Day 7: August 16th, 2011
12 Golden Country Greats
4:32 PM
“I’m Holding You”
What the fucking fuck? Is this Ween just saying “You know what, we’re gonna make an album of classic country songs to show you that we aren’t total children and actually understand how to make music?” There’s like, absolutely nothing weird about this other than the fact that this band’s last album had a utterly distasteful songs about HIV, Spinal Meningitis, and stinkin’ ass hos. Given they recruited a bunch of famous Nashville people, this sounds like the real deal. It’s good, yet the Weenness feels totally absent.
“Piss Up a Rope”
Oh wait, there’s the brown sound. “On your knees you big booty bitch, start suckin’/ you ride my ass like a horse in a saddle.” Nice! And then it only gets worse. Like genuine comedy worse. It’s kind of an inspired move. Lull the folks at home with a couple of standard sounding numbers up front and then piss in their mouths. Nice nice nice! A perfect country music parody. A shining moment for Deaner!
“I Don’t Wanna Leave You On the Farm”
And there’s the old standard Ween-y number that’s also got a sweet side to it. God, the singing is really good on this album. Amazing. Who knew!
“Powder Blue”
This album sounds like it was pretty fun to make. A fun little genre exercise that could have just been a one and done track but it’s way funnier as a whole album. Also, that Muhammed Ali sample is hilarious.
Day 8: August 17th, 2011
5:36 PM
“Mister Richard Smoker”
The awful AllMusic.com review of this album (which spends the whole time decrying how Ween think they are “above” the country & western genre but good god, all they do is make fun of shit don’t you get that duh!) says that this song is “homophobic” but I mean, it’s obvious that if you’re going to do a tribute/send-up to country music you gotta have one song that’s addresses the homophobia most country music culture seems to embody these days. Also, referring to a homosexual as a “poopy poker” seems to basically be a way of saying “we’re just fucking around lighten up goddamn.”
“You Were the Fool”
This is really good. Like legitimately good country music. I really wonder what Ween fans thought of this album. Did they hate it? Were they the people that said “any music but country” when people asked what their favorite music was (that’s a lie, they’d probably say “FUCKING WEEN BRAH”)? Fortunately the album is a brisk 33 minutes, a good fifty shorter than their albums tend to be, and I don’t think 12 Golden Country Greats ever overstays its welcome. It’s a fun project that’s seems like a novelty in idea but a damn fine record in execution. It’s Ween illustrating that they can be serious musicians and goofball pranksters at the same damn time.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Thrill of Discovery: Ween - Part Five
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I heard Ween describe in a radio interview waaaay back when they were touring for The Mollusk the reasons behind doing a country album. They basically said that the crowds at their shows were getting to be comprised of too many douche bags, and they thought doing a country album would thin the heard & leave only their "true fans". Of course, it's hard to know whether or not they were joking when they said that... but it seems a pretty reasonable (and Ween like) explanation.
ReplyDeleteyes! I find it to be chock full of well-written songs that I like a lot. It might be lacking in "weenness", but it's still a nice way to prove their skills.
ReplyDeleteI DO remember when it came out and that there was some backlash against the band. I think they anticipated it and were pleased that the douche bags weren't into it (Adelle the Great is right).
Is it me, or does it seem like Ween puts out a weird album every now and then specifically to cleanse the douche bags out? They did that one album that sounded a lot like XTC (I forget the name now, was it Pepper?). I liked the album, but some of my friends thought it was too new wavy or something. Oh well.