A year off from recording did
Cheech & Chong a world of good, and when they returned to action with 1976's
Sleeping Beauty, many would argue that the phrase "return to form" was in order. The excellent "Framed" and the positively hysterical "T.W.A.T." marked a welcome return to the couple's popular musical numbers, while the 16-minute title track was simply an over-the-top smorgasbord of their every comic device rolled into a debauchery-filled epic. Still, for all its merits,
Sleeping Beauty would be
Cheech & Chong's final album in their original vein, as the celebrity pot-heads soon moved into feature-film territory, debuting two years later with the college dorm staple Up in Smoke. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia