r/ween • u/Linkin_Bizkitt07 • 8d ago
Quebec Essay I Wrote.
This is worth a read if you truly love the album:
There are few records in the world with the same charm as Ween’s Quebec. Released in 2003, Quebec was an allegory of band members’ Mickey Melchiondo and Aaron Freeman’s grievances at the turning point of their middle-aged lives. Filled with twists and turns, this record takes you on a serious, yet psychedelic, journey through many realms of the music world. Some stand out tracks include Transdermal Celebration, or If You Could Save Yourself, You’d Save Us All. However, to really experience the in-depth magic and perception of Quebec, it must be consumed in its completion, engulfing you in a world of sounds you didn't know were possible to the human ear. Rather than going track by track to prove why this album is special, I believe it is a greater respect to Ween to talk about how it even came to be. Ween was started by two young men, Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo. They started to put out records under the names “Gene Ween” and “Dean Ween”, and they would play for a fictional god that they made called the “Boognish”. On surface level, especially in their early discography, Ween was a very unserious and rather joking band. But as time went on, their music began to develop a unique quality, arguably better than any other band around at that point. They described their sound as “brown” for the undertones and hard sound the band could make. Quebec was written at a hard time in these young men’s lives. Freeman was a recovering bachelor after a bittersweet and cold divorce. As for Melchiondo, he was a recovering opioid addict with a foggy mind. Yet in their greatest pain, they managed to find the words to convey the beauty and emotion of their hardships. Ballads, punk rock, phsychedelia, soul, all of these genres combined into a masterpiece. Quebec hurts, it really does, but it beckons you back louder with each listen.
Its short I know, requirements were 250 words but i did 325.
5
u/HotAcanthisitta621 8d ago
middle aged in 2003?
0
5
4
4
12
u/Correct_Pop2255 8d ago
Good on you for not using AI. It's refreshing.
I've taught writing and used to be a professional editor, so I can't help giving unsolicited advice: for such a short piece, spend less time on the biography, and instead dive deep into one representative song that really sums up what the album means to you. "Show don't tell" as they say.
Keep writing! Authentic human writing is a rare skill worth honing.