Dopesmoker

Artist: Sleep
Label: Tee Pee Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: LP Record
Number Of Discs: 2

UPC: 707239004914
EAN: 0707239004914
ASIN: B00008V5VP

Release Date: 2003-06-03

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Tracks:

Dopesmoker
Sonic Titan

Similar Items:

Sleep's Holy Mountain
Dopethrone
Jerusalem
Blessed Black Wings
Surrounded By Thieves

Customer Reviews:

no really this sucks ..........2007-02-12

I loved 'holy mountain' but really this sucks, long, repetitive and requiring chemical support to listen to.

Good even if yr not stoned!.......2006-12-11

I have a strong feeling that the dudes who made this record were getting stoned one day listening to "Sweet Leaf" by Black Sabbath and one of them said to the group, "Dudes, what if this song was slowed down... so slow that it was an hour long? What would that sound like man?" And then they all agreed it would be pretty heavy for that to happen, then they sat in silence pondering this discovery... got even more stoned, picked up their guitars and recorded this album.

All that said, I have never smoked weed in my life and I think this record rules. Recomended to stoners, metal fans, or anybody really.

'Heavy ' is just a word.......2006-10-26

Smoke; thundering drums of doom; more smoke; hulking buffalo-fuzz bass lines; imposing, gnarly soot-caked riffs played on the crustiest guitar ever fretted; shaggy green sasquatch-like vocals that do more chanting more than singing; lyrics chronicling bong-fogged Biblical events.
Sleep opened the portal to something ancient, sprawling, slow as molasses and vivid as a vietnam flashback.
Not exactly 'Stoner Rock' , Sleep were more like spiritual shamans. Having little to do with Reggae musically, but from the same realm as Rastafari Holy men, like Bob marley. this album is its own genre.
i believe this is an earlier, extended version of 'Jerusalem'. it sounds a lot clearer , and a lot rawer, which, for this type of music, is of course ideal. the bonus live track is buoyant in contrast. song-wise it sounds like a lost Holy Mountain tune.
the artwork is pretty bitchin too, courtesy of Arik Roper.
if you like your Doom transcendental , loud , and numbingly heavy , this is the ticket. turn on , tune in , drop out...Mmaaaaaannnn

THE Epic Piece of Riff Worship.......2006-10-08

After a deal of critical acclaim following the fantastic "Holy Mountain" album, Sleep found their way into new ground with a bigger label deal and well, lots of money. The band used this money to buy loads of weed, and amps, lots of amps. Out of this they created "Jerusalem", an epic journey of riffs and silly lyrics about weed pilgrims and the likes. The problem was that it was too inaccessible for most labels, and it drifted into obscurity. But thankfully those wondrous people at Tee Pee have re-released a longer, heavier, and generally better sounding mix of the original, the aptly named "Dopesmoker". It contains all the massively fuzzed-out riffs and trippy, disorientating guitar solos that anyone could ever want.

For those new to Sleep, this is probably not the place to start, as it is one huge hour-long monolith, and their LP "Holy Mountain" is easier on the stomach and equally mesmerising. For those with the old "Jerusalem" I would advise you to try this, the guitar tone is much richer and Pike's solos are far superior, especially the first solo that comes in around the 14 minute ****, it is jaw-droppingly splendid. His feel for the solo is what makes it special, he plays with such flow and ease it reminisces that Hendrix fluidity that only the most gifted guitarists can pull off. Other moments of excellence include around 40 minutes, the band slows everything down, stripping the fuzzy guitars to play a simple motif. It acts as a perfect break from the engulfing sounds, and works its way wonderfully to my favourite riff in the songs entirety. The album also includes a live track called Sonic Titan, a kind of re-working of the title track from "Holy Mountain", an enjoyable song but it feels more of a collector's item than a necessity.

Special mention should also go to drummer Chris Haikus, who managed to keep the flow going with apparent ease. He never misses a beat or comes in from a fill slightly out of time, a great feat when you consider this version was recorded in one sitting live.

If you are a fan of 70s metal, big riffs, fuzzy tones and ethereal guitar solos then you really cannot go wrong with this. My only warning would be to those who lack concentration, as this is one massively long piece with moments of disorientating repetition, but I assume you wouldn't even be on this page if you can't handle a song over 4 minutes.

For stoner rock, this gets high marks.......2006-09-16

"Drop out of life with bong in hand, Follow the smoke toward the riff-filled land..." Thus begins this gargantuan epic which, despite being largely responsible for the demise of Sleep, is a masterpiece and a must-have for any fan of riff-metal.

The story behind this album: Northern California doom-rock trio gets signed to London Records in the grunge heyday, and spends all of the six-figure advance on pot and recording. The result, two years later, is a 63-minute dirge about a bunch of priests back in the day transporting "herb bales" on the backs of camels across the desert. Not surprisingly, London Records cans the project and drops the band.

But you can't keep something like this hidden forever! Finally released in its entirety, "Dopesmoker" stays in the key of "C" (Sleep tuned its guitars down two whole-steps to get a super-sludgy, heavy sound) from start to finish. The riff just slowly mutates. A few guitar solos and soft passages color the mix, but this is at heart an exercise in mind-numbing repetition that somehow never gets boring.

And speaking of mind-numbing, the lyrics and title certainly make clear the source of inspiration for this beast: "Proceeds the Weedian - Nazareth" ... "Lungsmen unearth the creed of Hasheeshian" ... "Grow-Room is church temple of the new stoner breed" ... and the funniest line I have heard in a long time: "Marijuanaut escapes earth to cultivate." Good lord, these fellas liked their chronic! The last liner note says it best: "So get high, crank it up and listen with open ears and mind..."

There are not many who will care to invest the time and effort to take this in. But for anyone who loves a good, slow, HEAVY riff, this is essential listening, and if anything, at 63 minutes "Dopesmoker" isn't long enough!

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