Chocolate and Cheese is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Ween, originally released by Elektra Records in 1994.
In addition, drummer Claude Coleman Jr. joined the band, meaning they had live instrumentation as opposed to relying on a drum machine.
The sound is clearer due to having been recorded digitally as opposed to the tapes that the first three albums were done on, and the resources the band now had meant they could experiment more than they did in the previous lo-fi set up.
The creative director of Reiner Design Consultants, Roger Gorman, stated that they were given the direction to make it look like an album cover by the Ohio Players.
[5] 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.
[15] "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.
"[1] Similarly, Pitchfork reviewer Stuart Berman wrote that it showed "that when you scraped away the cruddy production and pitch-shifting chicanery that defined their previous records, Ween were undeniable pop songwriters.
"[9] Rob Hughes of Uncut found that despite Ween's many "audacious stylistic turns" throughout Chocolate and Cheese, "the songs are so good they transcend notions of pastiche", concluding that the album, while sometimes crossing "the limits of acceptable taste", documents the band's "sheer verve, ideas and invention".
[19] CKY guitarist (and dedicated Ween fan) Chad Ginsburg appeared in the "Freedom of '76" promo video as an extra shouting at Gene and Dean after they stole the Liberty Bell.