Ween: Better than the Beatles!!!

[FamousMortimer]

Ween is better than the Beatles! There..I said it and I wont take it back. It was difficult for me to say that the first time years ago, but now it's like second nature. Why? Because it's undoubtedly true.

"But, FM, The Beatles are a timeless genre-transcending band sent from on high. How can you say that ANYONE is better than the Beatles?"

Well...In truth, there are many bands that I consider better than the Beatles, and hopefully, such a bold statement may insight a heated debate like that there Religion thread over in "Intellectual" or whatever, but this is not my only purpose here. I am here to spread the gospel of WEEN!

To put it briefly, Gene and Dean Ween have been making records since the late eighties and I can honestly say that after over twenty years, they have yet to write a stale song. That is not to say that a band that is as ecclectic as WEEN isn't going to write a song you don't like. Hell, when you have over two to three hundred songs under your belt, they cant all be winners in everyone's eyes, but NONE are stale. No one who has actually explored the WEEN catalog can say that their music isn't always interesting to say the least. This is a band that makes "The White Album" every single time they make a record, meaning that it is layered, multi-faceted music, which explores genre and listens almost like a mixtape. Everytime I play a Ween record for one of my friends, they keep asking who is playing after every song because EVERY song sounds like a different band all together. That is how amazing they are. I am looking for my fellow Weeners out there, so if you are recieving my signal, then let us unite.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ween, let me give you some suggested listening, so that you may join in if you wish. I have little doubt that you will see the light that this band shines.

"The Mollusk"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5K_w9Tbhoc
"Blue Balloon"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVanA4EYvck
"Push th' Little Daisies"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PAzqBUNlCs
"Trans-Dermal Celebration"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU91POX33aE
"Happy Colored Marbles"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1YcJOb-VV8
"Hey There, Fancy-Pants"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP_C29ic_io
"Homo Rainbow"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYYVTBqgiDc
"Waivin' My **** In The Wind"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSD-Tk0Z3zI
"Back To Basom"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSg2zQl0hk4
"It's Gonna Be A Long Night"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGgCy-hbp4Q
"Japanese Cowboy"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ZPwxeE6n0
"Object"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCSGM5mBrWY
"Ocean Man"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5m_XtCX3c

It's ALL good really, but these are some of my favorites! Enjoy new comers, for I envy you. The first hit is always the best...

[Alpha]

No. Eleanor Rigby.

Mother flippin' Revolver - aka the greatest album ever recorded.

Come Together.

Those are my two favourite Beatles songs. Fun fact, my mother has a picture of the Beatles, with all their autographs floating above their heads. The picture is slightly worn out, from all her friends kissing it as school girls, but it is the single most important thing that resides in my house.

And Ween sounds like shit. Sort of sounds like a 10-year-old Anthony Kiedis.

Ok, maybe that was excessive, but a comparison to the Beatles is too much. It's the same principle as saying that someone 'mildly evil' 'is Hitler'.

[FamousMortimer]

I respectfully disagree.

First, I'm going to address your comments on Ween. First of all, if you listen to enough of it, you would see that Gene Ween might have one of the most bizzare and unique voices in music today. He is one of the few singers I have ever heard that doubles as a true baritone and a true falsetto. Those are not vocal effects on Push Th' Little Daisies and Happy Colored Marbles. Your comment leaves me to wonder is you really even listened to more than two jams before spouting your strongly worded opinion. Secondly, why, with such an array of sound, would you key in on the vocals? As interesting as Gene's voice is, it is the least interesting thing about their music.

Open your mind, dude. You got it stuck in your head that The Beatles can never be challenged, but they aren't that good a band. I loved The Beatles for ten years. I have most of their major releases, but just because they were well exposed and talented doesn't mean you should ignore other (perhaps superior) talents.

Okay, fine, Ween isn't your cup of tea (though I get the feeling that you probably listened to thirty to forty-five seconds of maybe two songs) but The Beatles suck compared to so many other English bands of that era.

Gong (1967)
Emerson Lake and Palmer (1970)
King Crimson (1969)
The Kinks (to rival the early years) (1964)

They're just over rated. I'm sorry, but even the biggest Beatles fan in the world has to admit that maybe a decent part of thir legend is hype. Not to mention that if they hadn't broken up, and were still touring like the Stones, everyone would think they were a joke, JUST LIKE THE STONES. People constantly confuse the legend with the fact of the matter. Paul couldn't pull those freaking love songs out of his butt, George was the same with Eastern Music. John was a music theif, and Ringo...well, who could hate on Ringo? Not me... But still.

It's interesting to me, the ferocity that people will defend The Beatles. I would wager my life savings, that if a great band were to come along, and John and George were to come back to life and meet with the two living Beatles, THEN come to a consensus that said band is better than they were (lyrically, musically, compositionally) at any point in their existance, certain people would still say:

"NUH-UH!!!!!!"

I mean, get over it already. The Beatles are gone and we are living in an exciting new world (musically speaking)! For the first time since the sixties, the power has been taken from the 7 major labels and has returned to the hand of the musicians! With things like Mac Books and Garage band, bands on budgets are, yearly, releasing better, more well rounded records than Revolver and Rubber Soul. Why? Because they dont have to answer to labels, executives, and deadlines. Sure, the Beatles had something close to that during the Apple years, but it's the standard now. Any Joe Jerkoff can record the next White album out of his hallway bathroom if he has the drive and skill to do it, and as many of these people are proving, there are many more than Beatles fans care to admit.

If Ween isn't your answer, then I encourage you to search harder, because there are bands out there better than both Ween and the Beatles! I don't know who they are yet, but at least I can admit that. One shouldn't cling to old ideas when they are quite obviously falling apart. In another dimension, the world might have agreed that G.G. Allin was a rock-god, but in No dimension would that be the absolute truth.

