Koko (demo?)
21.Koko
22.Silent Night
23.Mr.Mocha (Pure Guave outtake version)
24.Big Dick Black
25.Spleen
26.Motown (with vocals)
27.Main Vein
28.S'amuse Comme Un Peut
29.Transitions
30.Grounded For Life (13 second T.V. version)

::VOLUME 2::
31.I Got No Darkside (12 GCG outtake)
32.So Long Jerry (12 GCG outtake)
33.Booze Me Up And Get Me High (Mollusk outtake)
34.I'll Be Your Johnny On The Spot (demo version)
35.Mr Richard Smoker (90 Second TV version-never used)
36.Cornbread Red
37.Cornbread Red (dub mix)
38.Who Dat?
39.Shot Heard 'Round The World (Schoolhouse Rocks)
40.Boys Club
41.I'll Miss You (Beautiful Girls Soundtrack)
42.Eye 2 The Sky (rejected song for 'Muppets In Space')
43.Love (Orgasmo Soundtrack)
44.Fancy Pants (Crank Yankers version)
45.Greg The Bunny (written for TV show-never used)
46.Homo Rainbow (demo)
47.Homo Rainbow (Chef Aid version)
48.Loop De Loop (Spongebob Squarepants episode)
49.I Can't Put My Finger On It (Conan O'Brien)
50.Freedom Of 76' (120 Minutes Performance-1995)
51.Golden Eel (Viva Variety-1997))
52.Buckingham Green (Nothing TV-Public Access Television show-1997)
53.She Wanted To Leave (Nothing TV-Public Access Television show-1997)
54.Mutitlated Lips (Oddville-1997)
55.Exactly Where I'm At (Letterman-2000)
56.Making Love In The Gravy (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo)
57.Dual (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo)

::VOLUME THREE::
58.Beacon Light (X-Files Soundtrack)
59.Stallion Pt.4 (C&C Outtake)
60.Did You See Me? (Mollusk Outtake)
61.I Still Love You (Done for Mickey and Aaron's Insurance Salesman)
62.Junky Boy (Pandy Fackler Tape)
63.No More Tears (Pandy Fackler Tape)
64.Numb To The Lung (Pandy Fackler Tape)
65.Nicole Pt.4 (Pandy Fackler Tape)
66.Purple Haze (Deaner Does Jimi Tape)
67.The Wind Cries Mary (Deaner Does Jimi Tape)
68.Bold As Love (Deaner Does Jimi Tape)
69.Little Wing (Deaner Does Jimi Tape)
70.Kansas City Star
71.Love Will Conquer All
72.Chairman Of My Destiny
73.Unknown Title (demo)
74.Baboon Pt.2
75.Time To Yourself
76.Surfeited
77.Little Miss Mandee
78.Happy Colored Marbles (Carson Daly Show-2003)

::VOLUME FOUR::
79.Square Wave Jam (Electro Harmonix Micro Synth Demo)
80.Touch My Tooter (KCRW Radioshow-Morning Becomes Eclectic)
81.Buenos Tardes Amigo (demo)
82.Flutes Of The Chi (Mollusk Outtake/Reject version)
83.Ocean Man (demo version)
84.Mickey (Pigface-Deaner & Andrew)
85.Cold-Mickey pt.2 (Pigface-Deaner & Andrew)
86.Hello Johnny (White Pepper Demo)
87.I'll Wait (Mollusk Outtake/Demo)
86.She'll Just Get You (White Pepper Demo)
89.Fool To Cry (Rolling Stones Cover)
90.Argus (Not Quebec version-completely diff.song)
91.Even If You Don't (demo)
92.Where'd The Cheese Go? (Pizza Hut Commercial rejected song)
93.Where'd The Motherfucking Cheese Go At? (reworked Pizza Hut jingle)
94.Champagne Jam (Run Ronnie Run Soundtrack)
95.Transdermal Celebration (Quebec rehearsals)
96.Ooh Va La (Quebec rehearsals)
97.Tried And True (Quebec rehearsals)
98.Alcan Road (Quebec rehearsals)
99.Ooh Va La (Quebec outtake/B-side)
100.Mountains And Buffalos (Quebec outtake/B-side)

Still, a Shinola Vol. 2 would sell a ton of copies so yeah idk why they didn't make it

People stopped buying tons of copies of anything, and Aaron & Mickey stopped working together offstage. It’s been, what, fourteen years since they recorded anything?

well yeah it would be bizarre if they made it now. they should've done it in 2009.

