Ween - All Request Live (2003)

An album like All Request Live is, as its title underscores, one that is aimed at hardcore fans. Unabashedly so. Thankfully, in the past few months I have been guzzling down Dean & Gene like so many hardcore Weeners raised on Pure Guava, Chocolate & Cheese (with a dash of White Pepper?...ugh). Shitty puns notwithstanding, I hesitantly waited until I comfortably celebrated Ween’s entire catalog (or most of it anyways) before delving into the once-intimidating territory of All Request Live.

Unlike 1999’s Paintin’ the Town Brown which, while at times capturing the intensity & general hullabaloo of Ween’s live show, suffered in mixing bits from different concerts, with the resulting audio (& performance) quality differing greatly, All Request Live renders the live Ween experience more transparently & thus more faithfully (even though it is ‘live in studio’ or whatever). The highlight of the album is a 5:45 version of the infamous never-used Pizza Hut jingle, “Where’d the Cheese Go At?” An excellent “Demon Sweat,” a turbulent “Mononucleosis,” a beautiful “Stay Forever” (one of those ‘serious’ Ween songs), gloriously thrashy renditions of “Cover It With Gas & Set It On Fire” & “Reggaejunkiejew” and an epic “The Stallion” (a trilogy, apparently in five parts) round off this first-rate release. While its appeal is aimed at diehards, and though it falls short of the band’s superlative live release (2002’s Live At Stubb’s), All Request Live succeeds in capturing the spontaneity, assorted esoteria and, perhaps above all, the endearing good-humor that is Ween.

Verdict: 4.2/5 (better than good)