Your move...lol

[Alpha]

If Ween isn't your answer, then I encourage you to search harder, because there are bands out there better than both Ween and the Beatles! I don't know who they are yet, but at least I can admit that. One shouldn't cling to old ideas when they are quite obviously falling apart. In another dimension, the world might have agreed that G.G. Allin was a rock-god, but in No dimension would that be the absolute truth.

Your move...lol

I didn't say that. The Beatles are not even in my top 10. Calling Revolver 'the greatest album ever' would give that impression, admittedly. It's definitely one of my favourite albums. But if we're discussing bands, there's more to it than a single album. I just think that they are very good, and a damn sight better than this here Ween.

[Walter Sobchak]

Objectively speaking, the Beatles are the greatest band of all time. There may be bands people incorrectly favor for one reason or another, but being wrong does not equal being right, under any circumstance.

Ween is okay, I guess. Nothing worth re-listening to.

[FamousMortimer]

Eh...You can't win em all, I suppose, but I still think that there are way better bands, past and present. Outline for me, in detail, what it is about the Beatles that makes them so great, and I will take every quality you name and shine a light on any number of superior bands. It's old hat. Trailblazing? Yes, but old hat never-the-less. I get the feeling that alot of Beatles fans are fans because the rest of the world is. That isn't to say that they don't love the music, but probably 90% of people go into it thinking, at least subconsciously:

"This is the Beatles...I have to like this because everyone else does. I can't just turn up my nose at a legend!"

I just don't get it. Again, maybe Ween isn't better to you, but how can you say that the Beatles are the best? I mean, maybe if you've only heard about twenty bands in your entire life, but in my opinion true music lovers should always be searching for something better. And better than the Beatles EXISTS. It seems pretty closed minded to say otherwise. It's as if youve closed the door to any possibility of finding something better, and when better comes along, you may have already ruined it for yourself with that pattern of thinking.

With respect

FM

P.S. Did either of you listen to "Hey There Fancy-Pants"? If not, you should, you might like at least that one song. Most people seem to respond to that jam.

[Mr Walrusman]

I used to think the Beatles were overrated, and I thought that a lot of bands were better. However, that was only because the only songs I had heard from them were the most popular songs from early on in their career. Now that I've listened to the music that they made later in the sixties and their less popular songs, I am much more interested in them then I used to be. I'm not trying to say how better they are than Ween (I haven't heard enough songs by them to develop my opinion on their music), I'm just trying to show how my opinion on the Beatles changed when I listened to more of their music.

[Walter Sobchak]

Eh...You can't win em all, I suppose, but I still think that there are way better bands, past and present. Outline for me, in detail, what it is about the Beatles that makes them so great, and I will take every quality you name and shine a light on any number of superior bands. It's old hat. Trailblazing? Yes, but old hat never-the-less. I get the feeling that alot of Beatles fans are fans because the rest of the world is. That isn't to say that they don't love the music, but probably 90% of people go into it thinking, at least subconsciously:

"This is the Beatles...I have to like this because everyone else does. I can't just turn up my nose at a legend!"

I just don't get it. Again, maybe Ween isn't better to you, but how can you say that the Beatles are the best? I mean, maybe if you've only heard about twenty bands in your entire life, but in my opinion true music lovers should always be searching for something better. And better than the Beatles EXISTS. It seems pretty closed minded to say otherwise. It's as if youve closed the door to any possibility of finding something better, and when better comes along, you may have already ruined it for yourself with that pattern of thinking.

Of course the Beatles are old hat; their last album came out forty years ago.

What is happening here is a convergence of what is the best and what is considered favorite. While I was obsessed with the Beatles for several months in my sophomore year of high school, I rarely listen to them these days because it is not as fresh as other material. However, that does not dilute their status as the greatest band of all time.

I listen to far more Bob Dylan (who, if the question was the greatest musician of all time, would win), the Mars Volta, the Smiths, the Velvet Underground, and the Clash, but in the case of any artist that came after the Beatles, the richness of the Fab Four is exemplified in their devotion to that ideal. From composers to rappers to metal enthusiasts, it is understood that the framework for what works comes from the Liverpool experiment. In contrast, you can likely count on one hand the number of artists who were influenced to create thanks to Ween.

Saying Ween is better than the Beatles is like saying a civilization is better than it's past; there would not be one without the other. Like you, I find a tighter emotional connection to many other artists, but their art cannot exist without the science of the Beatles.

[Strong Bad]

Big Ween fan, huh?

My roomie is probably the biggest Ween fan I know... He's seen them live who knows how many times... He's even been kicked off stage for running up and grabbing the set list. He also has all their albums on vinyl amongst a variety of bootlegged stuff. He posts on the Ween forums... perhaps you do too?

Uh... Ween are okay. Difficult to handle in large doses. The Beatles are much better.

[Josh_R]

Ween is alright I suppose. Definitely not something I would listen to everyday, like I do with The Beatles. Saying that Ween is better than the beatles is blasphemous, and you should be punished....I think I will tie you to a chair, and force you to listen to Cher for hours on end...jk

[Sean]

Not really my style, and by no means superior to The Beatles.

Interesting method o get people to read the thread/listen to the music, though.

There was nothing really catchy to any of the 3 songs I randomly picked and listened to.

But hey, to each their own. It could be worse, you could be saying shit like My Chemical Romance is > The Beatles.

[Rosetyler1]

WEEN!! OMG! personally I don't think their better then the beetles, but they are funny... I mean come on the legos and a song about cheese? how much more funny can you get?