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cvanepps
= Cult of Ray =
USA
442 Posts |
 Posted - 10/15/2003 : 19:21:05
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Titled "Quebec" may very well replace "The Mollusk" as their strongest release. I can't stop listening to it, there's not a dud out of all 15 tracks. Not like the last one, "White Pepper," which was filled with sappy look-at-me-I'm-a-new-father songs. Parenthood is great and everything but you gotta stick with what brought you. Just wanted to share.
-= It's not easy to kidnap a fat man =-
http://christophervanepps.iuma.com |
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Crispy Water
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
819 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2003 : 18:48:47
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Sorry about this - I haven't heard Quebec and I'm not exactly all that familiar with the band, but I saw them last week and they kicked ass. Big time. Like, to the point where I want to start getting into them.
Nothing is ever something. |
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Carolynanna
>> Denizen of the Citizens Band <<
Canada
6556 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2003 : 08:14:34
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| and still no drink..... |
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the swimmer
* Dog in the Sand *
USA
1602 Posts |
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FrequencyOfGlow
- FB Fan -
USA
157 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2003 : 11:04:37
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cvaneppes, perhaps we both enjoy ween for diametrically opposed reasons, because I would say that Quebec replaces The Mollusk as their crappiest release. I was wholly let down.
I like that lemur, I lick it. That's velvety! |
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cvanepps
= Cult of Ray =
USA
442 Posts |
Posted - 10/17/2003 : 11:31:43
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Freq, sorry to hear that.
I guess I like Ween records that are directly on the edge of mainstream rock but at the same time, incorporate their special brand of wackiness. The Mollusk was in that place. So is Quebec. White Pepper was practically a pop record. Stroker Ace, Exactly Where I'm At, and Pandy Fackler were that record's only saving grace.
On the other side of the coin (the wacky side) we have Chocolate and Cheese, God-Ween-Satan, The Pod, Pure Guava, 12 Country Greats; all with very strong tracks, some of which venture into that mainstream/wacky zone...but not like Mollusk and Quebec. On a more subtle note, you can really track the songwriting imporvement with each new release.
Thank Christ for bands like Dead Milkmen, Butthole Surfers, Agent Orange, Dead Kennedys, B-52s and all the other true alternative bands from the 80s (not like REM or U2, who liked to claim they were alternative) for without them, we wouldn't have Ween. But then, I suppose we should thank Frank Zappa...for without him, there wouldn't have been any of those bands I mentioned.
Also, sorry about the double topic. I guess I was kind of late in purchasing it (by a month!!) Some fan I am. 
-= It's not easy to kidnap a fat man =-
http://christophervanepps.iuma.com |
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TarTar
* Dog in the Sand *
1965 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2003 : 20:50:44
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| quebec (remember that it is lower case) is perhaps Ween's strongest record ever. It has the zaniness/quirkiness/wackiness of The Pod and Pure Guava, which many Ween diehards consider as the ultimate Ween records, but is more focused and polish than either of those records. It isn't nearly as jokey as Chocolate and Cheese, which is a great record to show first time listeners, but is more of a display of Ween's diversity and capabilities than actually being a truly amazing record. It's like an advertisement for Ween, and they have expanded on the songs from that record for their live performances and made them much more interesting. The Mollusk was probably the best Ween album ever, as it had a cohesive theme to it while still traveling all over the musical map, even though prog rock kept recurring on that record. They do prog rock very well, and quebec is just that, too, only much more advanced in both the composition and performance than The Mollusk. Yes, White Pepper was another batch of decent songs that just didn't amount to much, and didn't really travel into bizarre, interesting territory. quebec has everything from ethereal, ambient songs like Alcan Road, Zoloft and Captain to epic numbers like The Argus and If You Could Save Yourself. There's the filthy hard punk clamor of It's Gonna Be A Long Night, as well as the arena rock of Transdermal Celebration. And there are a couple of complete goof songs like Happy Colored Marbles and So Many People in the Neighborhood that represent a style of Ween that hasn't surfaced since Pure Guava. This style is basically throwaway songs that, in Ween's hands, somehow become amazing. Yes, Ween is a great band. |
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TarTar
* Dog in the Sand *
1965 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2003 : 23:01:52
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| cvanepps, what about The Grobe from White Pepper? I think that was a pretty killer track from that record, right up there with Exactly Where I'm At as far as supreme Ween songs. |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2003 : 19:08:24
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Put the noodle on the griddle.
White Pepper rules. I love every second of it. Definitely my favourite Ween record.
