A Great Compilation
Sure, some of my favorite songs are missing, but most of them are right here. I'm a huge Screeching Weasel fan, and this compilation sums up what I love most about the band. A great summation of the 10+ years in which this group wrote the rules for all other punk/ pop bands to follow. Remember to say thank you, Green Day.
Interesting Restrospective
I do own most of their earlier work, thanks to a friend of mine who turned me onto them about 15 years ago or so, I remember listening to the cassette of "My Brain Hurts" over and over and wanting more. I suppose these song's were hand picked by Foster himself, but my best of if you will would include a whole different list of my favs.
Anyway, starting with "Boogada" I would have a track list like this:
This ain't Hawaii
I Hate Led Zeppelin
Sunshine
Slogans
Guest List
I Can Se Clearly
Cindy's On Methadone
The Science Of Myth
My Brain Hurts
Hanging Around
One Step Beyond
Crying In My Beer
Automatic Rejector
Jeannie's Got A Problem
Sad Little Girl
Going Home
Falling Apart
Talk To Me Summer
Every Night
Claire Monet
A New Tomorrow
Johnny Are You Queer?
Burnout Girl
If I Was You
Surf Goddess
You Blister My Paint
It's Not Enough
Around On You
As I stated, most of the stuff I know is from the earlier works, and I do tend to enjoy more of the pop-punk songs more than the more hardcore songs they threw on many of their CD's, so these are mostly the more mellow side that I liked the best about them. If I remember correctly, SW and Green Day were pretty close to coming out at the same time in the late 80's/early 90's, and I remember getting "Dookie" by Green Day also along with my Weasel Cd's. And the sound of a band like Screeching Weasel to me anyway was a few years before Blink 182 would hit the scene, and to me that band was pretty much doing the same thing (or somewhat very similar if you will) to these bands. The pop punk thing got popularized by the Blink 182, but it was bands like Screeching Weasel and Green Day who had it mastered back in the early 90's, and that was the direction I hoped that SW would keep heading, but Ben seemed bent on giving them that more punk sound at times, there seemed to be two camps; the ones who liked the pop punk, and the ones who wanted the more hardcore skater punk sound I guess and it seemed to drag this band down, to me they should have stuck with the popppier, catchier songs. . . . they are still fast and hard rock at times, with tinges of punk, you cannot deny the Weasel nasal delivery as sounding a bit punk anyway perhaps.
Overall, a nice selection of songs here. Fine introduction to the band and retrospective perhaps, check out a few of their earlier works and see how that grabs you, I think you may enjoy just about everything they put out in some way or another. . . at times the off balance attack they put on each CD does become familiar, if anything it does not become stale, so perhaps I'm asking too much with my track list, perhaps it won't work. . . but I like it alot. .
A collection of Screeching Weasel's finest.
Albums like "My Brain Hurts" and "Anthem for a New Tomorrow" were staples of my adolesence. During my high school years, the soundtrack to my life consisted of very heavy doses of Chicago-based pop-punk band Screeching Weasel. Many of frontman Ben Foster's (aka Ben Weasel) songs guided me through the toughest times of my young adult life.
The band never really broke any new ground musically, drawing most of their influence from The Ramones and other simple three-chord punk rock bands like The Descendents and the Angry Samoans.
Screeching Weasel has broken-up and reformed more times that I could keep track of. They rarely play shows and they have not toured the U. S. in well over a decade. Despite this, they have a huge cult following and have released over 10 albums, including a handful of EPs and b-side compilations.
Their line-up has been a revolving door, aside from Foster, featuring a veritable "who's who" of punk rock musicians. For example, Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt stepped up and took on the bass duties for the "How to Make Enemies and Irritate People" record.
After nearly two decades, Screeching Weasel finally has a greatest hits album thanks to the folks at Fat Wreck Chords.
"Weasel Mania," a clever take on The Ramones' best-of title, crams 34 songs onto one disc, each tune hand picked by Foster himself.
The songs span the band's entire career, from early tracks like "My Right," which kicks off the compilation, to "Bottom of the 9th" from the band's final studio release.
I was pleased to hear that some Weasel classics like "She's Giving Me the Creeps" and "Joanie Loves Johnny" made their way onto the tracklist.
Some of the bands later songs, like "Speed of Mutation," which may be my all-time favorite Weasel tune, stand up quite well against their older tracks. I t would have nice to hear more from 1998's awesome "Television City Dream" record and less from weaker albums like "Emo" and "Teen Punks in Heat. "
In total, two or three songs from each release made it onto "Weasel Mania. "
The CD booklet features some nifty goodies for the fans, including new photos and stories from the band members, along with the typical rambling essay by Foster that has become pretty much expected on any Weasel compilation.
If you're not familiar with Screeching Weasel this would be a solid place to start, but there really is not much incentive for a hardcore fan to pick it up. There are no new songs and everything sounds just as it did on the original releases.
As cool as some of the stuff in the booklet is, it's not worth the price for that alone. Some sort of extra like enchanced capabilities or a bonus DVD would have made this a much more tempting purchase for Weasel completists.
Regardless, if your idea of pop-punk is bands like Good Charlotte and Simple Plan, pick this up and prepare yourself for a brash history lesson in what the genre is truly all about.
Great compilation from punk rock legends
If one needs proof, this is a great place to start. Although a slew of other bands found greater mass exposure via MTV or the Warped Tour, make no mistake, Screeching Weasel was as important to the 90's punk boom as any band. These 34 tracks cover nine albums, two non-album song compilations, and an ep, along with another compilation track. More importantly, they show a band that shined through simplicity. Great songs were always more important than self-indulgent musicianship. They had the fun that stupid little punk songs should. Still, years after most of these songs were released they really hold up well. A few interesting omissions aside, the track list of Weasel Mania is amazing. This release is essential for both new listeners and longtime fans in search of a cheap disc with lots of longtime favorites.
You can see a complete list of all Screeching Weasel discography, or go back to the Screeching Weasel tabs
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