Friday, June 13, 2008

“Bang bang bang in your head f*cker, Bang bang bang you're dead f*cker”

"DOPE represents whatever you want it to represent," It’s the remark that came out from Edsel Dope the front man of the industrial rock act DOPE about the whole concept behind their name. They went through lots of stuff; line up changes, vivid musical influences and new forms of delivering the emotions but they manage to remain as their hero in the minds of more hardcore fans. The industrial fullness, well planned production etiquettes and crude marketing tactics; which are predominant in American metal franchise are clearly visible in DOPE’s music. That’s the main reason that attracts lot of enemies rather than well wishers in music criticism for DOPE’s sound. But they got some hidden uniqueness, a secret recipe which put this band on driving seat last 10 years or so.

Felons & Revolutionaries (1999)

DOPE’s wicked performance style in club circuits earned them a record deal in Epic. Outcome?... a heavy hearted, industrial album which defined the path of the band in mainstream scene in years to come. Their method was to keep it simple and raw as possible. Edsel and his boys want to express their emotions and to make a mark in the scene rather than doing an experimental material. The album did the rest for them. Beside not up to standard okay type of remix of N.W.A. classic “Fuck The Police”, other tracks such as “Debonair” and “Everything sucks” took hostage in the minds of the masses which eventually paid their dues.

Life (2001)

They matured with time and went to explore different paths in the music. I call it this album as more musically orientated album because DOPE tried to experiment with techno counterparts, innovative complex guitar riffs and adopting more vocal harmonies in to their “normal” blood. Tracks like “Now or never (Slow but one of their best works) and “Nothing (Why)” earned them a position in Billboard and other metal charts.



Group Therapy (2003)

If I call "Life” as a musically driven album I’ll call this one as a lyrically driven album. Their song (lyrical) structure went on serious transformation through the process and result was astonishing. For my personal opinion, this is the best DOPE material the band ever delivered. I think tracks like “Sing” and “Another day goes by” (slowing things down tat bit… think that more hard core fans didn’t like those much) will prove my point.


American Apathy (2005)

Nothing much to say, it was a memorable journey to their roots. This hardcore bombshell took the band to #1 position in charts and I’m sure that all the DOPE army eagerly waited for this one. It turned out to be a worth while waiting because finally they got their hands on one of the killer masterpieces of industrial metal arena.


DOPE’s new album “No Regrets” is scheduled for release on 10th June 2008

2 comments:

  1. nyc post man... havent listened to the music tho.. nyways quite informative.. but one point of contention guess it relates rock as a whole.. sure i enjoy the music, the drum beats and the guitar riffs and the whole package its wicked yeh.. but as a kid i loved rock coz it challenged the MAN... but now i have come to realize that it is just a parody and even worse a marketing gimmick... they talk (or sing) about changing the world about fucking the system etc. but once the fat paychecks from recording deals start flowing in its all forgotten (at least for most bands that hit the big time)... just like some of our local rockers dissin the system and then turnin around and goin to their CIM/CIMA classes to keep the system rollin..

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  2. heh..yeas bawa i agree, well..everyone understands that once a band hit mainstream they tend to become more market driven than producing their own material. But u know the underground music scne is always there and it will always will be underground. So yes they may be a parody for a band to change when they hit big time, but there can be exceptions.. if u take "RATM" they kept their identity even after they hit really big with "Battle of LA".. ny was nice post bro..never thought u'd do smthin lyke this..hehe..(and cudnt have come at a better time)

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