Customer Reviews

Quebec

5 star:		(70)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For over three months now I've had to endure Brainless from New Jersey's nauseating "Review of Each Song" on this magnificent album and dude, I just can't let you be the first thing unsuspecting online punters bump into any longer so here's my own hastily assembled five-star review, which I'm hoping will be approved and posted instamatically: Quebec is quite simply and without question a large French-speaking province in Eastern Canada. Well, my work here is done.

Through space at 1.2 light years per hour, Ween's eighth piece of incredible studio work, quebec, is not only their best yet, but one the 2003's greatest releases.

The record is brimming with genuine emotion, beautiful and complex imagery and music, and lyrics that are at once passive and fire-breathing. quebec is like tossing David Bowie, Motorhead, Les Paul and lots of Pink Floyd into a blender and pushing the 'kill' button.

Aaron Freeman's (Gene Ween) unique and beautiful vocals backed by the intricate guitar work of Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween), sends an energetic flare clean through your speakers, hurtling into the room around you and charging the air with static electricity. When Freeman sings, "Jets flew in formation / I could see them /
Dropping the crustaceans / Leaving trails of flames in their wake," you believe him.

Ween only seem to get better as time progresses. If they can ever top this record, they'll have established themselves as one of the most outstanding rock bands the world has yet to offer. If not, they still came out of the deal with one album of unadulterated genius. Time will tell.

This, by far, is the mellowest Ween album ever. It lacks the harsh intensity of, say, God Ween Satan, or Pure Guava. But it's beautiful. Listening to this, a bizarre movie, about two guys finding their way in life, Ween the soundtrack to their adventures comes to mind. The opening, rockin' "It's gonna be a long night" clears the palate of bad top 40 that seeps into your brain whenever venturing out into public places, making way for the chilling "Zoloft". "Transdermal Celebration", "Among his Tribe" are instant favorites, and "So many people in the neighborhood" is a good companion on a mix (Cd,Mp3,tape,etc) to "Voodoo lady". "Tried and True", also hauntingly sweet, but make way for "Happy Colored Marbles", this gem should end up in a sick, twisted romantic comedy someday soon. "Captain" slows you down just enough for "Chocolate Town", "I don't want it", and trick your friends at a party with "The F**ked Jam", "Alcan Road" "The Argus" are quite pleasing as well, but the highlight of this album is "If you could save yourself(you could save us all)", it reminds me somehow of Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, especially the line "I left you a note, but I wrote it in disappearing ink", this could have easily been something off of "Meddle" (somebody else said this first, of course) or the "Final Cut" This isn't your average Ween album, but your girlfriend won't make you shut it off in the car.

I had no idea what to expect from "Quebec". I'd been hearing about it for months, and after the very pop-rockish and suprisingly commercially-accesible "White Pepper", I didn't know where the boys were going to take us now. "Quebec" seems to be along the same vein as "Chocolate and Cheese", a collection of category-defying songs that shouldn't all work together, yet do. Ween's respect for other bands shines thru on many tracks <the album starts off sounding like Motorhead and ends with something that could have been on Pink Floyd's "Meddle" if Roger Waters had decided to show a little more gusto> while still reminding us of why a Ween Album is an experience all it's own. "Zoloft" is an absolutely brilliant track, at first seeming like a sugar-coated piece of elevator music, with Gene's voice calmly lulling the listener... but like the Zoloft user, the listener's bliss becomes slightly disturbed by an almost drowned-out voice begging you to be true to your own mind and soul. Ween takes several other dark steps with the lost-at-sea wailings of "Captain" and the introverted city dweller's nightmare that is "So Many People in the Neighborhood", which I would say is one of Ween's best layered and chaotically-fueled songs to date. But the album manages a beautiful balance of moods and rhythms, with songs like "Transdermal Celebration" being certain to become powerful and driving live favorites. Ween has given the faithful fans something truely wonderful to sink their teeth into for years to come.

I've had it for a couple of weeks now (after putting off buying it for ages, and not hearing one jot on the radio) and let the songs sink in. I've read all the other reviews and here's what I think. Speaking as a musician, Ween are a band that make me want to play...they continue to sustain my interest in music through their ability to compose and craft songs that are honest, true and not intended to make oodles of cash or cash in on a trend. You can't ask for more than that. All the tunes are great, listen for yourself and pick a favorite... I can't. It's just WEEN. Who could ask for more? These guys had it in truckloads on GODWEENSATAN and its still there.

