Ween now seems like a permanent fixture on the pop-cultural landscape,
but when the band first hit MTV in the early '90s, their longevity
wasn't so secure. Nearly two decades on, though, Aaron Gene Ween Freeman
and Mickey Dean Ween Melchiondo preside over one of the most devoted
cult fan bases in American music. So how exactly did Ween manage to
transcend joke-band oblivion?
One answer is that, in the years following their MTV breakthrough, Ween
gradually polished their output, turning their staunchly primitive
musical sketches into hi-fi paintings. Chocolate and Cheese, released in
1994, marked Freeman and Melchiondo's first crucial steps in this
direction. Based on new, in-depth interviews with both members of Ween,
as well as producer Andrew Weiss and associates ranging from Josh Homme
(Queens of the Stone Age) to Spike Jonze, this book explores the
song-by-song creation of Chocolate and Cheese and how the album served
as a bridge between Ween's original two-guys-and-a-4-track incarnation
and the rich, virtuosic rock & roll force they would later become.