Ween "quebec"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by nashreed, Jul 28, 2003.

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  1. nashreed

    nashreed New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    I hope there are a few Ween fans here, but moreover hopefully some NEW fans soon!

    The new Ween CD "quebec" comes out next Tuesday. I am very happy to have a copy already and have played it twice- beginning to end. I don't want to spoil anything for the fans yet, but it is GENIUS! The last track FLOORED me- I was stunned. That never happens anymore (and I hear a lot of new music (unfortunately...)!)

    IMO Ween are some of the most talented, creative musicians around today. They can truly do ANY type of music and have "grown-up" so to speak from their beginnings as kind of a jokey-offensive novelty to truly amazing artists. Their live shows are astounding!

    I wouldn't make the Gorts look at the start of a new thread if I didn't think this album is a major treasure. To the mainstream music-buying public, this album will sink without a trace (they're on BMG-distributed Sanctuary)- as this is a very hard album to market- because it's so incredibly brilliant (un-commercial).

    Before this thread gets lost in the ether- just remember: new Ween CD Aug. 5. Buy it! Listen to it start to finish. Be in awe. (And please keep this thread alive with comments- good or bad- Ween deserve to be heard!)


    James
     
  2. chrischross

    chrischross New Member

    Location:
    Vancouver, WA
    James -- you're not known as one who hypes something unnecessarily, so I'll definitely take your word for it. I'm just finally discovering Ween (where have I been??) after being distracted by too many target CD's:p

    Thanks for the heads up.
     
  3. JWB

    JWB New Member

    I saw Ween on 1/30/98 in Philly and they were AMAZING! The most fun I've ever had at a concert.

    I can't wait to hear the new record. :thumbsup:
     
  4. LarryDavenport

    LarryDavenport New Member

    Location:
    Seattle, WA, USA
    I hope it grabs me more than White Pepper. I loved Chocalate & Cheese, the Mollusk, and God Ween Satan, but White Pepper just seemed bland by comparison.

    I hope they have a new live album for Xmas!
     
  5. Leppo

    Leppo Forum Librarian

    pure guava was the one that introduced me to ween.
    also, caught 'em on that tour and totally enjoyed.
    look forward to checking out their new material.
    thanks for review!
     
  6. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    I've heard lots of good things about the album. Can't wait to pick it up next week. I've heard some of the songs from live recordings and they're pretty good. A truly underrated band.
     
  7. nashreed

    nashreed New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK

    :confused:
    You're welcome, but I purposely DIDN'T review it- You shouldn't know anything about it before listening to it. It's fun to be surprised.

    Before "Chocolate & Cheese" (which is the first album I got by them) there was some good ideas on their CD's- and a bunch of really good songs, but also a lot of junk that was weird just to be annoying. "Pure Guava" for example, has some excellent songs ("Push Th' Little Daises", "Don't Get 2 Close 2 My Fantasy") but I can't listen to "Mourning Glory" at all, and several other tracks haven't much going for 'em. Every album since has been genius!, though there were still a few songs that were not bad, but just profane or trying to be funny just to be funny.
    I personally love "White Pepper" for the "straight" songs like "Stay Forever". The peerless musicianship and songwriting had finally ursurped the urge to be silly and dirty. In a better world, it should have been an adult-alternative smash.
    "quebec" is the first Ween CD to NOT have a PA sticker! Every track has a purpose. The hooks and ideas are just overflowing!

    James
     
  8. nashreed

    nashreed New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK
    DON'T FORGET that Ween "quebec" is out today!!! Check it out, you won't be sorry!!!!! (promise :agree: )


    James
     
  9. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    I really like it. I have a lot of live shows on CD and I'm used to the more raw, ragged sound from those shows. Quebec is mellow in spots, but the trademark rawness is there in other tracks. I love the arrangements/production: each song sounds 'right.'

    I think my favorite track is the last one: If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)
     
  10. JWB

    JWB New Member

    So far, I'm having a hard time digesting it. They sound more drug-addled than ever.

    The opening song is as generic a rocker as they've ever done.

    "So Many People" is classic, Pod-style Ween.

    The spaced out songs are really, really good..."Captain"....."Zoloft"

    Why does every Ween album have a vaudeville song on it? ("Fancy Pants") It's really starting to get old! :rolleyes:

    The rest of the album is laid back and acoustic, and I'm desperately trying to digest the songs more so I can tell them apart! :D
     
  11. JWB

    JWB New Member

    James -

    It does have a PA warning. This time it's a sticker on the shrinkwrap!
     
  12. nashreed

    nashreed New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Tulsa, OK

    Yeah- it sure does. My copy came unsealed (promo). I don't think it really needs one for one "****" and the line "I came in your mouth" :eek: . I think it's just a ploy to try to sell more CD's to the "potty-mouth" -era Ween fans. My other favorite album of the year (Blur "Think Tank") also have an unnecessary one.

    You really can't tell the songs apart? I think they're very distinctive except for maybe the two songs right before the last song- which (did I mention) FLOORED me!
    The sound isn't the greatest. It's their worst sounding CD since (the home-recorded) "Pure Guava". Not even Ween is safe from compression depression.

