THE MOLLUSK   -   Ween

YEAR:  1997
LABEL:  Elektra
TRACK LISTING:  I'm Dancing in the Show Tonight,  The Mollusk,  Polka Dot Tail,  I'll Be Your Jonny On the Spot,  Mutilated Lips,  The Blarney Stone,  It's Gonna Be (Alright),  The Golden Eel,  Cold Blows the Wind,  Pink Eye (On My Leg),  Waving My Dick In the Wind,  Buckingham Green,  Ocean Man,  She Wanted To Leave/(Reprise)
IMPRESSIONS:  It's hard to decide which Ween album is my favourite but this is definitely in the running.  I've always had a great fondness for this album; I don't know if its because of the heavily (but not completely) "oceany" theme of it which makes me feel like I'm in an episode of "SIGMUND & THE SEA MONSTERS" but Dean Ween himself says:  "I will say that the only record that I ever felt really confident about was The Mollusk. That's my favorite record we've ever done".  As usual, the album contains almost a different musical genre per song from the folky murder ballad "Cold Blows the Wind" to the cod Ozzy Osbourne pastiche "Buckingham Green" to the aquatic bubbly title track. 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  I'm Dancing In the Show Tonight,  The Mollusk,  I'll Be Your Jonny On the Spot,  Mutilated Lips,  It's Gonna Be (Alright),  Cold Blows the Wind,  Pink Eye (On My Leg),  Waving My Dick In the Wind,  Buckingham Green,  Ocean Man,  She Wanted To Leave/(Reprise)
FACT SHEET:  THE MOLLUSK is Ween's sixth album.  It is a partial concept album with most of the songs featuring an "aquatic" theme.  Following 1994's "CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE" album, Ween wanted to go back to recording the way they used to at home.  So, they gathered their recording equipment and toted it all to a beach house in Holgate, NJ which promptly flooded due to a burst water pipe.  After nearly losing their gear and recorded takes from THE MOLLUSK sessions, Ween put the album on hold and went to Nashville to record their "12 GOLDEN COUNTRY GREATS" which they subsequently released in 1996.  After touring that album, Ween returned to work on "THE MOLLUSK" and released it finally in 1997.  "THE MOLLUSK" was nominated for an "Album of the Year" Penguin Award and "Buckingham Green" was nominated for "Song of the Year".

CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE - Ween

YEAR: 1994

LABEL: Elektra

TRACK LISTING: Take Me Away, Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Freedom of '76, I Can't Put My Finger On It, A Tear For Eddie, Roses Are Free, Baby Bitch, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Drifter In the Dark, Voodoo Lady, Joppa Road, Candi, Buenas Tardes Amigo, The HIV Song, What Deaner Was Talkin' About, Don't Shit Where You Eat

IMPRESSIONS: I don't shock easily. It takes a lot to make my jaw drop. But when Cheeks first put "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)" on a Cerpts Tape, that did it. Along with the rest of the CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE album, I was soon in love with the warped humour and monster hooks of Gene and Dean Ween. Purists may scoff but Ween trod the same musical territory as Frank Zappa; that is, with the whole "does humour belong in music" debate. Ween, in their poppy way, was asking the same question as Zappa did in his rock/jazz/classical music way. They write really good lyrics (whether witty or deliberately coarse) and superb music. This is probably why every radio DJ loves Ween; they're fun and rewarding to play. Also their ability to parody the musical styles of well-established artists is uncanny. Here on this very album they nail 1970's Sound of Philadelphia soul, Paisley Park-era Prince, Roger Milleresque country (to be fully explored on their next all-country/western album), spacey soft rock (to be fully explored on their WHITE PEPPER album), Afropop and more. They also fearlessly walk the line of bad taste from the jaunty cheerfulness of "The HIV Song" to the unbelieveably creepy "Spinal Meningitis". Frank Zappa proved that humour does belong in music and one can make very good music doing it; Ween is merely showing that the great Frank was right. In fact, the tribute song "A Tear For Eddie" sounds very much like some of the quiet Zappa guitar instrumentals like "Watermelon In Easter Hay".

MY FAVOURITE TRACKS: Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down), Freedom of '76, A Tear For Eddie, Roses Are Free, Baby Bitch, Mister Would You Please Help My Pony?, Drifter In the Dark, Voodoo Lady, Buenas Tardes Amigo

FACT SHEET: CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE is Ween's fourth album and their first recorded in a professional recording studio; their first three were done on home recordings using only a four-track. As usual, almost all the instruments are played by Dean & Gene. The album was dedicated to comic actor John Candy who died while the album was in production. "A Tear For Eddie" is a melancholy guitar song written for psychedelic funk guitar pioneer Eddie Hazel who died in 1992. In an 2011 interview, Gene Ween insisted that "Buenas Tardes Amigo" was inspired by a Sesame Street Spanish lesson. The album cover was originally supposed to have a "gay sailor theme" but the label thought it would be politically incorrect so the boys changed it to the (equally politically incorrect but apparently alright with the record label) headless torso of model Ashley Savage -- which is in itself a biting comic statement against the selective PCness of the label. The cover itself is also an homage to the Commodores' 1982 album cover for "ALL THE GREAT HITS".