Customer Reviews

Pure Guava

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Some time during my high school career, my friend introduced me to a band called Ween. He only had one album, Pure Guava, their third major release. After hearing many of the tracks, I bought it for myself. I locked myself in the basement every day and listened to it a few times through... and I now know that this is the most beautiful piece of music ever crafted. This is the pinnacle of mankind. This is the gem in our crown. This is Pure Guava. How can I explain the greatness of this album? From the happy-go-lucky I Saw Gener Cryin' In His Sleep to the sickeningly sweet Springtheme; from the sad yet courageous Loving U Thru It All to the lazy doldrums of I Play It off Legit; from the haunting, drug-induced Little Birdy to the soft and tender Sarah; from the excited, insane Pumpin' 4 the Man to the grooviness of Big Jilm. There's the classic, The Stallion Pt. 3, a beautiful song that takes you to emotional heights. Push th' Little Daisies is a wonderful pop tune that won't get anybody down. Flies On My D*ck holds the key to the best guitar solo ever. The pathetic Touch My Tooter, the amazingly creative Mourning Glory, the nasty Hey Fat Boy (A**hole), the folky, dreamy Don't Get 2 Close (2 My fantasy), the perfect ending... Poop Ship Destroyer. And who could ever forget... not the best song ever, but the most creative, most amazing, most inspiring, most impressive track ever recorded... you cannot realize the full beauty of this song until you have emmorized each and every little sound that comes through your speakers... Dean and Gene are geniuses. Because of Reggaejunkiejew. That is all I can say.

Tucked among strange tracks,
lie a handful of rock gems,
it will grow on you.

"Pure Guava"..honestly, how did this get released on a major label? Did Elektra even listen to this? This album is just as strange and uncompromising as their debut, "GodWeenSatan: The Oneness".

There's some differences though. One, it's not quite as long. Two, it's not nearly as noisy (in fact, the first two songs barely go above a whisper). Three, there's a couple songs on here with genuine pop hooks.

"Push Th' Little Daisies" was a minor modern rock hit; why? It's super catchy, and maybe people were craving helium-voiced, irrelevant pop at the time.

There's plenty more gonzo-pop where that came from, such as the sparse, Xylophone twinkle of "Poop Ship Destroyer", the folky "I Saw Gener Cryin' In His Sleep", the trippy groove of "Springtheme", and the singalong-catchy "Big Jilm".

They also touch upon blues rock ("Touch My Tooter"), gentle folk ("Loving U Thru It All"), genuine (?) love songs ("Sarah"), twisted blues/punk ("Pumpin 4 the Man"), unlistenable white noise assaults ("Mourning Glory"), and even their own lo-fi version of prog rock ("Dont Get 2 Close").

"The Stallion, Pt. 3" is another highlight; a little psychedelia, a little prog, a little pop..and a little helium, and boom! a classic is born.

And, like "GodWeenSatan" had "Blackjack" and "I'm in the Mood to Move", this also has a few hilarious non-songs. "Reggaejunkiejew" is as racist as the title suggests, but these guys do it out of pure kitsch value. Anyone who gets offended by Ween obviously doesn't get it.

"I Play It Off Legit" is..I don't even know how to describe it. Are they stoned out of their mind? Is it some inside joke? Same goes for "Goin Gets Tough", in which they talk in British accents, and can't even contain their laughter mid-way thru..thus, it becomes even funnier.

If you're accustomed to the more polished Ween sound ("Chocolate & Cheese", "The Mollusk", etc.) in which they sound like an actual band, this may be rough at first. There's a few signs of that sound, but 90% of it is still stoners (who happened to be very musically talented, which they'd really find out in an album or two) messing with a 4-track. And it's great.

First off, this album is generally NOT reccommended for people with Top 40 mainstream musical sensibilities, and not for people who take things too seriously - not even for the MTV croud who see themselves on the "cutting edge" of American (Mc)Culture. They just won`t understand this music. Ween certainly don`t take themselves seriously. They`re having a lot of fun doing what they do and really don`t care what you think. Pure Guava will appeal to those who love and respect artistic integrity, carefree creativity, originality, intelligence, and of course, a bizzare (drug inspired?) sense of humour.

If your checking out WEEN for the first time, I generally recommend this album. I personnaly believe it`s their best work and represents the peak of their bizzarely beautiful and inspired creativity during their "low-tech" period, before Chocolate and Cheese and everything after. (I have to admit, though, they`ve written a few sweet jems between Choc. & Cheese and the Mollusk, which is their best recording for their present "polished" sound).

