Customer Reviews

The Freed Weed

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The first time I listened to these albums (they were released seperately on LP) I hated every song but one. More than a decade since, I put my CD on 'repeat' whenever I get in a Freed Weed mood. Fans of pure songwriting will most definitely be influenced subconsciously and might start thinking this is the best pop rock album ever made !?! P.S. Listen to 'Poledo' on Dinosaur (Jr's) "You're Living All Over Me"

I've looked at most of the reviews of the other Sebadoh records and there's at least one for each that proclaims "this is the best Sebadoh album." Well, mine will be that review for the Freed Weed. It's the best. The purest songs. Lou, the self-described "folk terrorist" who wanted to "say things that made people uncomfortable...to the point where it wasn't cool anymore," he's in the zone. Just listen to Whitey Peach and Mr. Genius Eyes a few times. You even get to hear Eric before he went completely insane - see Made Real and Bolder (not on the list above for some reason). I love all their records but this one is my favorite.

I don't know why "Ladybugs" and "Healthy Sick" (two of my faves from "the Freed Man") aren't on here when they say they are...also missing is "Lou Rap" as well as all the cool in-between song noise and samples from the Freed Man. It's annoying, but this is still a gread CD.
I'm hoping the Freed Man gets the same treatment the new release of Sebadoh III got.
Smash your head on the punk rock!

This was my first ever Sebadoh record, and remains my favourite after all these years. Absolutely beautiful (and sad, and funny, and weird), it's a bit of a postmodern "Pink Moon," and perfect for fans of Lou's prettier, more acoustic stuff (like "Kath" and "Truly Great Thing"). Pick this one up if you can.

I first heard some of the songs off this album,the freed weed, on a mix tape an old girlfriend made me. I think she hated my gutsor something, but I am glad she turned me onto this band, Sebadoh. These songs are reallystrange and very badly recorded, yet they are really beautiful and catchy too. Some of the best ones here are : "i believe in fate"(apparently about a 7 yr old) and "broken" and "subtle holy gift" to name a few. But really, all these songs are really cool. Some haunting, some funny, some stupid. And "yellow submarine" is pretty epic, too. These songs will make a deep Impression on you, if you let them. Sort of like having a goofy older brother in handy CD format. Enjoy.

This is probably my favorite album ever. Amazing, beautiful, honest songs, recorded at home on 4-track or even with 2-track trickery. If most people tried this it would come out bad, but the fact that this album is so great shows you how talented Lou Barlow (and Eric Gaffney) is. One of the most personal albums I have ever heard, and was the perfect theme to my grade 12 school year. Every kid in high school should start listening to Sebadoh. It was the first time I actually started to understand what someone was saying in the lyrics, before I never really cared that much. After this album, I started buying albums for their lyrics as much as the music. It'll make you want to buy a 4-track and learn guitar. And yes, the track listing listed here is totally wrong (as far as the last half of the album goes). But of course it IS printed like that on the inside of the CD! The "Weed Forestin" part is identical to the original album, but the "Freed Man" half is quite different from the original. So don't think that you have the complete Freed Man LP if you buy this CD! Freed Man has many more songs (especially Lou songs (like 'Healthy Sick')) as well as different versions of a lot of the Eric songs! It is a must have! And so is "The Freed Weed"..

was originally only on cassette....
punch in the nose is my favorite track !
40 tracks
good deal and sometimes hard to find.....
if you don't life alternative college rock
you won't like it ! most of all tunes are acoustic !

This being the earilest works of the great indie trio known as sebadoh. The compliation here is a mixture of both weed forstein and the freed man, which were the trademark sebadoh sound before differences came about.

The music here is raw, not in a punk rock way, it's just primitive. Recorded in various basements using acoustics, minimal electronic effects and various experiments with tape, it does sound like something after a while, but it takes a couple required listens to get used to the low-finess.

Though the old sebadoh was split between Lou's neurotic songwriting and Eric's eccentric musicial style, it is more Lou then Eric doin up the albums finest tracks. Songs like Subtle Holy gift, Broken, Whitey peach, Brand new love and others get into your head and stay, the lyrics are sometimes a little too much, but that's the best part.

Eric's stuff isn't very different, just a bit more experimental then what Lou was doing. Wall of doubt, Made Real, Moldy bread, Bridge like you are all very simple but catchy and inspired.

Only drawback to me at least is the lack of eric's (and loobies) crazier works from the Freed man, Wall of doubt is remixed(?) on his one and Little man rears his ugly head.

Okay, quite simply put - I bought this CD specifically to listen to Healthy Sick - paid the DHL shipping, waited, finally got the CD. Guess what folks? No Healthy Sick on this CD. Never mind the track listing above. I complained to Amazon, and they said they'd fix the title listing - well - they haven't. And I *still* want Healthy Sick - and I can't find it. That's all. Not a review as much as a warning.

Yeah; personally, I got so freaked out by the way everything on the "Weed Forestin'" songs sound that they're the ones that I fell for, to the point of barely ever listening the Lou vs. Eric stuff later on on "The Freed Man" (although "True Hardcore" and lots others on that part are amazing, too, I think)...Lou's easy-listening-from-hell tape manipulations, pitchshifts and weird timecode mumblings that he starts off songs with (ie. "7:20", etc.) make "Weed Forestin'" a hometaping classic that has probably inspired tons of other overgrown kids to hunker down over 4-tracks (myself included), and which I think merits the hype...Useless Trivia: It would have been neat to get "W.F." as a cassette bonus to Dinosaur's "You're Living All Over Me" when they both first came out...