Rhino Entertainment is celebrating the 30th anniversary of cheeky and eclectic alternative icons Ween and their classic fourth studio album, Chocolate and Cheese, with an expanded, 180 gram, 3-LP Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition). The elaborate gatefold LP jacket contains the remastered original album spread across two LPs, which was necessary to accommodate an album length originally designed to fit the space of a single compact disc. There's also a third LP that contains a generous selection of 15 previously unreleased outtakes, demos, and bonus tracks. One of the bonus tracks, the heretofore unheard "Junkie Boy," was released in advance as a teaser for Rhino's new Deluxe Edition, and you can check it out via the attached YouTube link. Jason Jones served as producer for Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition), while none other than Bernie Grundman remastered the reissue. And Chris Bellman cut new lacquers for the 3-LP set at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood.
The gatefold jacket for Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) includes an additional fold-in panel to accommodate the third LP. The album's titillating but beautifully crisp cover was obviously sourced from the original artwork, and all jacket surfaces sport a high-gloss coating that gives the album a very distinctive and high-end appearance. The interior features a montage of cool full-panel photos of Dean and Gene Ween, and there's also a graphically stylish 16-page booklet inserted into the package. The booklet is varnished with the same high-gloss coating as the outer jacket, and includes a plethora of rare band photos, memorabilia, and song lyrics as well as an entertaining and informative essay penned by Dean Ween. Based on its functionality and über cool appearance, I give the LP package a 10/10! No mention was made of the set being limited to a specific number of pressings, and normally, you could order a copy of Ween's Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) from Rhino's web store HERE, or from Ween.com HERE. But due to unprecedented demand (and also because affordable, minty original LPs are nearly impossible to find!) the set is already completely sold out. Everywhere. Rhino has recently begun to repress certain new release titles that had unexpectedly high advance demand (like the recent Rhino High Fidelity release of Black Sabbath), and hopefully, they'll do the same with this excellent set. At the very least, 24-bit high resolution digital files are available to stream on most online services.
Ween: Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition), (3) 180 Gram Elektra LPs, $69.98 MSRP
Ween consists primarily of Dean and Gene Ween (Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman); they wrote (or co-wrote) all the songs, played most of the instruments, and provided most of the vocals. Chocolate and Cheese was the band's first album to be recorded in a proper studio; tracks were laid down throughout the first part of 1994, and the album was released later that year on September 27. Greg Frey engineered the album, which was mixed and produced by Andrew Weiss; Howie Weinberg mastered the album for its initial CD and LP release. Chocolate and Cheese was Ween's highest charting album up to that point, reaching number 10 on the US Billboard album charts; the album's sales were propelled by the strength of three singles, "I Can't Put My Finger on It," "Freedom of '76," and "Voodoo Lady." Chocolate and Cheese remains a pinnacle of Ween's catalog, and contains one of their most entertaining and eclectic mixes of songs. The album's outrageous but distinctive cover has an interesting backstory; when Dean Ween's initial idea for the cover art was rejected by the record label as being too risqué (how much more risqué might the first one have been?), he then instructed the designer and photographer to make it look like a cover of an Ohio Players' album. They obviously accomplished their design goals—not long after the album's release, it was voted by readers of Playboy as the "sexiest album cover of all time!"
I moonlighted for years at a local record store near Atlanta, and I distinctly remember when Chocolate and Cheese first dropped—its racy cover art was the subject of some hilarious comments from customers, and both the CD and LP versions flew off the record shelves. Even though I was late to the game in terms of developing a deep appreciation for the quirky genius that was Ween, I found many of the song titles and lyrics hilarious. And often just plain weird, particularly songs like "Spinal Meningitis," "Freedom of '76," "Baby Bitch," "Mister, Would You Help My Pony," "The HIV Song," and "Don't Shit Where You Eat." Adding to my general "WTF" impression of the album was how Ween crossed multiple genres in such a relatively short span, touching on rock, funk, soul, electronica, with some songs approaching an almost jazz-fusionesque style. But I was also fairly awestruck by their superb musicianship; sometimes Dean and Gene just jammed furiously on their guitars, and the odd and frequently pitch-shifted vocals did a complete mind bend on my listening sessions. Hearing "Candy" on the LP for the first time completely threw me for a loop; it's the last track on side three, and I kept getting up during the song's lengthy pauses to lift the tonearm, only to discover that the track was still going! And "The HIV Song" was crazily entertaining, if perhaps completely and profanely politically incorrect? Aids and HIV was still very much in the public's consciousness, but I don't think the intent was to seriously offend anyone.
