Occasionally, I'll write a review where I enjoy the record far more than what the review would lead you to believe. These
are releases that qualify as “guilty pleasures,” even though its a term that’s
cheapened with the misconception that it’s something already perceived as awful
by general consensus.
But a guilty pleasure doesn’t mean that it’s a bad record,
at least not in my mind. Instead, I think of a guilty pleasure as a
record that is neither groundbreaking nor all that well executed. For me, a
guilty pleasure can be something that you enjoy listening to and have unchecked
fondness for, without having a very good explanation for why it ranks in such
high regard.
A good example of what I’m trying to explain is Ween’s 12 Golden Country Greats. It’s a record
that I return to time an again for reasons that cannot be explained by the
record’s place in recorded music or by the actual quality of the songs
themselves.
I remember buying the album sight unseen and without the
benefit of hearing a song sample. The very notion that Ween was devoting an
entire record to one specific genre and were using some very legendary session
musicians to help execute ten songs into a very misleading album title, was a
very bold movie in my mind. It was an idea that remains as the most divisive
entry in their cannon of weirdness and something that I felt deserved immediate
support.
However, I can’t overlook the fact that I was somewhat
disappointed after my first listen. It’s the most polished the brothers have
ever sounded, which is a testament to the performers they’ve enlisted, I
suppose, but after years of audible tape his in nearly every moment of their
recording history up to this point, its absence suddenly sounds unsettling.
The other thing that was immediately off-putting was how
subtle the humor is throughout 12 Golden
Country Greats. Besides the obvious entries (“Piss Up A Rope,” “Mister
Richard Smoker” and “Fluffy”), most of the record remains straight, at least by
Ween standards.
Finally, I’m not utterly convinced that Ween aren’t entirely
earnest in their appreciation with the genre of country music, a critical
necessity when doing such a swan dive into such major left turns like this. And
even though Gene does a nice roll call during “Powder Blue” of some of the
musicians, he also has them present for such mundane moments like “I Don’t
Wanna Leave You On The Farm,” a song so contrived that you want to apologize to
the players for wasting their time with such rudimentary material.
Just as I would be remiss in telling you about all of these
questionable moments on 12 Golden Country
Greats is the fact that regularly let this record into my schedule and I’m
just as regularly satisfied with it.
Ironically, it’s that subtle approach that makes such repeated
listens so rewarding for me. When they let the talent loose during “Help Me
Scrape The Mucus Off My Brain,” Ween goes beyond any prior expectations of how
great of a project this could have been.
“You Were The Fool” reaches similar heights as the band
counts off “Slow four….one, two, three, four…” A gentle acoustic moment is
created while Gene effortlessly takes listeners on a wild ride, at one point advising,
“You can speak with a turtle just by flippin’ him around.”
And I’m sorry, but “Piss Up A Rope” is one of the best “Fuck
you” songs of all time, making 12 Golden
Country Greats worth the price of admission.
As with any “guilty pleasure,” your mileage may vary, but
for me 12 Golden Country Greats has
gotten plenty of highway miles. It never quite reaches the heights that the
idea hints at during a few moments, but it’s a project that I find strange
comfort in their flawed attempt.
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