"Quebec" is definitely the strangest and weirdest album since their critically acclaimed "Chocolate & Cheese" from 1994. Since then, they've completed other albums that all add to the sound of "Quebec". "Chocolate & Cheese" had the perfect blend of strange-to-progressive rock that they've ever released. 1996's "12 Golden Country Greats", their comical, yet great country album found them exploring unique areas of their talent. 1997's "The Mollusk" was a phenomenal concept album, sprawling their progressive rock roots. 2000's "White Pepper" is their most "mainstream" album to date, still doing it better than most bands in the mainstream. "Quebec" shows that Ween can take it back to that weirdness that made "Chocolate & Cheese" so great, and mix it with their uncanny sense of progressive rock that they've been perfecting over the years, making "Quebec" a real treat for long time Ween fans, and something easier to swallow for first time listeners.

Musically, "Quebec" is all over the map. Not only does it posses the same feeling as "Pure Guava" and other Ween albums, it also has the cleanest production of any Ween album yet. The opening Motörhead inspired "It's Gonna Be a Long Night" kicks off the album with a bang. "Zoloft" should be used in commercial for the drug. "Transdermal Celebration", reminiscent of "White Pepper", and the only radio single I've heard off the album, works very well. Long time Ween fans will love "So Many People in the Neighborhood", as it is very reminiscent of "The Pod". "Tried and True" is a beautiful slow rocker. "Happy Colored Marbles" is my personal favorite off the album. "Fancypants" is a hilariously, but tightly performed number. "Captain" is a chill psychedelic tune. Can you guess what "Chocolate Town" is about? "The Argus" is a epic progressive rocker.

Overall, Ween doesn't create any unified theme, or general meaning to the album. It simply culminates their accomplished sounds to date, compiling a set of tunes that hardcore and softcore Ween fans will love.

Okay. I am in the military, and in a foreign country full of sand. One night someone handed me Quebec by Ween. I listened to it and was knocked out with fantastic music. The first song of the CD makes you think it might be a hard rock punkish grunge thing, then they take you , hook line and shrinker.

I am a fan of zappa, Steely Dan, Pink Floyd and Captain Beefheart and I can hear elements of all these groups in Ween, and at the same time, I hear complete originality... which is so so so so rare.

Get this. You won't be sorry. what a psychedilic experience.

Why does Ween have to make another great album? I am waitng for them to stink it up so I can grow up and get on with my life and quit listening to rock & roll!

This is just an incredible album. I've always liked Ween, and have been buying their records since The Pod. Their albums have always had a few songs that revealed the potential they had as song writers, but they weren't usually "serious" musical compositions. They were more humorous than emotionally moving, and were enjoyable in their own right. They were good, but their tone made them inaccessible to those who weren't into the boognish. Quebec is a significant departure, sounding more like Pink Floyd, The Doves, and the Beatles than classic Ween. I'm sure this will alienate those who are mired in their musical past, but should also impress a great deal of new listeners. One of the greatest qualities of this album is the range of styles they employ. A good rock band that makes only rock can become stale and musically incestuous, as there are only so many rock structures floating around in their heads. They're bound to revisit themes more than once, and the whole collection begins to sound uninspired. Ween have an impressive ability to float between entirely different genres, and do so very fluently. It also doesn't sound like they labored to encompass the styles, it sounds like the styles are just many faces of their innate musical minds. Whether they're doing ragtime or rock, they do so in a signature way that can make you appreciate any structure (I dislike country, but I love 10 Golden Country Greats). In this way, they're very Beatle-esque. In short, they're music for modern music lovers of all types. Their more recent songwriting ability reminds me of Badly Drawn Boy, another musician that seems to intuitively understand music in general.
My personal favorites from this disc so far:
-Chocolate Town (in my head as I write this)
-Tried and True
-Transdermal Celebration
-Captain

You really can't go wrong buying this disc, Ween fan or no. It's ridiculous that this disc isn't garnering more publicity.

Practiced compassion...kind of like compassionate conservatisim without the BS. This album is a gem, a realized work wisdom and genuine love of music, the kind of album that used to be embraced by those in the know. I'm not going to get into the destruction of true music by the corporate record industry rant again - But to watch the VMA's last night and see Justin Timberlake blathering on about how he was raised on Johnny Cash - Then to hear him singing his little pre fab ballads in his little girly voice is too much. Thank boognish for Ween.