The Friends EP [EP]

Ween | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 13, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Mvd Visual
• ASIN: B000SBZ4NE
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,445 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

2007 EP from the eccentric Rock duo, their first all-new studio recordings since 2003's Quebec. It's always a time for celebration when Ween put out a new release and even a five track EP deserves it's own party!. So, put your hands in the air and say 'Hello and welcome back!' to Dean and Gene Ween. All five tracks on this EP are exclusive and will not appear on any of their albums.Features: the Techno-friendly 'Friends', 'I Go To Put The Hammer Down', 'King Billy', the Santana send-up 'Light Me Up' and 'Slow Down Boy'. Shellshock. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is the CD where Ween tests the limits of their fan base., July 13, 2007

By 

Pete Hagen (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friends EP (Audio CD)

Ween fans are rabid-types. They're/you're/we're usually very devoted and worship at the temple of the Boognish. But, man, this EP is ridiculous. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I know it's some of the catchiest stuff they've ever released. And some of the gayest. We'll just go track-by-track, since there's only Five of them anyway.
The song "Friends" sounds like a tribute to Cher. Like, "Do you believe..." Cher. And it WILL get stuck in your head. Really stuck in your head. I keep playing it. And hating myself for it.
"I Got To Put The Hammer Down" sounds like Peaches. Creep-sex raps, bouncy beats, and creep-sex hooks.
"King Billy" sounds like Mollusk-era weirdness. Definitely the closest to a "traditional" Ween song you're gonna find here. It has a mellow reggae beat and silly vocals. And quirky "brown" Ween noises the initiated will recognize.
"Light Me Up" falls into the more Latin-inspired side of Ween. Think "Buenos Tardes Amigo," "I Can't Put My Finger On It," "Bananas and Blow..." "Light Me Up" feels like the next chapter in the story those songs were telling.
Which brings us to "Slow Down Boy." It sounds like... a Morrissey ballad crossed with "True" by Spandau Ballet. Yeah. They friggin went there.
I wouldn't recommend this CD to you if you've never listened to Ween before. But, if you're a Ween-er, go ahead, buy it. You'll hate yourself for it and love every minute of it. I know I do.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Friends, July 17, 2007

By 

Erf Logan "Erf" (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friends EP (Audio CD)

Anyone interested in buying this 5 track sampler should do so from the ween website or your local record shop. It is priced at $8.00

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fun appetizer, if you're already a diehard fan., July 31, 2007

By 

Mike K. (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Friends EP (Audio CD)

With this EP, Ween present 5 apparent castoffs from a forthcoming album. The main surprise here (other than the title track's eerily authentic take on inane euro-disco) is a complete lack of the prog-rock nods that became increasingly common on the past few albums; instead we get the aforementioned euro-disco track, a Prince-esque new wave synth-rocker ("Got To Put The Hammer Down"), a decidedly brown take on dub-reggae ("King Billy"), the excellent latin-flavored "Light Me Up" (somewhat disappointingly the only real showcase for Deaner's guitar leads), and finally the innuendo-laden White Pepper-esque ballad "Slow Down Boy". At this point it's not really clear whether this means the next album will be dedicated to more Chocolate And Cheese style genre hopping or if they just happened to have a particularly diverse bunch of songs that just didn't fit the "feel" of the rest of the material. Regardless, if you're a fan who's spent the past 4 years dying for some new songs, it's a fun listen; I definitely would heed the previous reviewers' advice about where to purchase it, however.