I'm saying that we can now see that they had stopped working together by 2009

The Grateful Dead / ween connection was...dudes who smoked weed

^ Jon's friend's mix can be found on slsk fwiw

It's also on Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/WeenBSidesDemosRarities

That material and much more besides can be found in this reddit post https://www.reddit.com/r/ween/comments/5shi2h/ween_unreleased_anthology_35/

I don't know, but I definitely knew some guys in college circa 1994-95 that listened to a lot of jam bands but also listened to a ton of Ween.

The Grateful Dead / ween connection was...dudes who smoked weed

Just wanted to say that White Pepper is a genius pop album

i love white pepper maybe my fave

Cat stevens is on "Gener" terms with gene ween pic.twitter.com/hyLmq7Vxaj

— josh 'Letterman' (oldfriend99) (@oldfriend99) August 10, 2017

<3

I haven't listened to any Ween studio albums in a while, but I just listened to Quebec and I'm both stunned at how fucking great it is and irritated that they couldn't keep it going for a few more albums. I think everything they were aiming for they found right here. Now I'm looking on RYM and it's their highest rated (3.93) - when did that happen!?

Yeah, I don't know if I can offer any further info on the why of it, but Quebec has really quietly turned into a consistent fan favorite over the last five or so years.

Speaking of Ween (glad you bumped this thread today frogbs, they've been on my mind what with Deaner's bday), is there any sort of attempted comprehensive list of the stylistic homages they do to other bands on the internet? There's quite a few reddit threads dedicated to the idea, but none that seem all encompassing.

Don't forget to pair Quebec with era-appropriate B-sides (ooh va la & mountains and buffalo) and the Caesar demos

Quebec is easily my favorite. It is the deepest and most of the songs are about Heavy Shit. I wish they had made the soft rock album that I know they had in them. Your Party is my favorite from Cucaracha.

I wonder if the release of the Caesar demos has something to do with its re-evaluation. As good as the album is I do wish they found a place for those 2 B-sides at least. Ooh Va La was my favorite track on it for a while (but it's only on the Japanese version that I had to download)

I've seen the rumour crop up that supposedly those demos being leaked was a source of disgruntlement between the two of them

Your Party is my favorite from Cucaracha.

― Cow_Art, Tuesday, September 29, 2020 11:40 AM (thirty-six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

'Your Party' has become one of my favorites, period. It never fails to slay me with its normcore decadence.

yeah I think Gene was not happy that it leaked. iirc he didn't really want to do the Shinola album either and is probably the reason why they didn't release more of them. its too bad because they have some insanely good B-sides. I think The Mollusk is one of the best albums ever but even still it's fucking insane that "Kim Smoltz" was left off of it, even crazier that it never came out in any real form whatsoever. lotta bands would kill to write a song as good as that.

“Mountains” could be a super furry animals tune

Mangoiy woman

I had to hard reset my phone to get this to stop playing. Lmao

https://i.imgur.com/VCjJIC3.jpg

I saw them in LA last night for my first post-pandemic concert and it fucking ruled. I was slightly annoyed about how much I paid for the tickets but it was 100% worth it.

I see they’re doing “From the Beginning” by ELP now which is awesome

The few recent set lists I’ve seen have been incredible. They just have so many amazing deep cuts to choose from

Are they purely a nostalgia act now? I want a new album, goddammit!!

Not a nostalgia act, more a 'professional' live act for some great jobbing musicians. I doubt there will ever be another record. Not even sure they can be bothered to release archival stuff.

There was an attempt at an album circa 2010 wasn't there? Wonder why coming up with something new is such a dead end for them

I assume that they don't gel as songwriters anymore and when they're not making money off of touring they're spending time with their respective families. Aaron's solo stuff is really good, Mickey's is crap.

