{{about|the Ween album|the spice|white pepper}} {{redirect|She's Your Baby|the Kid Rock song|Bad Reputation (Kid Rock album)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = White Pepper | type = studio | artist = Ween | cover = Ween-WhitePepper.jpg | border = yes | alt = A white capsicum on a white background | released = May 2, 2000 | recorded = 1999–2000 | studio = | genre = * Alternative rock * psychedelic pop | length = 39:35 | label = Elektra | producer = * Christopher Shaw * Ween | prev_title = Paintin' the Town Brown: Ween Live 1990–1998 | prev_year = 1999 | next_title = Live in Toronto Canada | next_year = 2001 | misc = {{Singles | name = White Pepper | type = Studio | single1 = Even If You Don't | single1date = 2000 | single2 = Stay Forever | single2date = 2000 }} }} {{Music ratings | MC = 66/100<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/music/white-pepper/ween |title=White Pepper by Ween Reviews and Tracks |website=Metacritic |access-date=September 19, 2021}}</ref> | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="am">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/white-pepper-mw0000051935 |title=White Pepper – Ween |website=AllMusic |access-date=July 14, 2015 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Chicago Sun-Times'' | rev2score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4551580.html |title=Ween, 'White Pepper' (Elektra) |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |date=July 2, 2000 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |last=DeRogatis |first=Jim |author-link=Jim DeRogatis |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119072717/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4551580.html |archive-date=November 19, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Entertainment Weekly'' | rev3score = B<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://ew.com/article/2000/06/02/white-pepper/ |title=White Pepper |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=June 2, 2000 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |last=Walters |first=Barry}}</ref> | rev4 = ''The Guardian'' | rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="prod">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,3605,219789,00.html |title=Childish Prodigies |newspaper=The Guardian |date=May 12, 2000 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |last=Cox |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Cox (writer)}}</ref> | rev5 = ''Melody Maker'' | rev5score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Ween: White Pepper |magazine=Melody Maker |date=May 3–9, 2000 |last=Mongredien |first=Phil |page=52}}</ref> | rev6 = ''NME'' | rev6score = 5/10<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000608125647.html |title=Ween – White Pepper |magazine=NME |date=June 8, 2000 |access-date=June 26, 2017 |last=Ward |first=Christian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816154835/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/20000608125647.html |archive-date=August 16, 2000 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev7 = ''Pitchfork'' | rev7score = 8.0/10<ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8604-white-pepper/ |title=Ween: White Pepper |website=Pitchfork |date=April 30, 2000 |access-date=July 14, 2015 |last=LeMay |first=Matt}}</ref> | rev8 = ''Rolling Stone'' | rev8score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ween/albums/album/96017/review/5943308/white_pepper |title=Ween: White Pepper |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=May 11, 2000 |access-date=July 14, 2015 |last=McLeod |first=Kembrew |author-link=Kembrew McLeod |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001031743/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/ween/albums/album/96017/review/5943308/white_pepper |archive-date=October 1, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | rev9 = ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'' | rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Ween |last=Sarig |first=Roni |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/864 864–865]}}</ref> | rev10 = ''Uncut'' | rev10score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Ween: White Pepper |magazine=Uncut |issue=39 |date=August 2000 |last=Bell |first=Max |page=86}}</ref> }}
'''''White Pepper''''' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Ween, and the last album they would release on Elektra Records. It was released on May 2, 2000.
==Musical style== The album incorporates elements of genres such as acoustic pop, Caribbean music, country, electronica, grunge, jazz, progressive rock, psychedelia, soft rock, speed metal, stoner rock and Britpop.<ref name="am"/><ref name="vill">{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/new-hope-for-the-stupid/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250602152350/https://www.villagevoice.com/new-hope-for-the-stupid/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 2, 2025|title=New Hope for the Stupid|first=Carla|last=Spartos|date=May 23, 2000}}</ref><ref name="prod" /><ref name="weird">{{Cite web|url=https://www.news-gazette.com/blogs/the-weirdness-that-is-ween/article_0076ef05-0bd0-5da5-8db6-5a3b0336273e.html|title=The Weirdness that is Ween|first=The|last=News-Gazette|date=October 19, 2014|website=The News-Gazette}}</ref> "Bananas and Blow" has elements of Caribbean/calypso music and is lyrically about a drug mule.<ref name="weird"/><ref name="prod"/> "Stroker Ace" is a speed metal track, and one of the band's heaviest songs,<ref name="weird"/> while "The Grobe" has been called a grunge/stoner rock-style song.<ref name="vill"/><ref name="prod"/> Among the other songs on the album, "Pandy Fackler" is a jazz-influenced track,<ref name="weird"/> the instrumental "Ice Castles" draws from electronica, "Falling Out" has elements of country music and the single "Stay Forever" is an acoustic pop number. AllMusic describe the lead single "Even If You Don't" as being a Britpop-styled track, and "Back to Basom" as a "psych-prog-tinged soft-rock epic".<ref name="am"/>
"Stay Forever" was written for cellist Tanya Haden.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7VbwPex5RY|title=Stay Forever|date=September 16, 2012|access-date=March 21, 2026|via=YouTube}}</ref>
