Disco de Ween: “Mollusk”

When people ask me what is the one ween album that you need, i say that you need all of them. This is the best one, though. ween albums always seem to be a mixed bag as far as musical styles go, ranging drastically between tracks, you never know what is going to happen after the two second silence between songs. that is the beauty of ween, no matter how brown and poop-scented it may be. there have been a few (if not all) ween albums that i hated after the first listen, only to come back a couple of days later begging for more. after you familiarize and get comfortable with it, you come to love it similiar to taking cough syrup.

but the mollusk is on a level of it's own. it is a concept album that is best heard from start to finish. it starts with a little waltzy cover of "dancing in the show tonight". it is an odd place to start, especially hearing the childish vocals. next is "the mollusk", a song that every human with a soul loves upon their first listen. this song brought back man beach memories from my childhood, fishing with uncles, etc. "polka dot tale" is brown and not my favorite, prolly my least on the album. "i'll be your johnny on the spot" is a nice quick tune that makes my gas petal foot push harder. "mutilated lips" is an amazing song that makes me want to burst and implode at the same time. words, aside from its very lyrics, can't descrbe how i feel about this song that has the most amazing (and quite possibly longest) chorus ever. "the blarney stone" hits home for me as well. i'm irish, i drink, and i love rowdy pubs. "It's gonna be" is the intermission for the audience. it is a nice little love song, but feel free to go to the bathroom while it's playing. "The Golden Eel", I can't reveal any of it's secrets either. "Cold Blows the Wind" is another love type ballad, just a much darker one. Has a medieval tone to it and Ilike it a lot. Melodrama. "Pink Eye" is lots of random noises as it's palate for aural delight. "Waving my D*ck in the Wind" is a happy upbeat song that reminds me of old black & white shows like Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie & Harriet with a spritz of weenery of course! :) "Buckingham Green" is a hard hitting emotional tune that sounds like old school Ozzy. "Ocean Man" is a hoppy boppy ballad of the ocean. a great song to clap to when the pretty girls are listening with you! "She wanted to Leave"... Unfortunately the album has to end somewhere and this seems like a fine song to do it with. The lyrics are sad but at least the protagonist drinks his rum on his ship in the end.... And it ends with a downtempo beat of "dancing in the show tonight" with the sound of waves crashing in the background.

This is one fabulous package, the Mollusk is. Easily a five star album and one of my favorites of all time.

PS: IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING to purchase this album, do yourself a favor; buy it in the beginning of the summer when the weather is nice. I found that most enjoyable. I also made a promise to myself to only listen to it during those three months. Otherwise, I'd be really frigging sick of it by now.

I remember the day I bought The Mollusk. I had already been familiar with Ween's inventive, diverse & bitingly sarcstic music since 1992's Pure Guava. It seemed to me that every album since Pure Guava became more and more polished, expansive and exciting. Before buying THE MOLLUSK, Ween had created enough great music, for me, to be a lifelong fan. As I listened to the profound tracks of THE MOLLUSK for that first time, I realized that Ween was now in the league of great rock bands that I had admired all of my life.

Just as "12 Golden Country Greats" was a brilliant and hilarious take on country (If you don't laugh during "Piss Up A Rope", there's something very wrong with you), "THE MOLLUSK" is just as brilliant in it's take on progressive rock. If you enter the album with a quality sense of humor, you'll be taken on a fantastic ride (a perfect marriage of melodic,incredibly catchy music, with the kind of humor that ZAPPA would be proud of.)

... The Mollusk loves it's own irreverence and you will too (if you're cool, that is) Top tracks(to me)are: THE MOLLUSK (like many tracks on this great album, The Mollusk is a brilliantly sarcastic take on the pompous and grandiose lyrics of progressive rock: "Hey little boy come walk with me, and bring your new found mollusk along, does it speaketh of the trinity, can it gaze at the sun with it's wandering eye?" The music is wonderful as well (straight outta '73!)

I'LL BE YOUR JOHNNY ON THE SPOT(I've come up with my own special dance for this intense, kick-ass track...you probably wouldn't want to see the dance.)

MUTILATED LIPS (an absolutely brilliant song reminicent of Pink Floyd, Zappa etc. with fantastic lyrics; the chorus is the highlight. Great riff too!)

THE BLARNEY STONE (If the Irish didn't already get a bad rap, this authenticly insane *drinking song* will cement it!)

WAVING MY DICK IN THE WIND(somehow this reminds me of George W.Bush)

BUCKINGHAM GREEN (The most overt example of Ween's progressive rock parody on the album with string section and all. The song has a very dramatic feel but the opening line lets you know that they're having alot of fun here: "A child without an eye..made her mother cry..why ask why? ..She kept her child clean, on Buckingham Green." Later: "Summon the queen, spoke the child of eye"

OCEAN MAN (This song shows you what talent for pop WEEN has, within their sarcastic insanity. "Ocean man" reminds me of The Kinks on a good day. The song has a great "flowing" quality. The fact that songs like this, are not played on the radio is THE reason that MUSIC fans don't listen to the radio. They opt to listen to their albums. I'd also like to say that the free flowing moog in "

PINK EYE (On my leg)" sounds like ELP's "Lucky Man" moog, after a lobotomy (and that's a COMPLIMENT!)

Overall, if you're sick & tired & sick of today's excruciatingly mundane attemps at music, give THE MOLLUSK, Chocolate And Cheese, 12 Golden Country Greats or White Pepper a try. If you love great music and great humor, they're all guaranteed to satisfy. In combining sarcastic humor with sophisticated music, WEEN is the best thing since FRANK ZAPPA.

I have never felt the need to write an amazon review until now.

You know those albums/bands you discover every few years that just exceed all expectation and lower your opinion of other bands a notch? - well this is one of them. The sort of bands im talking about are 'tool' 'mr Bungle' 'frank zappa' (not that ween sound like these)

after Mr Bungle broke up i was finding it difficult to find a new band that could match not only their musicianship; but there creative songwriting as well. Thank god for the internet leading me to ween. Often the song syles sound so dated your first reaction is to press 'next track', however after you look at these from a completely un-biased point of view (lets pretend your an alien and you have no understanding of whats popular or not on earth) you will uncover the musical genius of 'Ween'.

If your into most of the latest radio 'flavour of the month' material, (i.e Linkin Park etc), i wouldnt waste your time with ween...

Ween don't just occupy a space in the musical landscape, they inhabit their own realm. As one of the most underrated bands existing today, Ween continue to forge ahead in their unapologetic ecclectism, in turn producing some of the most stimulating music available today. Of course, Ween still occasionally rely on some potty-humoresqe musings. However, these moments only serve to add to the overall dynamic of their albums. A listener often wonders whether many of the moments are sincere or not, a fact that continues to develop with further listening. The Mollusk is one of my top three Ween albums. "She Wanted to Leave" remains one of the saddest songs I've ever heard while songs like "Mutilated Lips" and "Buckingham Green" continue to fascinate. This album is essential for any true music lover.

There is no album I listen to more frequently than "The Mollusk." With this album, I believe Ween shut everyone up who considered them a novelty band. They are at their best and I rank this as my favorite album of all time.