Armchair analysis -- I always assumed Aaron doesn't want to inhabit the mind of Gener fully enough to write material because that's a short hop to relapse. Performing older material is risky enough.

yea Aaron's solo album is better than the two Mickey did but I think they're both missing what the other brings

Why Dean And Gene Are The Weirdo Lennon & McCartney

https://thequietus.com/articles/30826-ween

That was a great start to the article, but this is how I learn that portions of Quietus are paywalled now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0VACUzXIck

lol

https://i.imgur.com/p1KTfxG.jpg

Live at Stubbs version of that is so good

Maybe their best song ever I think.

Aww, good luck Deaner.

For the majority of my life I have been blessed enough to have a career doing the thing that I love the most. This privilege has never been lost on me. The fact that the music reaches other people and means so much to them is something that I never take for granted, and for which I am truly grateful, all of the time, every time we perform. At this moment in time though I need to step away from performing live in order to preserve my mental and spiritual well being, and instead focus on myself and loved ones. I know this will come as a disappointment and with great inconvenience to many people who bought tickets and made travel plans, and for this I sincerely apologize. I look forward to returning to the stage with the enthusiasm, joy, and renewed sense of inspiration that our fans deserve, and that I require of myself when we play live. Thank you and god bless.

that's like the exact message Gene posted before he went to rehab. hope he's okay and recovers soon.

I wonder what the story is
Funny that Ween is giving the same “stepping down to spend time with my family” line that corporate bigwigs use

I wonder what the story is

probably exactly what he says

if this is Dean getting clean, then perhaps it would allow for re-energized touring for both the principals/the band, assuming that their limited runs since reforming were designed to protect Gener. sounds like they’re even axing the massive* Chocolate & Cheese anniversary show, given the note about travel plans for punters, which would otherwise have been worth keeping booked as a potential triumphant return. good luck Mickey!

* 14,000 capacity, vs the 2800 theatre they were playing here this year (and sold out in 20 mins)

i just listened to Ween for the first time the other day per a friend's recommendation, it was nice! i think the album started with an M.

The molusk. The typical starting point, it's very easy to love

how dopey that i just have no idea who this band is that seems to have quite a following

but yeah they sounded great in the sun, i couldn't place like when the music was from

Their following has definitely gotten bigger since they were initially a band which is interesting but also their music is nearly tailor made for guys that spend too much time on the internet. I saw them in 2004 at a 1500 person venue that probably wasn’t sold out for 20 or 25 bucks…when they come around now they usually sell out a 5k capacity space and tickets are like 65 dollars or something insane.

yeah it's kind of weird, the record store guy says a lot of young people look for them including some who probably weren't alive when their last album came out. idk what explains that, can't just be Spongebob. I mean its cool though they deserve the attention

i would see them tbh. what's a typical price for a ticket in general these days? also ugh who is Spongebob?? why am i a 40 yr old mom.

haha spongebob squarepants is this show from after my time that, like, that whole generation loves. idk if there's even an equivalent from my era. i guess like animaniacs? maybe? but way bigger and more popular. you never see animaniacs memes except for the ones about prince.

o wait i totally know that Spongebob (i love himmmm) - i just thought there was a new one like a rapper or something lol

Ween are squarely in the young neurodivergent/queer music nerd canon that's swept up Cardiacs as a legacy band and which makes up most of my online social circle these days. Even I've had to admit that Quebec is a masterpiece

Surprising as I've always thought there was a very distinct frat boy element to Ween.

there totally is, bro city

It's (by far) their least attractive aspect.

We used to go see them a lot in the late 90s, early 2000s. It was funny to see the crowds shift after phish covered roses for free. Before it was definitely a more punk scene

There is no greater joy than rolling up in the middle school carpool line and seeing your child’s stricken face as she realizes that you are blasting Poopship Destroyer turned up to 11.