In my opinion, everything that came after Pure Guava just wasn`t the same Ween. These guys are smart enough and respectable enough musicians to know what to do to get money: you use an image of a voluptuous woman on the cover and a hundred thousand heterosexual guys will buy the album without really thinking or caring about its contents. I liken this to the Windowliker single of Richard D. James (a.k.a Aphex Twin): you listen to the material of those releases and you already KNEW they could do that. There was no challenge, no surprise, and almost equally no inspiration.

Pure Guava on the other hand is a quiet, humble, moment of genius and is vividly conveyed in the overall cohesion, imagination, flow, and strong sense of creative spontanaety that happens when artists enter the "zone".

I got into Ween back in college, listening to Pure Guava, GodWeenSatan and The Pod with friends. We were repulsed, intrigued, and finally, disciples. It was an great alternate to drugs, or enhancement for some.

Pure Guava is the last album from Dean and Gene that feels like the essence of an altered state of mind, a kind of inside joke genius between friends.

When Chocolate and Cheese came out, and everything else since, I've been put off by the cleanness of production. It's been different kind of "brown". While the boys have always "aimed to quease", from Chocolate and Cheese on, the queasiness has been more from relation to parody of commercial music than the more elemental queasiness of the first three albums. Not to say the follow-ups aren't great albums, I've even gotten to like the country one. It's just a different kind of music with different strengths.

Pure Guava stars Ween's screwy drum machine more than in previous albums, and focuses more around experimenting around the beats. It reminds me of Hal in 2001 as his circuits begin to fry. If Hal was a musical genius, he might have written Poopship Destroyer in his final dying moments.

Listen to Mourning Glory a few times even though it is difficult. What is intelligible is really funny. Stallion part three is my favorite Ween song. Even my wife likes Big Jilm.

So take a ride on the poopship! If the Devil has a sense of humor, buying this album could be your best way of getting used to it.

A lot of people in music will say they feel like rock has gone as far as it can, and that every note has been played by somebody else. Here is proof that u can take the same chords/vocals and twist them to make it sound like something completely fresh.I just recently got into Ween, and probably wouldn't have understood this back in 92-when it was released.In fact -i hated Push the Little Daisies back when it was on the radio!! (But now LOVE it)For people like me who have fairly normal tastes, but are uninspired by the lack of originality in today's music-THIS IS 4 U. It sounds like a lot was done on the spot-just keep the ideas flowing in completely different directions, but all at the same time.Touch My Tooter sounds like a Jimi Hendrix B-Side.Goin gets Tough from the Getgo-sounds like they're trying to rap-but it works-kinda like the current band the Streets(way before the Streets existed).Think of Primus when u hear Pumpin 4 The Man.They're making fun of the fact that you can't put out a song that sounds like 10CC-and have it accepted by the masses unless you alter it a little(Speaking of which-they're album "White Pepper" seems to be their take on 10CC.)The Mollusk is probably my favorite CD of theirs(especially the song "She Wanted to Leave")-but The Stallion pt3 could possibly be the greatest song ever!!!!Probably the most endearing thing about this band is the decision if they really have musical talent or not-if u decide NO-listen to Spirit of 76(AL GREEN would like this), the entire Mollusk cd or the White Pepper CD.Any of their cd's will renew faith in the power of endless creativity!!! P.S. a fan on the internet did a video for The Mollusk a couple years ago with lego-animation-it is INCREDIBLE

