

It’s easy to overlook Ween their best-known song, ‘Push th’ Little Daisies’, portrays them as a novelty band, and they’ve been overlooked by canonical works like 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Pitchfork’s decade album lists. Gene Ween quit the band in 2012, launching a solo career and fronting a Billy Joel tribute show, before reforming the band in 2016. Ween released a string of worthwhile albums in the late 1990s and early 2000s, before running out of steam with 2007’s La Cucaracha. While humour is a focal point for Ween’s music, the songs stand on their own terms as enjoyable pieces. Dean Ween is a virtuoso guitarist, while Gene Ween has a rich voice – his talents as a vocal chameleon allow Ween to access an eclectic range of styles. Their fourth album, 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese, marked a change in course, recorded in a proper recording studio. They made several homemade albums before their first official release, GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, in 1990. But as The Go-Betweens were regaining momentum, Grant McLennan passed away from a heart attack at the age of 48, ending the career of a brilliant yet overlooked band.Aaron Freeman (Gene Ween) met Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) in their eighth-grade typing class in 1984. The latter measured up to their 1980s peaks with some great songs. They released two worthy but uninspiring albums before 2005’s Oceans Apart. But band tensions took their toll, with two pairs of lovers and former lovers, and the band broke up in 1989.įorster and McLennan remained friends and reunited The Go-Betweens in the 21st century. Some of the early CDs have poor mastering jobs, however I’m no audiophile, but it’s bad. By 1988’s 16 Lovers Lane, the band’s sound was lush and layered, a drastic evolution from their austere early albums. The Go-Betweens’ third and final reunion album is easily their best of the 21st century, recapturing the lush sound of 16 Lovers Lane, and with memorable songs like Forster’s ‘Darlinghurst Nights’ and McLennan’s ‘No Reason To Cry’. The group gradually expanded throughout the 1980s, adding English bass player Robert Vickers, and then multi-instrumentalist Amanda Brown on violin and oboe. Ween Discography Ranked: 1: Ween The Mollusk: 2: Ween Chocolate and Cheese: 3: Ween White Pepper: 4: Ween Quebec: 5: Ween Pure Guava: 6: Ween GodWeenSatan: The Oneness: 7: Ween The Pod: 8: Ween La Cucaracha: 9: Ween 12 Golden Country Greats: Show/Add Comments (10) FAQ // STAFF & CONTRIBUTORS //. The Go-Betweens’ 1981 debut Send Me A Lullaby was recorded as a three-piece, with McLennan on bass and Lindy Morrison on drums. Ween called it quits in May of 2012, when Aaron Freeman aka Gene Ween cited 'creative and personal dysfunction' and a desperate need to get sober as the driving forces behind the split of. Apart from their debut, each of their albums has ten songs, five from each writer, and most of their album titles feature a pair of Ls. Their songs are literate, graceful, and melodic. Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are limited as guitarists and vocalists, but they balance each other beautifully the edgier Forster was a fan of The Velvet Underground, while McLennan was a fan of The Monkees. Brisbane’s The Go-Betweens are one of my favourite bands, but it’s sometimes difficult to explain their appeal.
