MUSIC CORNER: Kyuss, "Welcome to Sky Valley."
If there was a perfect rock album for the mid 1990s, it would have to be this one. Ten tracks of woofer thudding distortion (plus a short dopey bonus jam at the end) and some of the heaviest, trippiest, most epic guitar riffs of all time. It's heavier than a lot of metal bands without actually being metal- At least, I wouldn't call it so; just call it good old "Rock n' Roll" and it works, beautifully. It is hard to describe the greatness of this album without listening to it, but everything about it: the song writing, John Garcia's epic vocals- the guy is nearing Ronnie James Dio levels of vocal power and perfection here- the riffs, even the mellower tracks (for example "Asteroid" and "Space Cadet") just flow through you like a warm soulful desert breeze. While tracks like "Odyssey" with it's pounding, heavy riff, will have you bouncing off the walls. Not one filler track on here, how rare is that nowadays. They did one more album after this, which is still very good, but they really hit it out of the park with this one. A couple guys from the band would later form Queens of the Stone Age, another band which had a few good tracks, but nothing with the same almost primal appeal as Kyuss did here.
The band has always been inspired by the inland Southern California desert areas where they are from. As someone who enjoys the solitude and peace of the high desert country of southern Idaho and Eastern Oregon, I can relate. There are places out there, in the stark otherworldly beauty of the Owyhee Mountains, and the hills and canyonlands of the high desert, where I sometimes go for day trips to feel at peace and recharge. Now that it is finally spring- at long, long last, perhaps I'll take a drive out there this weekend or next.