==Promotion and commercial performance== The band helped promote the album by performing "Exactly Where I'm At" on the ''Late Show with David Letterman''. The track "Even If You Don't" was made into a music video and directed by Trey Parker and Matt Stone of ''South Park'' fame. According to Dean Ween (Mickey Melchiondo), he and Gene Ween (Aaron Freeman) are good friends of Parker and Stone, and Freeman has referred to them as "kindred spirits."<ref>[http://liveforlivemusic.com/features/watch-weens-even-if-you-dont-music-video-directed-by-the-creators-of-south-park/ "Watch Ween's 'Even If You Don't' Music Video Directed By The Creators Of South Park"]. ''Live For Live Music''. Retrieved 2016-4-16</ref>
In November 2002, two and a half years after the album was released, ''Billboard'' magazine reported that White Pepper had sold 72,000 copies in the US alone.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/ween-just-about-done-with-new-album-73517/ |title=Ween 'Just About Done' With New Album |publisher=Billboard Magazine |access-date=August 19, 2024}}</ref>
===Singles=== * "Even If You Don't" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with the B-side "Cornbread Red". * "Stay Forever" was released as a single on Mushroom Records with "The Grobe" and "Who Dat?". "Who Dat?" was also included in the Japanese version of the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/36.aspx |title=WEEN {{ndash}} White Pepper |website=Pop-catastrophe.co.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526070034/http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk/36.aspx |archive-date=May 26, 2008}}</ref>
==Legacy== ''White Pepper'' was included on ''Creative Loafing''{{'}}s list of the 101 best albums of the 2000s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://creativeloafing.com/content-155662-Top-101-Albums-of-the-decade-(2000-2009)|title = Top 101 Albums of the decade (2000–2009)|website=Creativeloafing.com}}</ref> while ''Glide'' magazine named it the 12th best album of the decade.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://glidemagazine.com/15034/glides-best-albums-of-the-decade/ | title=Glide's Best Albums of the Decade|website=Glidemagazine.com | date=14 December 2009 }}</ref> ''Magnet'' included it at No. 15 on their list of the 60 best albums released between 1993 and 2003.{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}} Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters named it one of his favorite albums of all time, stating: "I love the stew of what they do – they can be whimsical, they can be heavy – they're just incredible musicians and songwriters. To me, ''White Pepper'' is an amazing snapshot and a great collection of songs. They're kind of like Beck – they've always delivered – and also some of it is just so fucking juvenile."<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Quietus {{!}} Features {{!}} Baker's Dozen {{!}} Feel Like Dancin'? Jake Shears' Favourite Albums|url=https://thequietus.com/articles/28382-jake-shears-scissor-sisters-interview-favourite-music?page=10|access-date=2021-01-18|website=The Quietus|language=en-us}}</ref>
In 2020, ''Stereogum''{{'}}s Nate Rogers wrote a piece on the album for its 20th anniversary. He attributed the initial lukewarm reception of the album to its lack of profanity and increased accessibility, suggesting that it may have alienated much of the band's hardcore fans. "It's much easier to appreciate ''White Pepper'' now that we know it did not lead to a final form in which Ween were just edge-less and overglossed" he wrote, "The band never gave in to the powers that be. They never stopped being artists who deferred to the playful will of their mighty Demon God Boognish while also writing frequently — if not perpetually — fantastic music."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2082757/ween-white-pepper-review/reviews/the-anniversary/|title = Ween's 'White Pepper' Turns 20|website=Stereogum.com|date = 30 April 2020}}</ref>
==Track listing== All songs written by Ween. Published by Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Ver Music/Browndog Music, BMI.
{{Track listing | title1 = Exactly Where I'm At | length1 = 4:31 | extra1 = Freeman | title2 = Flutes of Chi | length2 = 3:30 | extra2 = Freeman | title3 = Even If You Don't | length3 = 3:25 | extra3 = Freeman | title4 = Bananas and Blow | length4 = 3:34 | extra4 = Freeman | title5 = Stroker Ace | length5 = 2:08 | extra5 = Freeman, Melchiondo | title6 = Ice Castles | length6 = 2:05 | note6 = instrumental | title7 = Back to Basom | length7 = 3:46 | extra7 = Freeman | title8 = The Grobe | length8 = 3:32 | extra8 = Freeman | title9 = Pandy Fackler | length9 = 3:57 | extra9 = Melchiondo | title10 = Stay Forever | length10 = 3:32 | extra10 = Freeman | title11 = Falling Out | length11 = 2:28 | extra11 = Freeman, Melchiondo | title12 = She's Your Baby | length12 = 3:00 | extra12 = Freeman | extra_column = Lead Vocals | total_length = 39:35 }}
{{Track listing | headline = Japan bonus track | extra_column = Lead Vocals | total_length = 41:56 | title13 = Who Dat? | length13 = 2:21 | extra13 = Freeman }}
==Personnel== According to the album's liner notes:<ref name="liner notes">{{Cite AV media notes|title=White Pepper|others=Ween|year=2000|publisher=Elektra Records|location=US|type=CD notes|id=62449-2}}</ref> {{div col}} '''Ween'''
* Dean Ween * Gene Ween * Dave Dreiwitz * Glenn McClelland * Claude Coleman Jr.
'''Additional musicians'''
* Stu Basore * Jane Scarpantoni * Russel Simins * Vaneese Thomas * Angela Clemons * Mark McDonald * Greg Frey * Pat Frey – arrangements on "She's Your Baby"
'''Technical'''
* Chris Shaw – producer, engineer, mixer * Danny Madorsky – assistant engineer * Phil Painson – assistant engineer * Damian Shannon – assistant engineer * Kirk Miller – live sound engineer * Ween – producer * Howie Weinberg – mastering * Jon Weiss – cover art illustration * Gregory Burke – art direction * Danny Clinch – photography {{div col end}}
==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- ! Chart (2000) ! Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Germany|83|id=11683|artist=Ween|album=White Pepper|rowheader=true|access-date=5 July 2022}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|121|artist=Ween|rowheader=true|access-date=June 30, 2020}} |- {{album chart|BillboardHeatseekers|2|artist=Ween|rowheader=true|access-date=June 30, 2020}} |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Discogs master|type=album|32667|name=White Pepper}}
{{Ween}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:2000 albums Category:Ween albums Category:Elektra Records albums