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33/3 Series No. 79
Chocolate and Cheese
by Hank Shteamer
2011
If you ever liked Ween and so much as wanted a nice 8 page explanation and analysis of the notorious "HIV Song", buy this book!
Years ago, I had sold my copy of this CD only to buy it back upon the release of this book so that it may accompany this surprisingly amazing read. Hank Shteamer writes what should serve as the bar for all other 33 1/3 series books. He turns what I had dismissed as one of Ween's less entertaining albums into a fascinating story of how two guys went from making tapes simply to amuse themselves and their friends to becoming a national rock sensation that draws devoted crowds to this day; how the joy of remarking at their own perverse sense of humor became the joy of millions of fans chuckling at what they hear after popping in the Ween CD they've just uncovered among the pile of mainstream rock bands that they proudly stand apart from. And the well-described behind-the-scenes transition of going from recording on 4-track tapes to a modern recording studio for their fourth album, their first to be backed by a major record label, stands at the center of it all. Included is a retrospective of the band's legacy and the importance of Chocolate and Cheese in it as a crucial turning point that would officially establish Ween as a permanent fixture on the alternative rock landscape as well as catapult the band from being an obscure joke to receiving overwhelming acclaim from critics for their follow-up masterpiece The Mollusk and becoming one of America's most entertaining and longstanding live-acts. Also provided is the obligatory song-by-song analysis for every book in the 33 1/3 series, this time very well researched and satisfying, as well as a final summation of what, through the story of this album, Ween beating all the odds as rock's most unlikely heroes can teach us. As for the book's most outstanding highlights, Shteamer does a smart thing and saves some of the best stuff for later. In his song-by-song analysis, he provides the dark yet warming backstory for "What Deaner Was Talkin' About" as well as the truth and brilliant design concept behind "The Sexiest Album Cover of All-Time" according to Playboy readers.
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