Dean and Gene rooted through countless hours of outtakes, alternate versions, and demos before choosing and assembling the fifteen bonus tracks. In his excellent new essay, Mickey Melchiondo (Dean Ween) jokes, "…keeping with Ween tradition, Aaron (Gene) and I probably picked all the wrong songs, mixed them, and now here they are." The bonus tracks are all previously unreleased, including non-album treasures like "Warm Socks," "Smooth Mover," and "Dirty Money," along with demos for the album tracks "Candi," "Take Me Away," "Voodoo Lady," and "Roses Are Free."
Here's a list of the contents of the individual LPs:
Chocolate and Cheese, Original Album Remastered
LP One, Tracklist:
Side 1
- "Take Me Away"
- "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)"
- "Freedom Of '76"
- "I Can't Put My Finger On It"
Side 2
- "A Tear For Eddie"
- "Roses Are Free"
- "Baby Bitch"
- "Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony?"
LP Two, Tracklist:
Side 3
- "Drifter In the Dark"
- "Voodoo Lady"
- "Joppa Road"
- "Candi"
Side 4
- "Buenas Tardes Amigo"
- "The HIV Song"
- "What Deaner Was Talkin' About"
- "Don't Shit Where You Eat"
Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks
LP Three, Tracklist:
Side 5
- "Crappy Anniversary Jimmy" *
- "Warm Socks" *
- "Stop, Look, Listen (And Learn)" *
- "Dirty Money" *
- "I Got It" *
- "Belgian Stew" *
- "Voodoo Lady" – Demo *
Side 6
- "Junkie Boy" *
- "Smooth Mover" *
- "Church Fire" *
- "Take Me Away" – Demo *
- "Sasha" *
- "Roses Are Free" – Demo *
- "Candi" – Demo *
- "I Really Miss You (And I'm All Alone)" *
*Previously unreleased
The Fans Have Spoken: Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) is a Must-have!
Clicking my name in the header allows you to see the full complement of components in my dual audio systems. I used my all-analog setup to evaluate Rhino's 180 gram LPs in Ween's Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition). The analog system features a pair of Vanguard Scout standmount compact monitor loudspeakers; they're in the same vein as classic British monitor designs like the LS3/5As, and run in tandem with a Caldera 10 subwoofer. That setup also incorporates the excellent PS Audio Stellar phono preamp, and everything is powered by my recently upgraded PrimaLuna EVO 300 tube integrated amplifier, which now features a matched quad of premium Sovtek 6550 power tubes and a matched pair of vintage NOS Brimar 12AU7 input tubes. LP playback was handled by my ProJect Classic EVO turntable that's mounted with an Ortofon Quintet Bronze MC cartridge. It's a vintage-styled, all-analog system that hearkens to the analog glory days of yore, but provides a sound that's modern and powerful with unrestrained dynamics. And this system totally rocked to Chocolate and Cheese!
Bernie Grundman's new remasters for Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) are impressively clean and clear, and while Chris Bellman isn't mentioned in the album credits, the initials "CB" are clearly engraved in the deadwax, so it's obvious he cut the new lacquers for the LPs. And his expertise at the cutting lathe contributes significantly to the superior sound quality of this reissue. I don't have a clue where the LPs were pressed (the set was manufactured in the US), but they were perfectly flat, beautifully glossy, and very quiet during playback, such that I could crank the volume excessively with no remorse whatsoever. Also, spreading the album tracks across four LP sides greatly enhanced the cutting process, allowing for improved groove geometry and helping to ensure superior sound, which this set unquestionably delivers. This is a record that demands to be played loudly, and often, and it's been in heavy rotation since arriving here. While the sound quality of the original album tracks were beyond exemplary, the bonus tracks were somewhat variable, but that's typical for demos and outtakes in a set like this. Regardless, fans of the band will revel at having access to such a wealth of previously unreleased material.
I can't recommend Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) highly enough, and having it finally available on LP again is a godsend. LPs and CDs were both issued during its original release in 1994, but LPs for Chocolate and Cheese were only repressed twice over a thirty year period, with limited edition domestic represses from the Plain Recordings label in 2016 and 2021. Original LPs—even in less-than-perfect condition on Discogs, and there are only about a dozen of them available—start at around $160 and go upwards of $500! That makes the $69.98 MSRP of this reissue seem like a tremendous bargain, and hopefully Rhino will see the light and repress this excellent set very quickly! Many thanks to Grace Fleisher at Shore Fire Media and everyone at Rhino Entertainment for their assistance and for the opportunity. Chocolate and Cheese (Deluxe Edition) comes very highly recommended!
Rhino Entertainment
All images courtesy of Rhino Entertainment, Ween.com, and the author.
