''Methodrone'' is the debut studio album by American

psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...

band

the Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American Rock music, rock band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called ''Dig!'', and have gained media notorie ...

, released in 1995 by record label Bomp!.

Content

The title of the album is a portmanteau of the drug

methadone Methadone, sold under the brand names Dolophine and Methadose among others, is a synthetic opioid used medically to treat chronic pain and opioid use disorder. Prescribed for daily use, the medicine relieves cravings and opioid withdrawal sym ...

, used in treatment of

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

addiction, and the word "drone". The album's dreamy

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

rock sound is comparable to that of

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psyched ...

and My Bloody Valentine. ''Methodrone'' is the only album to feature vocalists Elise Dye and Paola Simmonds. Drummers Brian Glaze and Graham Bonnar were also brought into the line-up to replace

Ricky Maymi Ricky Rene Maymi () is an American rock musician, best known as an original member of the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Brian Jonestown Massacre A founding member and original drummer of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, he ...

who had begun playing bass in the band. It was also Graham Bonnar's only appearance in the band.

Cover artwork

The faces featured on the cover artwork are, clockwise from top left, Brian Glaze,

Matt Hollywood Matthew Hollywood (born June 11, 1973) is an American indie rock guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and leader of the Portland-based indie rock band The Out Crowd, as well as a founding member of the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jo ...

Anton Newcombe Anton Alfred Newcombe (born August 29, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Newcombe was the subject of the 2004 documentary film '' Dig!'', alo ...

and Dean Taylor. The water ripple effect resembles the artwork of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

's 1971 record ''

Meddle ''Meddle'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released by Harvest Records on 5 November 1971 in the United Kingdom. The album was produced between the band's touring commitments, from January to August 1971 at a se ...

''.

Release

"She Made Me" and "Evergreen" were previously released as a double A-side single in 1992. ''Methodrone'' was released in 1995 by record label Bomp!. The album was released following the departure of guitarist and founding member Travis Threlkel. The album was re-released in 2007 on Anton Newcombe's A Records. "Wisdom" was later re-recorded on the band's first and only album with

TVT Records TVT Records, originally Tee-Vee Toons, was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb in 1984. Initially created to release the '' Television's Greatest Hits'' series of classic TV theme tune compilations, the label would expand into ra ...

, ''

Strung Out in Heaven ''Strung Out in Heaven'' is the seventh studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in June 1998 and was the band's first and only recording with the large independent label, TVT Records. Backgro ...

''. "Wisdom", "She's Gone", "That Girl Suicide" and "Evergreen" were included on the band's greatest hits compilation '' Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A Retrospective''.

Critical reception

''Methodrone'' was largely ignored upon its release, but managed to garner a favorable review in ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'', with Brian Bannin writing: "Everything moves with the slowness and presence of a disgraced monarch in exile... At its best, ''Methodrone'' has the tormented grace of accepting doom". In 2018, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' ranked ''Methodrone'' at number 33 on its list of "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time".

Track listing

Personnel

Personnel as per liner notes. ;The Brian Jonestown Massacre *

– guitar, bass, drums, vocals * Jeffrey Davies – guitar ("That Girl Suicide", "Hyperventilation") * Rick Maymi – bass ("Evergreen", "Wisdom", "Short Wave", "She Made Me") *

– bass, vocals ("That Girl Suicide", "Wasted", "Hyperventilation") * Brian Glaze – drums ("That Girl Suicide", "Wasted", "Hyperventilation") * Graham Bonnar – drums ("Wisdom", "Crushed", "Everyone Says", "Short Wave", "She Made Me", "She's Gone") * Elise Dye – vocals ("Evergreen") * Paola Simmonds – vocals ("Everyone Says") ;Engineering and mixing * Anton Newcombe ("Evergreen", "Crushed", "Everyone Says", "Records", "Outback", "She's Gone") * David Deresinski ("Records", "End of the Day", "Outback", "She's Gone") * Eric Holland ("Evergreen", "Wisdom", "Short Wave", "She Made Me", "I Love You") * John Karr ("End of the Day") * Jessica Wing ("Evergreen") * Adriene Gulyassy ("Evergreen", "Crushed", "That Girl Suicide", "Wasted", "Everyone Says", "Hyperventilation")

References

External links

* 1995 debut albums The Brian Jonestown Massacre albums {{1990s-rock-album-stub