    James
     
  13. JWB

    JWB New Member

    Not on first listen. I'm sure I'll get used to the songs eventually.

    "Don't **** Where You Eat" never struck me as a particularly good song. Then one day I heard it and I just went - WOW, ****! Now it's one of my favorites.
     
  14. Leppo

    Leppo Forum Librarian

  15. Rafter242

    Rafter242 Active Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I Love Ween!!!!

    Completing thier discography on vinyl is a daunting and very expensive task as much of it is very limited edition. (I do have 8 of them) (still need Mullosk and Country Greats....anyone?)

    I have not heard the new release as I ordered the vinyl from Germany and am still waiting by the mailbox. I just got tired of buying new cds and then rebuying the vinyl issue a month later. (another possible thread...)

    Mark P.
     
  16. Rafter242

    Rafter242 Active Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    I feel the same, I have come to expect to be amazed and the new one didn't even get my pulse going. Almost like they were trying to be like Ween with songs like Zoloft. I am hoping that it will grow on me, but I am a little let down.

    Mark P.
     
  17. JWB

    JWB New Member

    The more I listen, the more I like it.

    I still think the first song is horrible.
     
  18. Rafter242

    Rafter242 Active Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Obviously not a fan of Motorhead, as that first song (which I find to be a highlight) is a direct Motorhead tribute.
     
  19. JWB

    JWB New Member

    That clarifies things somewhat.
     
  20. Mike Dow

    Mike Dow I kind of like the music

    Location:
    Bangor, Maine
    You talked me into it. I will look for "Quebec" today. I love the Phish version of their song "Roses Are Free"--I guess I need to check these guys out. :)
     
  21. GregY

    GregY New Member

    Location:
    .
    While Quebec may be just as good a starting point, Chocolate and Cheese has "Roses Are Free" on it and is probably the best place to start (arguably.)
     
  22. Beatnik_Daddyo'73

    Beatnik_Daddyo'73 Music Addiction Personified

    ....just put together an "alternate-quebec" or "Ween-Caesar" using the rehearsals, demos, etc.. has a nice flow to it.

    1- Eulogy for David Anderson
    2- Things You Already Know
    3- Ooh Vah Lah (my favorite non-album track.)
    4- Happy Colored Marbles (so twisted, I love it. My favorite album track.)
    5- Captain (....space.)
    6- That Man (from The Flat Land)
    7- Mountains & Buffalo
    8- The F**ked Jam (...I know, but it has an infectious groove dammit!)
    9- Ambrosia Parsley (the perfect follow to the F**ked Jam)
    10- The Argus
    11- The Argus (Part 2)
    12- So Many People In The Neighborhood
    13- Tried & True
    14- I'm Wide Open (...Deaner's geetar :uhhuh:)
    15- Ooh Vah Lah (Take 2) (....this here's what they call a "Brain F**k" would have fit nicely on the POD)
    16- Chocolate Town
    17- Transdermal Celebration
    18- Pot Luck
    19- Love Come Down (9-11-01)
    20- I Don't Want It
    21- Zoloft
    22- You Can Go Shi* In Your Hat (Matt) (....perfect closer)
     
  23. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    I love Quebec the way it is, but would definitely give that a spin.
     
  24. Beatnik_Daddyo'73

    Beatnik_Daddyo'73 Music Addiction Personified

    ....same here Sid. I just wanted some of my favorite non-album tracks mixed in. It's def. not a replacement. quebec is near the top of my WEEN list as is.
     
  25. lil.fred

    lil.fred Señor Sock

    Location:
    The East Bay
    Did someone say Quebec? (Sure, two years ago.) I want to post my findings as I sit here with all its incarnations around me.

    The CD (2003), as you know, sounds good but is remarkably compressed. Ween were very interested in audio quality, but I doubt Sanctuary Records gave them the same latitude Elektra had been doing. I always hankered after a less compressed Quebec. I can't tell if there is any difference in mastering between the Japan CD and the others. Japan bonus track "Ooh Va La" is indispensable but perhaps doesn't make the best end to the album -- "If You Could Save Yourself" was just right.

    The original vinyl (2003, Sanctuary) is expensive to acquire now. The package is really beautiful, the paper is glossy and the colors eye-popping. I was disappointed to find I didn't prefer its sound to the CD. In fact, if I were to guess I'd say it was mastered from the CD masters. There is a lot of ... is there such a thing as "glare"?

    The newer reissue (2015?, Schnitzel) actually sounds better, in a way. When I ordered this through Amazon, I thought it would be on Chocodog label, but it's on Schnitzel, which I thought was the European distributor for Ween's Chocodog material. (The Schnitzel set is also branded "MVD Audio.") The vinyl is quite noisy. But it sounds like there is less compression and less "glare" -- which may only be EQ after all. Absolutely no notion what the mastering source was for either vinyl set.

    In my fantasies, Neil Young takes a liking to Ween and has their records mastered for HD and sold through Pono.
     
    ytserush and Beatnik_Daddyo'73 like this.
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