Album of the Week - Vol 26

WEEN Quebec (2003)
Week: Thu 22nd to Wed 28th Aug 2024
Format: CD, iPod
Producer: Andrew Weiss
Tracklisting:
1. It's Gonna Be a Long Night
2. Zoloft
3. Transdermal Celebration *
4. Among His Tribe
5. So Many People in the Neighbourhood
6. Tried and True *
7. Happy Coloured Marbles
8. Hey There Fancypants
9. Captain
10. Chocolate Town
11. I Don't Want It *
12. The F**ked Jam
13. Alcan Road
14. The Argus *
15. If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All) *
TOTAL RUNNING TIME: 55:07

Our son Lachlan loves Ween. Like, super loves them. He went through a big Daft Punk phase a fair few years back, but Ween overtook them. He's been on a mission to find all of their albums on vinyl, but had to succumb to purchasing a few CDs in order to complete the set. He still doesn't have a copy of GodWeenSatan, but he'll get it after he turns eighteen, I reckon. 

Because of his passionate pursuit, I have been introduced to some of their music that I might not have sought out. In the nineties, I was aware of Ween, but only really knew the song Push th' Little Daisies and Voodoo Lady. Another of their songs turned up on the South Park Chef Aid album in 1998, The Rainbow, which I kinda enjoyed. Then in 2000, Ween released White Pepper, which boasted the amazingly poppy Even If You Don't. Side note: that single's video clip was directed by Matt Stone and Trey Parker of South Park fame. I loved it instantly and pretty much bought the album on the strength of it. This was the first time I got to appreciate the band's insane genre-hopping. There was no cohesion, just great songs with productions that seemed to have been inspired by other bands. Back to Basom always reminded me of Pink Floyd and Bananas and Blow felt like an outtake from a Los Lobos album. Such an amazing album with gentle ballads, heavy rockers and everything in between. 

So, for a while, that album was my go-to for Ween. I possibly downloaded a few songs from other albums via Napster or AudioGalaxy or something, but didn't get too seriously into them. Some years afterwards I got a copy of Chocolate and Cheese, possibly just to have Voodoo Lady on CD somewhere. That album was just as genre-hoppy as White Pepper! Another great album, but that was where my interest in the band left me. 

Until the boy discovered them. 

I'm not really sure what got him through the door there. I must check in with the lad*. Anyway, discover them he did, and he jumped down the rabbit hole with both feet. As he set about acquiring physical copies of each Ween album that I didn't have, my music world got a little broader. As with a lot of Ween offerings, each album has some brilliant work, some silly tracks, some immature songs and some bizarre tunes. This record is no different, but I've come to realise that there a few numbers on Quebec that are now big favourites of mine.

As I usually do with these Album of the Week blog posts, I asterisk my five highlights of the album. Each of these asterisked tracks would possibly rank in my Top 10 Ween Songs. The first of these, Transdermal Celebration, has a real Foo Fighters-y vibe and a riff that got stuck in my head for days after hearing it for the first time. Some people might know Tried and True after it was used in a episode of Superman & Lois with the same name. It's a great acoustic number with a severe vocal effect that deepens Gene Ween's voice. 

Oh yeah, if you didn't know, Dean Ween and Gene Ween are pseudonyms for the main creative duo behind the group, Michael Melchiondo, Jr. and Aaron Freeman. Freeman does the majority of the lead singing, the only exception being the raucous mess of the opening track It's Gonna Be a Long Night, he he he. It's an acquired taste, but sets the scene...anything goes!

When this album is good, by golly, it's so good. Along with the aforementioned Transdermal Celebration and Tried and True, other big highlights for include the prog-influenced mini-epic The Argus which features one of the best opening lyrics I've ever heard:

"Yesterday, we lost our lives/

Tomorrow we were born"

Boasting a subject that's deeply steeped in Greek mythology, and married with some guitar harmonies that would make Mike Oldfield envious, this is an absolute gem. I find it bizarre that it's at the end of the album, indeed it is the penultimate track. The ultimate track is killer as well, If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All). It's a great closing song, as it feels like it could accompany the credits of a movie or TV show. In fact, it was actually used in an episode of Apple TV+'s Morning Wars. It's just verse, chorus, verse, chorus, but the second chorus is sung a full octave above the first to great effect. Love it!

The absolute jewel in this thorny crown is I Don't Want It. Possibly my favourite ever Ween song, it features a magnificent, soaring guitar solo outro with lovely 'ahhh' backing vocals. It's truly sublime, and it takes me somewhere. Can't praise it enough.

