The stoner rock movement - if you can call it a movement - proved to be as nebulous as past trends like "Second Wave British Blues" and well, "post-punk". It involved a litany of varied bands from the hippest of music scenes to the farthest of far-flung places you can't even imagine. San Jose, California's Sleep provided arguably the biggest mystery the genre has ever seen. Their one and only foray into the corporate big leagues took eons to record (well, about two years, because of the Man, man) and felt even longer to experience. This epic hour-long bout of hash-slung pile-driving sludge apparently didn't impress their bigwig label enough for official release, so originally it came out in edited form as Jerusalem in 1999, followed by the full version in 2003. Not saying the Sleep records before and after suck or anything but when all is said and done their career hinges on this Gordian Knot-style whopper.

This record continually puzzles me because Dana Dane is one of the few rappers I have to strain to understand what he says. He raps with a New York/British accent. Not sure if that is genius or simply weird. I lean towards the latter. Lot of fun songs on here, though!

Well, a lot changed, because this record is better than the last one. The wily duo streamlines their approach big-time, focusing on one party-style cut after another. This blatant-sampling kind of rap may seem corny today, but stuff like "Hip Hop Junkies" and "Sometimes I Rhyme Slow" was seen as highly creative pop rap back then. Definitely a golden age record worth checking out over and over again.

One of those acts more known for their appearances on other rappers' records rather than their own. Greg Nice rapped as the loud, hype guy while Smooth B always backed him up with a life story that somehow related to the song title. The duo's debut has an expansive "We're The Rappers, He's The DJ" vibe that doesn't always work to their benefit. When they cut to the chase and match clear party raps with outrageous retro samples ("Early to Rise" and "Funky for You"), it's a winner.

This is different than the Geto Boys lineup which came to mainstream popularity in the early 90's. Different lineup and style of music. The only song from this period which crossed over to that phase of the group was "Assassins", albeit in remixed form. The music just doesn't go together at all. It's…MAKING TROUBLE! That's it!