Join Consequence for '99 Rewind, a weekly celebration of the 25th anniversary of movies, television and music from 1999. Today, we zoom in on the smoky, zooted monster of Sleep. drug addict (also know as Jerusalem) on their own terms.
Sometimes an album is excellent in a way that warrants multi-chapter dissertations. Other times, the greatness of an album simply asks us to tell its story before moving out of its way. Sleep junkie falls firmly into the latter.
The band's masterpiece turns 25 this year (it's a bit complicated, we'll get to that), and its reputation as “essential marijuana music” has become increasingly prevalent. In fact, it's so prevalent that newer fans (or older fans who might have a hard time remembering the 2000s for… reasons) might not realize that for years the “official, band-sanctioned” version of the album was considered lost in time. It's a story wrapped in mythology, hard riffs and, yes, marijuana smoke.
To celebrate the hour-long stoner metal odyssey that is junkie, we have come prepared. We'll start with the old and reliable: a sober and analytical look at the album's history, content and legacy. Then, armed with some leafy green buds and enough GWAR Bud of Gods gummies to kill a horse, we take our own advice and stay out of their way. Let's enter Jerusalem with Sleep as our guide.
Sober shot of the big brain
Like all great albums, Sleep's record label hated junkie when the San Jose trio finally delivered the recording. The label, London Records, had won the band over other competitors (mainly Elektra), not only by topping the bill for what would become junkie, but promising to give Sleep full creative control over the project. Apparently they were so enthused by the band's knack for hard rock with lots of bluesy riffs that they helped them release themselves from their previous contract early. So when the band finished recording in 1995 and dropped a 63-minute-long song on the desk of whatever anonymous executive was unlucky enough to receive it, they began to doubt their decisions.
Although saying “their decisions” would be inaccurate. According to legend, the A&R representatives who had defended the band had already left when the junkie It was ready for post-production. Those who inherited these strong-willed stoners attempted several rounds of mixing and editing to reign in the monstrous junkie. In the meantime, they implored the band to consider something, anything, that was a little more commercially accessible. But Sleep did not give in and, paralyzed, the album was shelved and London Records never officially released it.
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