Originally, this record was perhaps going to be longer. While working on the album without their regular drummer Claude Coleman Jr., who was recovering from car crash injuries, the Weens released The Caesar Demos. This was a two disc, MP3-only collection of tracks that the pair mostly recorded by themselves. Possibly, that would have revealed an even bigger scope of themes and genres. I do think that what became Quebec could have actually been a little leaner. I feel that the album might have benefited from excluding tracks like The F**ked Jam and Happy Coloured Marbles, which feel a bit like filler to me. The playful Hey There Fancypants and the dreamy Zoloft add to the zany appeal of the album though. 

All in all, it's a great effort from a band that likes to push themselves and their fanbase, and one that I wouldn't have listened to without our son taking such a keen interest in them.

* It turns out that Lachlan just really liked the handful of Ween songs he'd heard, and then saw them included in a WatchMojo Top 10 video. It was something like the 10 Best Underground Bands. When Ween was being talked about, their song Transdermal Celebration was played, which he really dug. That was the impetus that sent him to deep dive through all of their stuff. He just kept liking what he heard!

Ten Things I Love About Dylan

Okay, my tenth Dylan blog sees me in good company, album-wise. After ending the last one with 1997's excellent Time Out of Mind, we've got some more great listening ahead! It's been tough going, but we got there. Read on...


37. LOVE AND THEFT (2001) (29/8/24)
Bizarrely, this is one of a handful of albums with the infamous release date of the 11th of September, 2001. Ben Folds' solo record Rockin' the Suburbs and Jay-Z's The Blueprint also came out that day, along with releases from Slayer, Nickelback and Mariah Carey. That notoriety aside, this stands as another classic Dylan release in his late career. Continuing on from the strength of Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft is just as strong, if not quite as compelling. Rather than deep meditations on life and mortality we are presented with a number of stories and characters. 

Indeed the opening track, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, is just a mish-mash of clichés thrown together into a foot-tapping bluesy stomp, which feels like a parody of any song that ever used clichés. There is a loose story there, and the two characters, of course, but it's playful, and I reckon it's just Dylan warming up and having fun. We've come a long way from Wiggle Wiggle! The second track is Mississippi, now hailed as modern Dylan classic. It's a great tune, and has a studio take that befits it after failing to make the cut for TOoM. Rounding out the 1-2-3 punch is Summer Days, a rollicking slice of rockabilly, old-timey swing-rock and barn-burning hootenanny! Great way to kick off the record.

Dylan's 31st studio offering is one of his best albums of the last 25 years, and his first great album of the 21st century. This is also the first time he's credited himself as Jack Frost for the album's production. A part of his touring band at the time, guitarist Charlie Sexton makes his first of many appearances, adding to a wonderful backing group for Dylan, including drummer David Kemper, bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Larry Campbell and Augie Meyers on accordion and keys. Other highlights for me include Po' Boy, Honest With Me and the time-shifting Cry a While. Great album!


38. MODERN TIMES (2006) (30/8/24)
After two fantastic albums, expectations were high for Bob Dylan's next long-player, and did he meet them? Did he, heck! Modern Times rounds out a trilogy of masterful original releases not seen since his high watermark of Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde in the mid-sixties. Once again, Dylan produces the album himself under the name Jack Frost. Keeping only bassist Garnier from Love and Theft, recruited musicians for this record are guitarists Denny Freeman and Stu Kimball, drummer George C. Receli and multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron. The latter's gorgeous steel guitar playing are a hallmark on this excellent album, featuring prominently on tracks like Spirit on the Water and When the Deal Goes Down.

At the risk of overusing the word, the album gets off to a rollicking start with the opener Thunder on the Mountain. An assault of guitar solos and hilarious lyrics, this is one of my favourite Dylan tracks of this century. It has one of his more puzzling references to pop culture in there:

I was thinking about Alicia Keys, couldn't keep from cryin'/

When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was livin' down the line/

I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be/

I've been looking for her even clear through Tennessee

No idea what he's on about, and what his infatuation with Alicia Keys is, but it's funny to hear him sing her name. This album also contains a few other bit favourites of mine, the aforementioned Spirit on the Water, the epic closing track Ain't Talkin' and the ode to the working classes, Workingman's Blues #2. The latter was penned by Dylan as an unofficial sequel to Merle Haggard's 1969 hit Workin' Man Blues. I initially thought the '#2' reference was to an alternate version or a rewriting of an unreleased song of that name. It's a great song, and one I never get sick of hearing, like the whole album in general. One of the weaker tracks (in my opinion), Nettie Moore, also gets high praise, but I feel it's not as engaging as other songs. It's still a good one though! Dylan's riffing on the blues classics Rollin' and Tumblin' and When the Levee Breaks (reworked into The Levee's Gonna Break) are also very enjoyable. It's an absolutely top notch effort from Dylan, and one of my big favourites.

