In her review of Chocolate and Cheese for Spin, Terri Sutton observed that Ween "seems to have potty-trained its predilection for lengthy funk deconstructions", limiting their "Prince/Brothers Johnson fixation" to "a prized few taut, sexy saunters" and elsewhere exploring new musical territory by taking influence from Southern rock, Philadelphia soul, and disco, among other styles. "Certifiably insane and dangerously insidious," Paul Rees wrote in Select, "Chocolate and Cheese is the finest argument for dropping out and tuning in to Ween's parallel universe."

Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Heather Phares lauded Chocolate and Cheese as "a brilliant fusion of pop and gonzo humor" and "arguably Ween's finest moment", which "proved for once and all that along with their twisted sense of humor and wide musical vocabulary, Dean and Gene are also impressive songwriters." The entire album was played live as part of the group's setlist at the Desert Daze festival in California on October 12, 2019.

Appearances in other media

In 1995, the video for "Freedom of '76" appeared in an episode of Beavis and Butt-Head titled "Bus Trip". In 2001, "Take Me Away" was used in the film One Night at McCool's, in addition to being included on the soundtrack album for that film. "Voodoo Lady" can be heard in the 2000 comedy films Road Trip and Dude, Where's My Car?, which coincidentally both starred Seann William Scott. The song was also included on the soundtrack albums for these two films, and in Road Trip, a poster of Chocolate and Cheese can be seen in the dorm room of the characters, alongside a poster of Lida Husik's 1997 album Fly Stereophonic. "Voodoo Lady" had earlier been included on the original version of "In the Bathroom", a skit from the 1990s sketch comedy show The State, while the album track "Buenas Tardes Amigo" was featured in the German films Lammbock and Herr Lehmann. In August 2022, Ween performed "Take Me Away", "Roses Are Free" and an extended version of "Voodoo Lady" for the 25th anniversary concert of the animated series South Park.

Covers

A number of songs on Chocolate and Cheese have been covered by a variety of other artists in the years since its release.

  • "Roses Are Free" has been covered by the band Phish repeatedly. Official releases of their version appear on Phish's live concert albums Hampton Comes Alive (1999) and Live Phish 04.03.98 (2005). The 2000 documentary Bittersweet Motel features the band learning the track backstage at the Rochester War Memorial in Rochester, NY and then transitions into their first onstage interpretation. In an interview from 2015, Melchiondo observed that Ween began playing "Roses Are Free" regularly in concert after Phish began covering it, and credited Phish for boosting the song's popularity. Phish's guitarist, Trey Anastasio, commented to the crowd after their August 7, 2015, cover, suggesting that Mickey and Aaron should play together again, which was followed by Ween's first comeback show at the 1stBank Center in Broomfield, CO on December 2, 2016 where the song was played among 32 others.
  • Ash recorded a version of "What Deaner Was Talkin' About". It was released as a B-side on their 1997 single "A Life Less Ordinary", which was written for the film of the same name. This track also features on their limited edition live album, Live at the Wireless.
  • Amos Lee performed "Buenas Tardes Amigo" on an iTunes exclusive live album entitled iTunes Live from SoHo.
  • Jon Auer (The Posies, Big Star) covered "Baby Bitch" on his solo EP 6 1/2.
  • Folk punk musician Sunny War covered "Baby Bitch" on her 2023 album Anarchist Gospel.
  • Indie rock band Cherry Glazerr covered "Baby Bitch" as a stand alone single.

Track listing

30th anniversary deluxe edition bonus tracks

Personnel

Ween

  • Gene Ween – lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitar, drum machine, keyboards; harmonica on “Drifter In The Dark”
  • Dean Ween – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar, drums, drum machine, keyboards
  • Claude Coleman Jr. – drums, percussion, drum machine, backing vocals
  • Andrew Weiss - bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals; sound effects on “Voodoo Lady”

Additional personnel

  • Patricia Frey - drums on “Baby Bitch”
  • Stephan Said - classical guitar on “Buenas Tardes Amigos”
  • Scott Lowe - programming and backing vocals on “What Deaner Was Talking About”
  • Mean Ween – bass guitar and lead vocals on “Candi”

Technical

  • Greg Frey – engineer
  • Howie Weinberg – mastering
  • Andrew Weiss – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Kirk Miller – live sound
  • Ashley Savage – model
  • Danny Clinch – photography
  • John Kuczala – photography
  • Reiner Design Consultants – design

Deluxe edition reissue personnel

  • Jerry Kennedy Jr. – words and vocals (track 31)
  • Jason Jones – produced reissue for release
  • Bernie Grundman – mastering
  • Kara Hailele-Griffin Coleman – product manager
  • Dean Ween – liner notes
  • Darryl Norsen, D. Norsen Design – package design
  • Sheryl Farber – editorial supervisor
  • Photos courtesy of Danny Clinch
  • Sean Heydorff, Lisa Glines, Rory Wilson, Amelia Halverson, Steve Woolard, Patrick Milligan, Molly Dolan, Brigid McNally, Mark Ramsey, Dave Kapp, Danny Berman, Trestan Matel, Allison Boron, and Sam Stone – project assistance
  • 2024 management by Patrick Jordan and Brad Sands with Lindsay Fitzgerald

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 1994–1995 chart performance for Chocolate and Cheese

! scope="col"| Chart (1994–1995)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)

| 80

|-

|}

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2024 chart performance for Chocolate and Cheese

! scope="col"| Chart (2024)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

|-

|-

|}

References