[rayword45]

Originally Posted by EzExZeRo7497

Dopesmoker by Sleep (recommended by rayword45)

I couldn't get into it. This is supposed to put you into a trance-like state or at least immersed, from what I've read. I don't think they achieved that with Dopesmoker for me. The solos do almost nothing for me (other than the part 40 minutes in) and I thought the vocals were pretty trite. However, my main problem is the length. Why is this 63 minutes long? It is quite monolithic, but I think it appears to look far larger than it really is. It is rather unpredictable when it comes to the solos and all, but that doesn't mean that it should be that long. The riffs do sound rather nice though, just not interesting enough to hold my attention for nearly an hour. Maybe if it's shortened to 30 minutes it'd be nice. Flood 2 by Boris is a beautiful track that rarely moves other than the occasional guitar solos, creating a lot more beauty than that in 1/3 of the time. So I don't think Dopesmoker needed to be that long-winded.

Sonic Titan is a bit too upbeat for me to like, despite its heavy sound. It's nice that it's significantly shorter, but if it doesn't work if you couldn't hold my attention within the first few minutes to begin with. Does feel a little too cheesy too, but I think that's just me being overly analytical at that point. I can't really conjure a picture when it comes to this, unlike Dopesmoker.

I'm pretty sure I missed the entire point of Dopesmoker. I really don't get it, it's an album that doesn't faze me in any way. It is a nice listen, but it doesn't go any deeper than that. The landscape I get from Dopesmoker ultimately becomes repetitious due to its length and lack of variation. More variation would've been fantastic. As it is I just think it drags on way too much for its own good. It's a great sound for the first 20 minutes though.

Album Highlights: -
Overall Rating: 6/10

A. I believe you listened to the old 2003 version, since you mentioned Sonic Titan. While the changes aren't THAT noticeable and really wouldn't have made a difference in score, I still believe that you should've went with that one.

B. If you don't get it, then that's perfectly fine (I've heard condescending marks about this album being "anti-music" or "pretentious"). I think your claims of shortening the album making it better though are a bit ill-advised, since the sprawl of the album is part of the appeal, but that's just my opinion.