Pure Guava

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Pure Guava
Ween-PureGuava.jpg
Studio album by
Ween
ReleasedNovember 10, 1992[1]
Recorded1992
GenreAlternative rock •

lo-fi •

experimental rock
Length55:27
LabelElektra
ProducerWeen
Ween chronology
The Pod
(1991) 		Pure Guava
(1992) 		Chocolate and Cheese
(1994)
Singles from Pure Guava
  1. "Push th' Little Daisies"
    Released: 1993

Pure Guava is the third studio album and major label debut by American rock band Ween, released on November 10, 1992 by Elektra Records.

Background[]

The album features what is one of Ween's most well-known songs, "Push th' Little Daisies". "Push th' Little Daisies" was also released as a single on August Records in 1993, including both the album and radio edit versions of the song (the latter replacing the word "shit" with a sample of Prince squealing from "Alphabet St.") and the tracks "Ode to Rene", "I Smoke Some Grass (Really Really High)" and "Mango Woman".

Many of the songs on this album come from two tapes that the band made for friends, the first being titled "Springtape", and the second titled "The Caprice Classic Tape", as stated by Dean Ween on JJJ radio in 1993.

The song "Big Jilm" was inspired by a car dealer named James A. Lemons, who worked at the dealership owned by Dean Ween's father.[2]

The song "Poop Ship Destroyer" would become a live staple for the band, although the live performances traditionally bear little resemblance to the album version and are instead played as a protracted improvised jam, either to punish or reward an audience.[3]

Reception and legacy[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic5/5 stars[4]
Christgau's Consumer GuideC+[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music3/5 stars[6]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[9]
MusicHound Rock2.5/5 stars[7]
OndaRock7/10[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide3.5/5 stars[10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide6/10[11]

AllMusic editor Heather Phares called the album "more polished and concise" than their previous albums The Pod and GodWeenSatan: The Oneness and stated that "Considering Elektra released it, it's just as uncompromising as their previous work, but it hints at just how much further they could go with their music."[4] Bill Wyman in Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+, noting that it was, "Very, very weird, but I can’t stop playing Ween’s Pure Guava."[12]

In 1999, Ned Raggett - writing for the website Freaky Trigger - named Pure Guava the 53rd best album of the 90s, hailing it as "the greatest 'major label debut after an indie career' record of the decade. Not least because it was recorded in the same exact conditions and from the same exact sessions as most of said earlier indie career, so that means that Ween hit the big time with a record compiled from the outtakes that weren't good enough for their previous album, and it's still one of the best records ever made."[13] The same year, German magazine Spex included the album on their list of the 100 best albums of the 20th century.[14] Aphex Twin named it one of his 10 favorite albums of all time (making it one of 2 Ween albums on the list, the other being The Pod).[15]

Track listing[]

All tracks written by Ween.

No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Little Birdy"Melchiondo and Chris Williams3:30
2."Tender Situation"Melchiondo3:40
3."The Stallion Pt. 3"Freeman3:30
4."Big Jilm"Freeman and Melchiondo2:10
5."Push th' Little Daisies"Freeman2:48
6."The Goin' Gets Tough from the Getgo"Freeman and Melchiondo2:08
7."Reggaejunkiejew"Melchiondo4:51
8."I Play It Off Legit"Freeman and Melchiondo3:20
9."Pumpin' 4 the Man"Freeman and Melchiondo1:30
10."Sarah"Freeman2:09
11."Springtheme"Freeman3:00
12."Flies on My Dick"Freeman and Guy Heller3:26
13."I Saw Gener Cryin' in His Sleep"Melchiondo1:48
14."Touch My Tooter"Freeman2:23
15."Mourning Glory"Freeman5:14
16."Loving U thru It All"Freeman and Melchiondo2:28
17."Hey Fat Boy (Asshole)"Freeman1:53
18."Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)"Freeman3:23
19."Poop Ship Destroyer"Freeman2:16
Total length:55:27

Personnel[]

Ween
Additional musicians
  • Mean Ween (Chris Williams) – vocals
  • Guy Heller – vocals on "Flies On My Dick"
  • Scott Lowe – vocals, whistle (Human)
  • Larry Curtin – vocals (bkgr), whistle (Human)
Production
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering
  • Andrew Weiss – bass, mixing
  • Patricia Frey - digital editing
  • Stephan Said – additional instrumentation
  • Ween – producer
  • Tom Nichols – photography
  • Reiner Design Consultants – design

Singles[]

Year Title US
Modern Rock Tracks 		AU
Aria Charts
1993 "Push th' Little Daisies" 21 18

References[]

  1. ^ "Ween Discography at MTV". mtv.com. Retrieved 25 December 2013.
  2. ^ "Ween". Facebook.com. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  3. ^ "In Praise Of Ween's "Poop Ship Destroyer," a/k/a The Penalty Song". www.villagevoice.com.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Phares, Heather. "Pure Guava – Ween". AllMusic. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (2000). "Ween: Pure Guava". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  7. ^ Gary Graff, ed. (1996). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide (1st ed.). London: Visible Ink Press. ISBN 978-0-7876-1037-1.
  8. ^ Stefano Ferreri. "Ween". OndaRock (in Italian).
  9. ^ Wyman, Bill (December 18, 1992). "Pure Guava". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 26, 2012.
  10. ^ Sarig, Roni (2004). "Ween". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 864–65. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  12. ^ Wyman, Bill (December 18, 1992). "Pure Guava". Entertainment Weekly. NYC. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  13. ^ [1]
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ "Perfect Sound Forever- interviewee's favorite music". www.furious.com. Retrieved 2021-01-18.
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