Ween crowds always seem to be an interesting assortment of weirdos. there's definitely a fratboy element to it but you can't really generalize with these folks. which makes sense because I do think they have wide appeal. I mean musically they're all over the map but as people I think they're pretty easy to identify with, like you can clearly track the way their lives and attitudes and how the very nature of their friendship changed from one album to the next and there's something very real about that. one of those bands where you kind of feel like you know them.

If anyone was around in ye olde ween.net forum days it was definitely more of an internet druggie and/or edgelord vibe than anything fratboy or jam band related.

I think I saw them at Tramps once in NYC it must’ve been 1996. They played a lot of songs I didn’t know too well. I mostly only fuck with the first three: GWS, The Pod and Pure Guava.

I feel like Chocolate and Cheese was their frat heyday. Stoned dudes in dorms … “he was head honcho with the ladies…”

C&C vinyl was sold out at the 3 places I looked, pretty wild given the high price point. have heard a lot of good things about the sound quality and bonus material though, it's def nice to see some high quality pressings out there finally. really irritates me that Plain handled most of their catalogue before, like I've got a copy of The Mollusk which is going for $165 minimum on discogs right now and guess what it sounds like garbage

grrrrr Plain

they just canceled three (huge, sold out, hotly anticipated) shows in the PNW, hope our dudes are OK

also frogbs u should sell that shit ASAP lol

Yeah I picked up that reissue, but just couldn't do it at that price point. Too bad this couldn't have happened 10 years ago when it also would have gotten a 2xCD version.

They just cancelled Portland / Seattle / Eugene shows that were set for the next few days.

Whoops, sleeve posted it already, whoops

ha no prob

also frogbs u should sell that shit ASAP lol

― I painted my teeth (sleeve), Thursday, August 8, 2024 3:56 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

I've got a White Pepper which is also apparently worth over 100 (bought for $19.99 a couple years ago, lol), maybe I'll offer them up in the Ween FB group for $80 apiece or something. you'd think they'd get a repress given The Pod and C&C did but god, you never fuckin know with these guys. I mean look what's going on with them now, seems like all is not right in the Ween camp, hard to tell if it's just someone getting Covid or some real shit (it's been rumored that Dean is battling the same demons Gene was) but the fact that they aren't saying anything does make me worry

Ugh, yeah, hope they are doing alright.

Aaron posted a message somewhere saying that he’s gotten a lot of concerned messages and he wants people to know that he is okay and also very disappointed in the cancelled shows.

I picked up the C&C reissue but haven’t spent time with it yet. They were cranking out so much gold at this point, any unreleased stuff is great.

that whole 94-03 run really, I mean imagine reissues of Mollusk or Quebec with 40 minutes of bonus material

There is a ton of stuff out there, circulating. It would be great to have some of it curated and cleaned up.

A b-sides collection would be great. Maybe that’s why that sort of stuff wasn’t included with the reissue.

I think Deaner once said he wasn't open to doing a Shinola Vol. 2 because the first one was a lot more labor intensive than he thought and he's not a fan of mining his own archives and instead likes to move forward. wonder if that's changed now that they aren't really making new music anymore. would be nice, I know "how on Earth did this song not make the cut while that one is" is a question you ask of a lot of bands but it especially applies to Ween

Best thing about this anniversary reissue is that in my country it has finally unblocked C&C to stream on spotify.

haven't relistened to it in a while but I remember last time I did I was blown away by how slow Take Me Away seemed after being so used to the Live in Chicago version. if it was on vinyl I probably would have gotten up to check the pitch slider. similar thing happened with King Crimson's Elephant Talk

Ugh, hoping for the best for Deaner.

It is with sincere regret and heavy hearts that Ween must make the decision to step away from the stage for the foreseeable future. This includes next month’s sold-out Chocolate and Cheese 25th Anniversary show at the Mann Music Center in Philadelphia. Despite three great shows this summer, it’s become clear that touring and performing is too taxing on Deaner’s mental health to continue. As always, we thank you for the love, dedication and ongoing support.