39. TOGETHER THROUGH LIFE (2009) (1/9/24)
Okay, now things start to get a little rocky. He he he...not to say that this is a bad listen, but it's certainly Dylan's weakest offering since Time Out of Mind. The songs aren't as immediate, and did somebody say piano accordion? The album is rife with it, giving the songs a swampy, zydeco-type feel; which comes courtesy of David Hildago, who also contributes guitar. Drummer Receli, bassist Garnier and multi-instrumentalist Herron all return to the fold, with ex-Heartbreaker Mike Campbell throwing in some strings and things as well. Dylan's production duties are again present in the form of his alter-ego Jack Frost. 

The big change to this effort, is that except for two tracks, the lyrics have been co-written by Dylan with Robert Hunter, formerly of The Grateful Dead. That doesn't dampen Dylan's vocal delivery, and the sense of humour keeps in line with His Bobness too. There's just nothing that really grabs you. My favourite tracks include album opener Beyond Here Lies Nothin', My Wife's Hometown and Jolene (no, not that one). The record's final track really falls flat, for mine, as Dylan tries to use a popular phrase (It's All Good), and doesn't land it. Forgetful Heart seems to be lauded by some too, but I don't see anything special about that one either. Not bad, but not great. 

40. CHRISTMAS IN THE HEART (2009)
Now, here's a big surprise...a Christmas album! And not a quick, by-the-numbers, I'll-get-out-a-Christmas-album-for-the-holidays moneymaker, but a sincere and well-thought out affair. Coming out less than six months after Together Through Life was released, Christmas In the Heart is an album for Dylan fans who love the yuletide season. This certainly won't win him any new fans though.

Keeping the same personnel from TTL (bar Mike Campbell), Dylan adds guitarist Phil Upchurch and keys player Patrick Warren. Oh, and there's a fair few burst of choir as well, of course! The latter adding Christmassy weight to carols such as The First Noel and Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Along with the traditional fair, there are also great versions of Here Comes Santa Claus, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and I'll Be Home for Christmas

The absolute highlight though, and I would even say the album's centrepiece, is the polka-styled version of Must Be Santa, an old Christmas song released in 1960 by Mitch Miller. A call-and-response number, that builds similarly to The Twelve Days of Christmas, this sees Dylan in full 'ho-ho-ho' mode. While it's not an album for every day of the year, it's nice to dust off in December.


41. TEMPEST (2012) (3/9/24)
This album is the last record in the Dylan box set that begat this whole series of blog posts. This is the 45th CD, but not the last entry. That honour goes to the Side Tracks compilation (discs 46 & 47), which is made up of singles, live versions and other previously unreleased material. That set is unique to The Complete Album Collection Vol. One box. I might have to give Side Tracks its own post.

Annoyingly, Dylan has released five more albums since the set's release in 2013. So, the box is now outdated, and incomplete. Even more annoyingly was the failure of the proposed Vol. Two box set, which would have collected all of the Bootleg Series compilations together. There's still time, I guess! 

Of the five recent albums, three of them are made up of cover versions (Shadows in the Night, Fallen Angels and Triplicate), one is Shadow Kingdom, the soundtrack to his 'livestream' concert of reworked classics from 2021, and 2020's excellent studio effort Rough and Rowdy Ways. Again, I may need to blog about those offerings in the future.

But, I digress! Tempest is a great album, and one that I wish that was more familiar with when we saw His Bobness live for the third time at the Riverside Theatre, PCEC in August 2014. No less than six tracks from the ten track long Tempest made the setlist that night. Kicking off with the excellent modern-Dylan classic Duquesne Whistle, the scene is set for another fab record minus the excessive piano accordion. Another classic track on offer here is the growling Pay In Blood which features such excellent lyrics as:

My head's so hard, must be made of stone/

I pay in blood but not my own

Other album highlights for me include the bluesy Early Roman Kings, the riff-tastic Narrow Way and the plodding Lost and Wasted Years. The epic title track nearly hits the fourteen minute mark, and is a sprawling account of the sinking of the Titanic. Certainly worth a listen, but not essential. The same could be said about his tribute to John Lennon, Roll on John. It comes across a little laboured, almost like he didn't really want to write it, but there's some sentiment there, I think.

All songs on Tempest are written by Dylan himself, except for the opener, which he co-write with Robert Hunter. He's also produced the album as Jack Frost once again. The band is the same as his Together Through Life line-up, minus Mike Campbell and with the addition of guitarists Charlie Sexton and Stu Kimball. A nice way to end the albums in this box set, and with it, this tenth entry in my blog post series. I'll add an addendum shortly in the future!