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12 Golden Country Greats

Ween - 12 Golden Country Greats Audio CD

A fair review of the Ween "12 Golden Country Greats" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Ween reviews here, or go back to the Ween tabs.

Band: Ween
Title: 12 Golden Country Greats
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-01-13
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: I'm Holding You 2: Japanese Cowboy 3: Piss up a Rope 4: I Don't Wanna Leave You on the Farm 5: Pretty Girl 6: Powder Blue 7: Mister Richard Smoker 8: Help Me Scrape the Mucus off My Brain 9: You Were the Fool 10: Fluffy

Post-something country
The musicians that back up the weeners are quite good. I guess country purists, and any number of other groups of people might take offense to this here album, but it has a certain je ne say what. I think they are nashville pros. The lyrics are eccentric. By that I mean, distinctly un-country-like. Also variously offensive, hilarious, and sophomoric. I give it 4 stars cuz any more would be abuse of the system.

Scatalogical tales from the Old West...
The reviewer attempted to justify his position by stating that Ween's tendencies towards misogyny and junior high school humor were inappropriate (geez, thats what I LIKED about this disc) and didn't work as parody due to the fact that they had rounded up such renowned Nashville session musicians to make the music. I remember when this disc came out Rolling Stone magazine reviewed it by giving it an extremely low rating (something like one or one and a half stars) and completely trashed Ween and this album, which pretty much convinced me to go get it. I knew that any magazine that badmouthed every album that Zeppelin put out in the 70's and insisted that Britney Spears was going to be the next Whitney Houston in the late 90's couldn't possibly understand Ween, so I went out and picked up a copy immediately. This album puts me in hysterics every time I hear it, and you don't have to be a fan of country music to like it, cause I certainly am not into country music at all. Ween, however, leave their mark on the genre with this one. "Piss Up a Rope" has to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard; I played it for a group of friends one night at a party and everybody completely lost it. "Mr. Richard Smoker" is another one that could be labeled offensive by some, but always makes me laugh. Obviously the norm for Ween is completely off the wall, and you have to keep that in mind when you listen to some of their music. Ween manage to lampoon the country genre with their lyrics while employing some of it's best musicians, and the musicianship on this disc is (unsurprisingly) superb. If you have a sense of humor, pick this one up. If you take your music cues from sources like Rollling Stone magazine, then enjoy your Justin Timberlake CD. (I think Rolling Stone compared his solo album to "Innervisions", what a surprise. ).

I Don't Like Country, But I Do Like Ween
Ween's fans are typically hardcore, and so are country fans, but uniting the two is where the trouble lies. As far as albums go, this one is a hard one to review. Odds are there are some who are both, but what about the rest of us?

I will admit that my own rating above is due mainly to my feelings about country music in general, and less about my enjoyment of Ween's eclectic, mock-intellectual, and sometimes ridiculously playful style.

As far as the lyrics go, you've got the usual levels of Ween's absurdity mixed with a combination of sly and in-your-face humor. "Japanese Cowboy," "Piss Up A Rope," and "Mister Richard Smoker" bear the most obvious strokes of Ween's style. "Piss Up A Rope," in fact, is the signature song of the album, and the funniest (and there are some pretty hilarious songs on this record).

The rest of them, however, are a bit more slippery when it comes to pinning them down to tastes. Aside from "Piss Up A Rope," "Fluffy" is the most obviously satirical. Beyond that, it really does sound like a country album. I imagine if you were to slip it into a jukebox in a good-ole-boy bar down south, songs like "I Don't Wanna Leave You On The Farm," "Pretty Girl," and "You Were The Fool" would slip right into the atmosphere with narry a bump. Aside from their sometimes avant-garde lines, these songs sound the most like legitimate country. Considering that Ween brought in some time-tested Nashville talent to help with the album (Buddy Spicher, Charlie McCoy and Russ Hicks, among others), it's no surprise that their country sound is not only authentic, but also well-done.

