In 1998, Ween underwent a metamorphosis, shifting from the no-fi basement rock that earned the band underground esteem to the artfully iconoclastic alternative of Chocolate and Cheese. Three decades after its release, this landmark album has assumed a vaunted status in the band’s catalog, regarded as a key realization of Dean and Gene Ween’s (Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman) meticulously disruptive songwriting and irreverent humor. To celebrate this legacy, the band has announced a special 30th anniversary Deluxe Edition, due to release on August 2.
Ween’s new three LP collection elevates the fan-favorite record to new prestige, remastering all 16 original tracks and tacking on 15 previously unreleased demos and outtakes hand-selected by the band from its extensive archive. On the intention behind these new selections, Melchiondo quips that “…keeping with Ween tradition, Aaron and I probably picked all the wrong songs, mixed them, and now here they are.”
To accompany today’s dispatch the band has shared a previously unreleased studio treatment of “Junkie Boy,” which arrives as the group’s first new single in 14 years. The previously unheard tracks to follow include gems from the cutting room floor like “Warm Socks,” “Smooth Mover” and “Dirty Money,” alongside demos of stone-cold classics like “Take Me Away,” “Voodoo Lady” and “Roses are Free.”
The remaster comes courtesy of renowned recording engineer Bernie Grundman, whose studio prowess brought iconic albums like Steely Dan’s Aja, Prince’s Purple Rain and Michael Jackson’s Thriller to their full potential. Grundman retouched the album from the original master tapes to uphold fidelity and remastered the bonus tracks from the band’s personal cassettes and DAT tapes.
In the liner notes for the expansive vinyl release, Melchiondo says that hearing these restored and unearthed tracks transported him to the time of the album’s production. “When I hear it, I feel like I’m listening to an autobiography of our lives in the early to mid-’90s…If it sounds like we had fun making it, we did. That’s kind of what Ween is all about, though.”
Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) is available to pre-order and pre-save now. Listen to “Junkie Boy” below.
The post Listen: Ween Preview ‘Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition)’ with “Junkie Boy,” First New Single in 14 Years appeared first on Relix Media.
