Jerusalem and Dopesmoker

After positive reviews from the heavy metal press and the release of the album ''Sleep's Holy Mountain'' (1992) on Earache Records, Sleep's label announced that they would release their follow-up record. Sleep had been touring in Europe with Cathedral and in the United States with Nik Turner's version of Hawkwind in support of ''Sleep's Holy Mountain'' when the group felt they had to write new material. The new album was going to be an hour-long song. Matt Pike said the songwriting process was long and that they were "working on [the song] for like four years. We also had two other songs that were working on that were really long, too—like 15 and 20 minutes. But we never recorded them." Cisneros said that there was "about a year and half of legal wrangling between their managers and lawyers at Earache" and that Earache owner Digby Pearson "waited to make the most prime conditions for himself before he let [Sleep's] contract [go]." The members of Sleep were poor, and used the majority of money they received from London Records to cover for the debt they were in at that time. While recording the song, it began to develop differently from the original vision. designed to be so loud, no one from the band was capable of going into the same room as them. More than half a dozen microphones were used to pick up the sound from the amps. == Release ==

Within a few weeks of signing with London, the A&R member who was negotiating with Sleep had been transferred and replaced. London Records had David Sardy remix the album but the label was still confused as to what to do with the album. Sleep refused to have the album released in any edited form which led to a deadlock between London and the band. By 2009, there had been four versions of the album released: a rare London Records promotional disc, a bootleg with cover art by Arik Roper, the Rise Above/Music Cartel Records album, and a release by Tee Pee Records. The Rise Above/Music Cartel release was an unauthorized edited version, released in 1999 under the title Jerusalem. The version of the album titled Dopesmoker was released on April 22, 2003, by Tee Pee Records on compact disc and vinyl with a 63-minute running time. Cisneros spoke most positively about the 2003 Dopesmoker release, saying "I don't think the Dopesmoker thing is the exact version that we submitted, but that's the closest one that's come out of the four. If I had to pick a favorite, that would be it." Parts of the song were used in the film Broken Flowers by Jim Jarmusch. Jarmusch stated that he was a fan of Sleep and listed them along with Earth and Sunn O))) as an influence for creating the film: "I love these kind of visual landscapes they make, and they really inspired things for me for my film The Limits of Control". In March 2012, Southern Lord Records announced plans for a deluxe reissue of the album, adding of the pending release that "The audio is clearer, louder, and at last brings a true representation of Sleep's hour-plus Weedian chronicle". The reissue features new artwork by the band's artist Arik Roper, a recording mastered from the original studio tapes by From Ashes Rise guitarist Brad Boatright, and a live version of the song "Holy Mountain", recorded at the I-Beam in San Francisco in 1994. This version of the album reached number 14 on the Top Heatseekers chart. On August 22, 2022, Third Man Records announced the release of a remastered version of Dopesmoker on music streaming services on August 26, 2022, featuring "Hot Lava Man", a track that hadn't been released digitally before. Along with this digital release, a vinyl reissue of the album released on December 9, 2022, as well as a deluxe "Weedian High-Fi" vinyl pressed with "authentic cannabis leaves" which is only available to purchase at Third Man's Detroit storefront. == Critical reception ==

Both Dopesmoker and early releases of the album received positive reviews from the music press. In the December 2000 issue of Spin, the album was referred to as "brilliant" and as a "stoner touchstone". CMJ New Music Monthly wrote positively about the song, saying that the "monotony rarely becomes tedious, because Al Cisneros and company are unpredictable and sensual in their drug-induced pounding of early Sabbath terrain." Online music database AllMusic gave the Jerusalem album four stars out of five stating that "Either version is worth investigating for adventurous metal enthusiasts, but Dopesmoker is clearly the final and definitive presentation of this work". The album continued to receive praise after the release of Dopesmoker. Eduardo Rivadavia of online music database AllMusic gave the album four and a half stars out of five stating "Dopesmoker is [...] an instant doom metal classic—some might even say a masterpiece". Exclaim! praised Dopesmoker's production value and noted that the album was an "ultimately better version of 1999's stoner opus Jerusalem." Stylus Magazine's Stewart Voegtlin defined Dopesmoker as "a 60-minute song about the spliff, a monstrous rock ode to stinky buds". Voegtlin pointed out that London Records' refusal to "share Sleep's affection or vision, [led the band to] disbanding in disgust. Matt Pike went on to form High on Fire; Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius contemplate the universe's navel with Om." A New York Times critic wrote: "What seems disorienting and monochromatic at first grows richer and more rewarding upon repeated exposure. It's like a Mark Rothko painting hitting you over the head with a bag of hammers." The 2012 Southern Lord Records re-issue was also praised. On Metacritic, it has a score of 94 out of 100, based on 9 reviews. Exclaim! noted that this issue was "cleaner and more powerful, the guitars sound heavier, with a much larger presence, and the mesmerizing complexity of the track has been reinvigorated." Pitchfork Media gave the album an 8.5 out of 10 and listed it as one of "the best new reissues" noting that "It's an hour of adventure and momentum, where the lumber and the repetition somehow always push ahead." Consequence of Sound gave the album three and a half stars out of five, stating that "It's not for everybody, certainly; all but the biggest potheads/metalheads may burn out after so much grinding. It's no showcase for songwriting, either, but it makes up for that with heady atmosphere." == Track listings ==

All songs written by Sleep. Jerusalem Dopesmoker (Tee Pee issue) Dopesmoker (Southern Lord reissue) Dopesmoker (Third Man reissue) == Personnel ==

Sleep • Al Cisneros – vocals, bass • Matt Pike – guitar • Chris Hakius – drums Jerusalem • Sleep – producer • Philo Hayward – assistant engineering • Doug Henderson – assistant engineering • Fred Kervorkian – editing • Adam Muñoz – assistant engineering Dopesmoker (2003 Tee Pee issue) • Sleep – producer, liner notes • Billy Anderson – producer, engineering • Mark Keaton – mastering • Arik Roper – art direction • Doug Ebright – artwork Dopesmoker (2012 Southern Lord reissue) • Sleep – producer • Billy Anderson – producer, engineering • Brad Boatright – remastering • Arik Roper – artwork Dopesmoker (2022 Third Man reissue) • Billy Anderson – recording (tracks 1–4), mixing (tracks 1, 2) • Brandon Eggleston – mixing (tracks 3, 4), additional engineering (tracks 3, 4) • Zak Riles – additional engineering (tracks 2, 5, 6) • Matthew Tobias – additional engineering (tracks 3, 4) • Carl Saff – mastering • Arik Roper – artwork == See also ==