This joint is one that's worth passing over

High Times magazine has been at the forefront of America's marijuana subculture for a while now. That said, it's only appropriate for High Times to release a double album chock full of tunes chronicling the weed connoisseur's lifestyle in an album which said individuals can smoke along with. It's a good idea. Jam band music and weed are for the most part intrinsically linked, and the two come to a head with Rip This Joint.\nWell-known and much-loved cult artists such as The String Cheese Incident, Fishbone, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Gov't Mule and Primus front man Les Claypool all make contributions to the two-disc set. Foghat's classic rock anthem "Slow Ride" is also included in the set. The track serves a prominent role in the stoner's musical pantheon because of its inclusion in Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused" (a nostalgic love letter to the '70s, high school and most certainly pot). It's during these tracks that Rip This Joint reaches its high point. The tunes are focused and branch out beyond the whole weed theme of the venture, but only ever so slightly.\nOther contributions by lesser-known artists such as Commander Cody and His East Coast Airmen, The Disco Biscuits and Rubberman also register quite nicely. These tunes are far less commercial in nature but are no less entertaining.\nMusically, the quality remains consistently high throughout Rip This Joint. But the albums as mastered by Glen Robinson are muddled, and the sound is certainly lacking in many respects. Such could be the nature of the beast? These discs sound as though they were engineered by someone who has bong water for brains. I've never heard CDs sound this dirty, and thus cannot give the set a positive review despite the impeccable musical craftsmanship of many of the artists associated.\nHigh Times could be on to something in hopes of expanding their enterprise beyond their dank rag of cannabis centerfolds and mail-in weed offers. The magazine is in post-production on a feature length motion picture entitled Pot Luck starring Jason "Phat Buds" Mewes a.k.a. Jay and Tommy Chong. Further albums wouldn't hurt either, just so long as their music selection remains discriminatory and the technology behind the album is improved.