- Ween

yeah i had a feeling something bad was going on behind the scenes. kinda passive-aggressive wording there too. hope he's gonna be alright. fwiw I do know Deaner's talked many times in the past about how he never wanted to just be some touring act but that's exactly what they are now. like I'm pretty sure there's an interview where he once said he'd rather the band break up than do these kinds of anniversary shows.

which is totally fair, and I know it brings another set of stressors and challenges and is easier said than done, but there is one weird trick to not just be a touring anniversary show, which would be to also make a new Ween record!

yeah the fact that they haven't recorded anything at all suggests their relationship is kinda shit. I mean the long and short of it is Gene/Dean solo shows would get like 100 people while Ween still draws a huge crowd

Ween draws a much bigger crowd now than they ever have -- they were still playing 1500-2000 capacity venues a couple years before the hiatus, but now they're more like a 5k-10k band (and will sell out!).

the local record store dude remarks on it a lot, a ton of young folks come in asking for Ween records, he apparently sold all 6 copies of the C&C reissue in 30 minutes despite the high price point. I'm not sure why that is either. Ween rule of course but so do a lot of bands. must be the Spongebob effect.

Gener and Deaner are the proto-memers. If ever there was a band for teenage Gen Z'ers, Ween is it (but yes spongebob helps)

It did seem a bit pricey but even the Plain reissues were going for a grip, this has a whole album of "studio" outtakes (they haven't really done that ever, just live right?) and much more legit mastering (which like who cares right, but a lot of people are down on Plain reissues generally speaking).

"or what"

― some dude, Tuesday, May 29, 2012 6:56 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lol i came in here to post this again

― some dude, Monday, February 15, 2016 10:49 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

THREEPEAT

hopefully the other LPs get deluxe reissues too, there's just so much great non album material out there, probably a bunch we don't even know about.

absolutely, would love a Pure Guava deluxe. also, glad that the bonus stuff is on the streaming version.

just got the White Pepper reissue. if you have the Plain Records one you know how bad it sucks. it's flat, lifeless, and kinda noisy to boot. this one cranks the bass levels up to a kinda absurd degree..."Pandy Fackler" for instance doesn't really need to sound like that...but it's miles ahead of the Plain. "Stay Forever"...what a tune

(also, as someone who watches a lot of Spongebob with my daughter...there are definitely some Spongebob vibes on this album...obviously not as much as The Mollusk...but it's there)

sad lol: looks like another live set called "Bad Day in Brownsville" was just released on YouTube, and then suddenly pulled, possibly because of this:

https://www.actionnews5.com/2026/05/11/not-satisfied-until-people-who-did-this-are-brought-justice-brownsville-mayor-responds-mass-shooting/

That's not a live set. Appears to be an expanded reissue of 12 Golden Country greats!

https://glidemagazine.com/325555/weens-12-golden-country-greats-gets-30th-anniversary-3-lp-reissue-with-previously-unreleased-material/

Oh man, I hope they do this with all of their albums. They have so much good stuff in the can.

I have the White Pepper reissue but I haven't had a chance to listen to it. It's a pretty bass heavy album to begin with, especially on "Exactly Where I'm At."

It's a good time to be a Ween fan! There's also the Ween in Europe rsd thing that came out.

I'd like to see the pod and pure guava get the deluxe treatment.

Apropos of nothing, "Fluffy" is my favorite Ween song right now.

yea it's crazy they probably could've done 3 more great albums between '95 and '03 with the amount of material they have, so much of that deserves to see the light of day. apparently the recent reissues of White Pepper and quebec were just to get them out there at affordable prices, so there may be a deluxe of those coming at some point. the fact that Mollusk was not included hints that that'll be the next one.

also kind of interesting that they've been doing all this archival stuff but thus far I don't think there's a single release from their 2016-2025 'reunion' shows?

I am so glad they are bringing this one out on CD too! was so bummed they didn't for Chocolate and Cheese. I mean, the bonus stuff is cool, but not $70 worth of cool!

Would love a Brown Box style reissue of all the live stuff

^^ otm

Ween Fan Fiction: Deaner got sober after the last cancelled tour and him and Gener are going to lock themselves in a cabin and record a new album and then tour it as a duo with a tape deck and they live happily ever after.