Methodrone

Last updated
Methodrone
Methodrone.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 25, 1995
Genre
Length71:58
Label Bomp!
Producer
  • Naut Human
  • David Deresinski
The Brian Jonestown Massacre chronology
Methodrone
(1995)
Spacegirl & Other Favorites
(1995)

Methodrone is the debut studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 1995 by record label Bomp!.

Contents

Content

The title of the album is a portmanteau of the drug methadone, used in treatment of heroin addiction, and the word "drone". The album's dreamy shoegaze rock sound is comparable to that of Spacemen 3 and My Bloody Valentine. [1]

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 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, Anton Newcombe and Dean Taylor. The water ripple effect resembles the artwork of Pink Floyd's 1971 record Meddle .

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, Strung Out in Heaven . "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

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]

Methodrone was largely ignored upon its release, but managed to garner a favorable review in CMJ New Music Monthly , 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". [2]

In 2018, Pitchfork ranked Methodrone at number 33 on its list of "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time". [3]

Track listing

All tracks are written by The Brian Jonestown Massacre except where stated.

No.TitleLength
1."Evergreen" (lyrics Newcombe, vocals Newcombe/Dye)3:24
2."Wisdom" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)5:20
3."Crushed" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)6:08
4."That Girl Suicide" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)3:41
5."Wasted" (lyrics Newcombe, vocals Newcombe/Simmonds)4:21
6."Everyone Says" (lyrics Newcombe, vocals Newcombe/Simmonds)4:15
7."Short Wave" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)2:47
8."She Made Me" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)4:42
9."Hyperventilation" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)9:53
10."Records"1:50
11."I Love You" (lyrics Newcombe/Travis Threlkel, vocals Newcombe)4:11
12."End of the Day" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)5:09
13."Outback"4:07
14."She's Gone" (lyrics Newcombe, vocals Newcombe/Hollywood)7:18
15."Methodrone" (lyrics/vocals Newcombe)4:52
Total length:71:58

Personnel

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Engineering and mixing

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anton Newcombe</span> American singer-songwriter

Anton Alfred Newcombe is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the music group The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

<i>Strung Out in Heaven</i> 1998 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Strung Out in Heaven is the seventh full-length 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.

The discography of The Brian Jonestown Massacre consists of 20 studio albums, 14 EPs, five live albums, six compilation albums and 22 singles, as well as appearing on various artist releases and soundtracks. They have one rockumentary (Dig!) to their credit and a DVD release of their music videos titled Book of Days. Their music has been released by Bomp!, TVT and Tee Pee Records, among others.

<i>And This Is Our Music</i> 2003 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

...And This Is Our Music is the ninth studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released on October 7, 2003, on Tee Pee Records. It was re-released on A Records, packaged alongside the "If Love Is the Drug, Then I Want to O.D" single, and was distributed in the UK through Cargo Records.

Matt Hollywood 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 Jonestown Massacre. He currently fronts the drone rock band The Rebel Drones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Gion</span> American rock percussionist

Joel Gion is an American musician, best known as the tambourine player for the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

<i>Bringing It All Back Home – Again</i> 1999 EP by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Bringing It All Back Home – Again is an EP by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in 1999 by record label Which?

<i>Thank God for Mental Illness</i> 1996 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Thank God for Mental Illness is the fifth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. After releasing Take It from the Man! and Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request in mid-1996, both of which display influences from 1960s psychedelic music, departing from the band's earlier shoegaze sound, the band recorded Thank God for Mental Illness through "tangible custom lo-fi stereo" in their San Francisco home studio on July 11, 1996 with the budget of $17.36.

<i>Their Satanic Majesties Second Request</i> 1996 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request is the fourth studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released on June 18, 1996 by record label Tangible and distributed by Bomp! Records, and is the second of three full-length albums released by the band that year.

<i>Bravery, Repetition and Noise</i> 2001 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Bravery Repetition and Noise is the eighth full-length album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 2001.

<i>Give It Back!</i> 1997 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Give It Back! is the sixth studio album by the American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 1997 by the Bomp! record label.

<i>Take It from the Man!</i> 1996 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Take It from the Man! is the third studio album by American psychedelic rock band the Brian Jonestown Massacre. After recording their shoegaze-influenced debut album Methodrone (1995) and releasing a collection of early recordings, Spacegirl & Other Favorites, the band took influence from 1960s British psychedelic garage rock and recorded Take it from the Man! from November 1995–February 1996. After recording the entire album with an unnamed producer who scrapped the recordings, the band re-recorded the album on a minimal budget, mostly at Lifesource Studios in Emeryville, California with production from Psychic TV's Larry Thrasher, whose usual "studio" approach was vetoed out by the band's back-to-basics approach.

<i>We Are the Radio</i> 2005 EP by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

We Are the Radio is an EP by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, released in 2005. It features Sarabeth Tucek on vocals, who also wrote the song "Seer" and co-wrote "Time Is Honey with Anton Newcombe. The record was produced by The Committee To Keep Music Evil and distributed by Tee Pee Records. The music continues in the electronic direction that was taken by the previous Brian Jonestown Massacre record, And This Is Our Music. The record's title is also a reference to this album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ricky Maymi</span> Musical artist

Ricky Rene Maymi (; is an American rock musician, best known as an original member of the psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

The Red Hearts are an American garage punk band from Los Angeles, California, United States.

<i>Spacegirl and Other Favorites</i> 1995 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Spacegirl and Other Favorites is the second album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, recorded in 1993 but not released until 1995.

<i>Who Killed Sgt. Pepper?</i> 2010 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? is the eleventh studio album by American psychedelic rock band The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in February 2010 on band leader Anton Newcombe's A Records.

<i>Aufheben</i> (album) 2012 studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre

Aufheben is the twelfth studio album by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It was released in May 2012 on band leader Anton Newcombe's A Records label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Brian Jonestown Massacre</span> American psychedelic rock band

The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990.

References

  1. 1 2 Raggett, Ned. "Methodrone – The Brian Jonestown Massacre". AllMusic . Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  2. Bannin, Brian (February 1996). "Brian Jonestown Massacre: Methodrone". CMJ New Music Monthly : 31. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  3. "The 50 Best Shoegaze Albums of All Time". Pitchfork . October 24, 2016. p. 2. Retrieved March 5, 2019.