News

Things are certainly looking brown at Rhino, who’ll be releasing five CD and vinyl titles related to Ween in the coming months.

Following a deluxe edition of 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese and a Record Store Day vinyl pressing of rarities compilation Shinola, Vol. 1, the label will release Brown Box, a 10CD set of the band’s complete studio albums; color vinyl editions of late ’90s and early ’00s albums White Pepper and Quebec; and a new archival live album, Bring Out the Foos: Live 1996. All four titles will be available April 10. A week later, for Record Store Day, another live collection, Europe “90”, features three LPs of live material from early in the band’s run: a studio session recorded in The Netherlands and a fan-favorite live set taped in Switzerland not long afterward.

Brown Box includes all of the duo’s studio output released between 1990 and 2007, including Twin/Tone debut album God Ween Satan: The Oneness, a run of releases on Elektra spanning 1992’s Pure Guava to 2000’s White Pepper; the outtakes collection Shinola, Vol. 1; and the band’s most recent release, 2007’s La Cucaracha. (Chocolate and Cheese uses the same 2024 remaster from the box, but it has not been confirmed if the others have received similar treatment.) All the discs are packaged in CD-size wallets; there does not appear to be a booklet or additional notes in the packshot. The albums White Pepper and 2003’s dark Quebec, long out-of-print on vinyl, will also be made available on colored vinyl: a “green pepper” LP for the former and a pink pressing for the latter, cut at 45 RPM on two LPs.

Bring Out the Foos, releasing the same date, marked a special run of concerts for the duo. The title may clue listeners in to its origins: a series of West Coast dates opening for the Foo Fighters as frontman Dave Grohl first toured with the band after the dissolution of Nirvana. With the change in venues came a surprise reversion to their playing style; before touring in support of Chocolate and Cheese, members Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo would play their sets with the backing of additional instruments recorded on a DAT machine (and an occasional live bassist). After Chocolate, the duo expanded to a live four or five-piece band – but for one last time on these tour dates, Gener and Deaner skinned it back to basics with the DAT.

That early live style extends to a new Record Store Day release coming to independent stores on April 18. Europe “90” offers a four-track disc of a live-in-studio session the duo performed in The Netherlands on Christmas Day to promote debut GodWeenSatan: The Oneness, followed by a full set recorded days later in Basel, Switzerland for an audience of less than 10 people. The quotes in the title refer to a lack of clarity over the show – for obvious reasons, the venue remains lost to time, and conflicting reports put the set at the end of December 1990 or January 1991. What is not up for debate is the set’s quality – at least to Dean Ween, who deemed it the group’s greatest show in 2018 and mentioned his petitioning it for live release – a submission for the record this spring, limited to 7000 copies.

Amazon links for Brown Box and the vinyl reissues are live, with Bring Out the Foos hopefully to follow in due time. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.) All sets will be available at general retail on April 10, with Europe “90” arriving at Record Store Day participating venues the following Saturday, April 18.

Brown Box (Rhino, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1: GodWeenSatan: The Oneness (Twin/Tone Records TTR 89186, 1990)
CD 2: The Pod (Shimmy Disc 049, 1991)
CD 3: Pure Guava (Elektra 61428, 1992)
CD 4: Chocolate and Cheese (Elektra 61639, 1994)
CD 5: 12 Golden Country Greats (Elektra 61909, 1996)
CD 6: The Mollusk (Elektra 62013, 1997)
CD 7: White Pepper (Elektra 62449, 2000 – also available on “green pepper” LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 8: Quebec (Sanctuary 06076 84591-2, 2003 – also available on pink 45 RPM 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 9: Shinola, Vol. 1 (Chocodog CDR-1006, 2005)
CD 10: La Cucaracha (Chocodog/Rounder 11661 9077-2, 2007)

Bring Out the Foos: Live 1996 (Rhino, 2026) (Official Site / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Freedom of ’76
2. The Stallion Pt. 3
3. What Deaner Was Talkin’ About
4. Captain Fantasy
5. The HIV Song
6. Voodoo Lady
7. Don’t Shit Where You Eat
8. Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)
9. Piss Up a Rope
10. Marble Tulip Juicy Tree
11. Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)
12. Never Squeal
13. I Can’t Put My Finger on It
14. Pork Roll Egg and Cheese
15. Sketches of Winkle
16. You Fucked Up
17. L.M.L.Y.P.
18. The Golden Eel
19. Demon Sweat

Tracks 1, 9, 11 and 16 recorded live at Saltair Pavilion, Salt Lake City, UT – 4/23/1996
Tracks 2, 8, 10 and 19 recorded live at Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – 5/2/1996
Tracks 3 and 17 recorded live at CUB Ballroom, Pullman, WA – 4/26/1996
Tracks 4, 6 and 13 recorded live at Warfield Theater, San Francisco, CA – 4/30/1996
Track 5 recorded live at Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA – 5/3/1996
Track 7 recorded live at Salem Armory Auditorium, Salem, OR – 4/27/1996
Track 12 recorded live at Crawford Hall, Irvine, CA – 5/4/1996
Tracks 14-15 and 18 recorded live at Cain’s Ballroom, Tulsa, OK – 4/20/1996

Europe “90” (Rhino, 2026)

LP 1: Krismas Eindhoven 1990

Side A

1. Cover It with Gas and Set It on Fire (Tango Studio Session, Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 12/25/1990)
2. Albino Sunburn Girl (Tango Studio Session, Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 12/25/1990)

Side B

1. Push th’ Little Daisies (and Make M Come Up) (Tango Studio Session, Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 12/25/1990)
2. I Was Nothing (Tango Studio Session, Eindhoven, The Netherlands – 12/25/1990)

LP 2-3: The Reality of Brown – Live in Basel “1990”

Side C

1. The Star Spangled Banner
2. Nan
3. Papa Zit
4. Bumblebee
5. Seconds

Side D

1. The Goin’ Gets Tough from the Getgo
2. Where Do the Children Play
3. Captain Fantasy
4. Boing
5. Old Queen Cole

Side E

1. L.M.L.Y.P.
2. The Wind is Whispering
3. Squelch the Weasel
4. You Fucked Up

Side F

1. Tick
2. Maple Tulip Juicy Tree
3. Tender Situation

LPs 2-3 recorded live at unknown venue in Basel, Switzerland – possibly 12/30/1990 or January 1991