Stoner Rock
Noah’s Barks pages relating to the stoner rock music genre.
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Vista Chino – “Peace” (2013)
Surprisingly, the post-Kyuss project with the most Kyuss members, Vista Chino, is one of the alumni’s weakest. (read more)
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Kyuss – “Welcome to Sky Valley” (1994)
Often considered Kyuss‘s best album, and I’m on that side. I said before on my Blues for the Red Sun review that while the psychedelic meanderings of the album were very charming, there were times when they tested my patience and the album could often lose focus and the momentum it had going. Welcome to Sky Valley… (read more)
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Kyuss – “Muchas gracias: The Best of Kyuss” (2000)
Muchas gracias is a weak finish to the Kyuss legacy that also serves as a poor introduction to it. More of a collection of B-sides and rarities than a "Best of." (read more)
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Sons of Kyuss – “Sons of Kyuss” (1990)
Technically the first Kyuss release—same band, different name. They’re already unquestionably stoner rock at this point, though the base in blues rock is more visible here than even on their faster and more aggressive “real” first album, Wretch. And as mediocre as the production was on Wretch, on Sons of Kyuss, even the recording itself is… (read more)
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Kyuss – “Wretch” (1991)
As everyone says, the production on Wretch does indeed suck (I wouldn’t call it wretched, but I want you to know I thought of the pun and could’ve used it). Everything’s too low-level, and this can’t rock as hard as it’s trying to. But you can still feel the energy, and Wretch is Kyuss‘s most… (read more)
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Boris – “Akuma no Uta”
Public service announcement: I have recently removed the PX-102 copy of Akuma no Uta from my library to add the PXLP-102 copy. This PXLP-102 copy is the one known by the more popular album cover—that is, Atsuo sitting on a stool holding his guitar across his lap. Of course, we all know that this album… (read more)
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Unida – “Coping With the Urban Coyote” (1999)
To no one’s surprise, the best post-Kyuss John Garcia album is the one that sounds the most like Kyuss. Not enough, though. That attitude isn’t quite there on Coping With the Urban Coyote. Unida has that fuzzy, psychedelic guitar tone, but it’s so mild with how low in the mix it’s buried, and how it… (read more)
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Monster Magnet – “Dopes to Infinity” (1995)
Grungy stoner rock that does a decent job of setting itself apart from its more generic peers by adding psychedelic undertones and just generally having more great riffs than the typical ’90s hard rock album. Problems are that Monster Magnet’s long dirges generally don’t go anywhere, and Dopes to Infinity often comes across as a… (read more)
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Kyuss – “…And the Circus Leaves Town” (1995)
…And the Circus Leaves Town as Kyuss turn in from a career that was apparently quite tiring with their final album showing signs of exhaustion and a lack of inspiration. For example, “Tangy Zizzle” sounds like it would have only been part of a song in an earlier Kyuss album, but here it’s one hook… (read more)
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Kyuss – “Blues for the Red Sun” (1992)
If there was ever an album that put the “stoner” into “stoner rock” it’s Blues for the Red Sun. Kyuss deliver pummeling hard rock that often gets lost in a sea of psychedelic haziness but reliably always finds its way back to deliver more strong guitar riffs and a thumping rhythm section that makes you… (read more)