Saturday, June 21, 2008

Album Of The Day-Kyuss-"Welcome To Sky Valley" (1994)

This is the album, in my opinion that really established the band as the godfathers of Stoner Rock. When I first heard this album, I could not stop listening to it. I had listened to "Wretch" and "Blues For The Red Sun", but this album just took the genre to a whole new level, the "Stoner Rock Explosion" if you will. So with that being said, I am making "Welcome To Sky Valley" by Kyuss the Album Of The Day. If you do not own this album, shame on you. It is going to be the first CD I listen to in my new car stereo that I am getting installed today.



Review:

After creating a classic with their second album, Blues for the Red Sun, desert metal gods Kyuss faced the unenviable task of delivering the goods once again for a new label, Elektra Records. And they almost pulled it off with 1994's stellar Welcome to Sky Valley. The album's 13 songs are divided into three "suites" which fully display the band's impressive creative range, from furious metal to psychedelic grooves, and anything in between. The first and most consistent of these suites starts with the huge guitar riff of "Gardenia" (which resembles molten lava flowing down the side of a volcano), continues into the moody space jam instrumental "Asteroid," and culminates in the strangely titled yet superbly diverse "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop." Other highlights include the solid thrashing of "100 Degrees," the prog rock instrumental "Whitewater," and the rather mellow (by Kyuss standards) "Demon Cleaner." But no song exemplifies the Kyuss sound as well as the aptly titled "Odyssey," which opens suite number three and provides a veritable blueprint of the band's unique combination of ingredients. The track begins with a cryptic melody, explodes into a ferocious riff, glides into a psychedelic bridge, then returns to full-throttle for its conclusion. (Ed Rivadavia, AMG)

Track Listing:

FIRST MOVEMENT (Listen)

01. Gardenia
02. Asteroid
03. Supra Coopa And Mighty Scoop

SECOND MOVEMENT

04. 100 Degrees
05. Space Cadet
06. Demon Cleaner

THIRD MOVEMENT

07. Odyssey
08. Conan Troutman
09. N.O.
10. Whitewater

Buy It!

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