And, really, as far as the notes themselves go, Ween displays its typical level of musical genius, just in a down-home modality that either you like or you don't. True country fans, and those who enjoy following the tonal acrobatics of this incredibly talented band will take to the new John Deere aura just fine. I myself don't care for country, no matter how funny or tongue-in-cheek it may be. For that reason, I give the album three stars.

But I give Ween's talents and their nimble, creative spirit two enthusiastic thumbs up. I am still impressed by their virtuosity and diversity. I applaud Ween's abilities and also their refusal to allow themselves to be pigeonholed into any category. This is a nearly flawless album, truth be told, but it is still, and ultimately, a country record. If you're like me and you just don't like country music, this album won't give you too much to change your mind, but there are some great and hilarious songs worth listening to. But if you are a hardcore fan of either Ween or country, you won't be disappointed.

end of confusion
. the '12' in "12 Golden Country Greats" refers to the number of musicians they had on the record; not the number of songs.

Like A Blizzard in Georgia
You want thrashy, idiotic punk? Ween can do that.
Ween has always occurred to me as a musical chameleon. Do you want a moving, emotional ballad? Ween can do that, too. Do you want an obviously drug-fueled voyage into dissonant sound and grating, nonsensical vocals? Ween can serve that up hot with a side of grits.

So, it shouldn't seem strange that Ween can do country, and country is what you get in 12 Golden Country Greats. Now, country is a genre of music I tend to admire from afar - I never want to get too close, lest I start feeling urges to square-dance with a ten-gallon hat and tight jeans. So having Ween do a country album gave me the excuse to get into country, even if it was largely the Ween version. But then again, a little parody never hurt anyone, and this album is a must for Ween fans and anyone who wants a little absurdity with their country.

Ween pulls off the endeavor by bringing in a bunch of ringers (some of whom they name during songs), who obviously have the whole country thing down to a T. Although Dean Ween is by all accounts one of the most talented guitar-Gods around (or, at least, by all my accounts), he probably couldn't handle a steel guitar too well, so Ween took this concept to its logical conclusion and brought in fiddlers, steel guitarists, a drummer, etc. , which give almost all the tracks a good, solid grounding in the basics of the genre. The Ween-ness is brought in courtesy of the lyrics; for a Ween album, the vocals are mostly straight and modulation-free, so it's up to the lyrical content to remind you that yes, these are the same guys behind such timeless classics as Touch My Tooter and Fat Lenny.

The lyrics make the album, sometimes going light on the absurdity (Japanese Cowboy, Powder Blue) to laying it on thick (You Were the Fool, I'm Holding You) to just being downright hilarious (Piss Up a Rope, Help Me Scrape the Mucous Off My Brain). For Ween fans, I suspect, the lyrics are where it's at, because even after you know what Ween is going to say in a given song, it's still somehow fresh and funny the tenth time you hear it. The lyrics shine for most of the time in 12 Golden Country Greats, with comedy being the main aim, though sometimes the only joke is "hey, look, we're doing country!"

Musically, the songs are generally catchy and well-paced. Since I don't know country very well, I can only postulate that the songs reflect a range of country styles within country itself - nowhere is this more apparent than in the cheerfully homophobic Mister Richard Smoker, which seems to be plucked out of the days of ragtime, and the almost normal I Don't Want to Leave You On the Farm, which I can only assume is closer to bluegrass. I could be wrong, but I don't really care. The only song that really drags for the casual listener not familiar with Ween's forays into the lengthy, annoying song that never seems to end (Black Jack, anyone?) is Fluffy. But Fluffy is probably the funniest piece here, and sucks you in to its world of lazy front porches and excited dogs with its slow-motion, warped approach.

So, overall, this album is musically solid, lyrically brilliant, funny, and delightfully misnamed. Where the remaining two golden country greats went, only Ween knows, but Gene and Dean turn in a 10-song tribute/mockery of country that stands out as being both authentic and ridiculous. On a personal note, I was once dating a girl who was a true country fan. Wondering if she might like this album, I played it for her. She was horrified. But, as I said before, if you're a fan of Ween, this album cannot be missed, or left on the farm.
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You can see a complete list of all Ween discography, or go back to the Ween tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.