This CD was my first exposure to WEEN. A friend had taped it for me, and sent it to me thru the mail. AT the time, i was singing in a band, and would get home around 4am, very tired, smoke a little to relax, and then play some music over headphones. Well, that night, after a fight with the bass player, a pseudo rasta, I came home, lit up, and played this totally unprepared as what to expect. AND JUST FELL APART LAUGHING. Plus, i remember being VERY freaked out, by the pure psychedelic qualities of many of the songs. This was recorded on one of those Cassette four tracks, where you could vary the speed of the tape, to get all these bizarre VSO effects. (This is why many of the songs sound like they are sung by "The Chipmunks" on acid, or give you the swirling sonic effect of being flushed down a toilet bowl.) Sadly the age of DIGITAL RECORDING has removed the lo-fi movement from its legitimate four track beginnings. None of PURE GUAVA's songs stylisticallyl flow in and out of each other, they all clash against each other, and usually against you too. PUSH THE LITTLE DAISIES was the "hit", that even Beavis and Butthead at the time had on their show. That song was pure pop, and hard to get out of your head, even if you DONT want it there. BUT, "RASTAFARIAN REGGAE JUNKIE JEW"?? Who thinks of songs like that? IT reminded me so much of my bass player, that all the tension of being angry earlier that night at the concert, just disappeared behind the over the top pseudo rascism of the songs lyrics. OR, was it PLAY IT OFF LEGIT, when they made fun of the way ostentenious gays speak? Did I fall over laughing there too? Anyway, when the tape was done playing, i couldnt believe what i had just heard, and I was hooked. I have this now on CD, and even tho I cant say i listen to it ALL THE TIME, its a nessacary part of my brain, my memories, and my taste in music. The next CD I bought was CHOCOLATE AND CHEESE, with the great Spinal Menningitis song. I can only imagine these guys are just nuts. AND, someday, some critic is going to recognise the connection between bands like this, early FLAMING LIPS, HALF JAPANESE, BUTTHOLE SURFERS, and ultimately, the rock jokers MOTHERS OF INVENTION and early CAPT BEEFHEART. I only hope that humor, experimentation and D.I.Y. gusto never leaves the public taste. Today, a band like this would NEVER be signed by a major label. That's sad.

Yes. I said cohesive about a Ween album. They are capable of that, you know...these guys, I believe, are students of the We-Are-Really-Good-But-We-Enjoy-Playing-Bad-For-Fun school of rock that the Velvet Underground founded. Each concept, whether silly or not, is fully realized and fun to listen to. You get nineteen fine moments here, and there's only one weak spot in "Mourning Glory", basically five minute of airplane nosedive guitar feedback and Ween muttering drug gibberish through any number of machines. The rest is brilliant, signature Ween. "Reggaejunkiejew" uses, of all things, a Simon game(remember?) to solo with. All their vocal tricks are on full display here, from the sped up madness of "The Stallion Pt 3", to "Touch My Tooter", well, why mention a few, all the vocals are twisted on this record. Plenty of plucky,meandering,filtered phased guitar, toilet humor, proletarian angst, and expositions on hard ons for anyone who wants such things. Ween is only ignored because theyre perverse; diligent music fans get the joke, though. They did it because no one else does, and theyre very good at it. Only the Butthole Surfers come close to being this demented. Talented musicians who'd rather laugh than play right. Very punk.

This was it: my introduction to Ween. It was a long time ago, yes, but I can recall that day to my memory with very little effort ... mainly because it happens every time I play this cd. There's something about the songs on this album - they have the ability to retain certain features from my life, and evoke those feelings to me upon subsequent listening. As a result, I find my life greatly enhanced each time I push the play button on the stereo containing this disc.
Ween is, for me, and for most people, a very odd band. Perhaps it is because this disc was the only Ween album that I owned for a long time. I had heard great things about Ween, and was, quite frankly, let down when I first listened to "Pure Guava." I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this.
It took some time, but when it clicked, it was an instantaneous transformation. I absolutely adored this band. They were geniuses. I played the album for anyone that would listen. They all hated it, and couldn't understand why I liked it. That only made me like Ween even more. Thus began the cascade through which I bought all of their other albums.
Having seen the effect of this album in my life, I must recommend it as the perfect introductory Ween album. I know many will disagree with me, and I know why. As is apparent from my personal history above, this album is difficult to enjoy upon one's first hearing. It takes patience (although that's a poor choice of word, because it is enjoyable to listen to, it's just not anything you think is stellar until after a number of listens). The feature that I want to make a particular note of is the versatility. There is a very broad range of different types of music played on this album. But, none of these styles of music are played in a conventional manner. Ween makes each style its own, and purely unique. Some of the styles are altogether unique.
Although it takes some getting used to, once you've got the hang of it, listening to Ween is a bliss to be remembered. The songs will take on a meaning of their own, that is personal and meaningful to you. This album is the beginning to that journey of discovery.

I know, I know. Many Ween fans will argue that Pod better represents Ween's ethics (or lack there of), but the sound here is more pristine (but not overly polished like the following two albums). Forget "Push th' Little Daisies," if that's all you know, because it's not the best track here. Ween occupies the weirdness foraged by Beefheart, Zappa, and the Residents, but with a stoner edge. "Poop Ship Destroyer," "Little Birdie," and "Stallion 3" are genius. There's not one piece of filler here (unlike the Pod). Even "Hey Asshole" belongs. So if you like the aforementioned bands, but haven't checked out Ween yet, consume your favorite mind-altering substance and begin here. I might even go as far as to say this is one of the top 100 albums of the 90s.