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cvanepps
= Cult of Ray =
USA
442 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2003 : 14:23:51
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quote:
Originally posted by TarTar
cvanepps, what about The Grobe from White Pepper? I think that was a pretty killer track from that record, right up there with Exactly Where I'm At as far as supreme Ween songs.
Yeah, I guess The Grobe is good too. And I agree with what you're saying about the boys.
quote:
Originally posted by speedy_m
White Pepper rules. I love every second of it. Definitely my favourite Ween record.
Regarding White Pepper: I really think they succumbed to pressure from the record company (or where ever) to make things more commercial and sell more records. They were even on David Letterman doing Exactly Where I'm At. Good performance, but still...David Letterman? Frank Black hasn't even been on DL (that I know of). I'm not suggesting that making an attempt to sell more records is immediately bad, but if (after 6 other albums) your fan base loves you for "XYZ," don't go giving them "ABC" and then wonder what went wrong. Check the Ween forum, I'm certainly not the only one that feels this way.
-= It's not easy to kidnap a fat man =-
http://christophervanepps.iuma.com |
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speedy_m
= Frankofile =
Canada
3581 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2003 : 20:59:07
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I think giving the fans what they want is just as suspect as attempting to deliver a more commercially viable record. Aren't they really the same thing, Chris?
Many-a cool band has appreared on DL. Recently: the New Pornographers, Yeah Yeah Yeah's and the Raveonettes.
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theonecontender
= Cult of Ray =
Canada
565 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2003 : 22:27:17
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| je suis de Quebec!!! |
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TarTar
* Dog in the Sand *
1965 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2003 : 01:21:06
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| I am one who belives that the majority of a performers fans sort of defines who that artist is, and has a significant effect and impact on how that performer writes, records and performs, with the obvious exception of the first record which can still be effected by whatever small following the band has at that time, whereas producing an effort that has the intent of being commerciably viable aims more toward being embraced by a market that has a face which is blurred by the almighty dollar (okay, so the face would be George Washington, or more suitably, tha Benjamin), so I think that giving the fans what they want, especially in a cult situation, has a much more personal or individual intent than creating a work of art for the masses. Just my opinion. |
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Cult_Of_Frank
= Black Noise Maker =
Canada
11687 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2003 : 07:50:26
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See, my take on it is that the artist has to do what they want to do. Making an album based on what you think your fans will like is no better than making an album specifically to draw in new people.
Music is expression, and making music for people instead of for yourself is the equivalent of a politian who believes one thing and says another - give the people what the want, not what you believe in. It's garbage.
So, I disagree with a few of you. If Ween was moving their sound specifically to sell more records, that's reprehensible. And what's the difference between making a record to sell to the masses or to sell to people who've bought their previous albums? Nothing.
If they did it because they're growing up or evolving or shifting as artists, than either you remain a fan or you don't. I don't think Ween are really the sell-out type (Where'd The Mother-f'n Cheese Go?), so obviously they're at least exploring if not moving in a new direction. I think that's great.
 "Join the Cult of Frank / And you'll be enlightened" |
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TarTar
* Dog in the Sand *
1965 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2003 : 09:37:43
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| I'm pretty convinced that Ween will never sell out, even though they themselves have said they sold-out on several occasions. For years they said that they would have officially sold out when they had female back up singers on a record, and what did Bananas and Blow from White Pepper have? But it's all just Ween having fun. What's funny is that Ween are such solid songwriters that if they wanted to write a hit song, they could, one that was commercially accessible. Some songs could have probably been embraced by the popular radio if they'd been given proper marketing and promotion, but it's kinda hard with genre hoppers like Ween to get placed in the proper spot. Think what was popular amongst the kiddies in mid-2000. Limp Bizkit, Sysco, Dynamite Hack's folky "Boyz N Tha Hood" cover, Papa Roach, Britney, Christina. Ween had Even if You Don't released at that time, which wasn't rap metal, r & b, or teeny bopper pop. It just was not going to find a place on "alternative" radio or MTV, even though it was a much stronger song than anything out at the time (not that that's a big accomplishment). But say that Stay Forever had been given to adult contemporary radio at the time. I think it could have fit nicely in with all that other crap. But who the hell wants to see that happen anyway? Though it'd be funny when all those middle America house wives picked up White Pepper and heard Bananas and Blow, Stroker Ace, The Grobe, and Pandy Fackler. But I think that if a Ween song were placed in the proper place, they could have plenty of hits. Let's just hope that never happens. |
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