Customer Reviews

Sky Valley

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This album is the essence of simple hard, riff-heavy rock, call it `stoner rock' if you will - whatever genre - this will raise the hairs on the back of your neck in a style only the rock gods in the olden days could. This was my first Kyuss album and remains my favourite after going through their discography (which, isn't really much of a feat, it is tragically small). The album's structure is of three pieces, each containing at least three songs, almost creating a medley. At first this structure frustrated me, it wasn't that accessible if I wanted to listen to a part of each long piece, but overall it creates a flow to the album, almost giving it three `movements' each representing different ideas and musically diverse.

The first piece kicks of with `Gardenia' through a powerful muddy, down-tuned riff which progresses through different variations until Garcia's vocals kick in. His voice is brutally raw yet melodic at the same time. I've read some reviewers complaining about his lack of variation, but to me his voice is just perfect, complementing the heavy old-school guitars. `Gardenia' is a mighty opening blow, full of crunching riffs that engulf the listener in a thick haze of distortion. `Asteroid' is a superb instrumental, something Kyuss like to throw into thei albums. It's somewhat progressive in style, built around a simple theme with some mighty crescendos thanks to Homme's advanced song structuring.

`Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoopa' and `100 degrees' are typical Kyuss rockers, great riffs and melodies. `Space Cadet' then follows halfway through piece two, and what a tremendous surprise it is, an utterly beautiful moving ballad. The guitar playing is amongst the finest on the album and Garcia's vocals are, I would argue, diverse to the usual delivery - soft and tender. The piece washes over in its seven-minute entirety almost too quickly, fortunately though it leads into my other favourite of the album, the driving `Demon Cleaner'. On this one Garcia's vocals have a dreamy aspect to them, recalling the tripped out desert feel. Along with Homme's relentless riffing, this song is simply stunning.

Piece three is probably my least favourite out of the three, but is still a thundering tour-de-force of riffs and melodies. `Odyssey' is one of the most aggressive, confrontational pieces on the album, highlighted by Garcia's overwhelming delivery, launching himself into the lines `once you return from the belly of the beast/ you're never quite the same'. `Whitewater' is a fine way to close the album, a personal highlight for me. It slowly builds to a monumental riff.

This album is quite simply powerful, `listen without distraction' it says in the liner notes, I wouldn't worry about that, this is truly engulfing stuff. For fans of old school rock and metal, and fans of metal in general, try this band immediately.

The originators of modern stoner rock are still the best. With some other forms of music, the originators have been topped by their predecessors, but not Kyuss.
The first "suite" of three songs Gardenia/Asteroid/Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop, is viewed as the most coherent of the three. Gardenia I believe is a song that sums of what stoner rock should be. Heavy, but has a great groove and an awesome breakdown in the middle of the song. Asteroid makes use of feedback and mellow to heavy explosions and Supa Scoop is just a classic Kyuss jam, switching tempo in midsong and back again. The second "suite" consisting of 100 degrees/Space Cadet/Demon Cleaner is awesome,mellow, yet inconsistent. 100 degrees is just a short punk feeling hard stoner song. Space Cadet and Demon Cleaner are two of Kyuss' most mellow tracks ever and are a good low point in the album. They are very intense however and are the best ganja jams on the cd.
The third and final "suite" of Oddyssey/Conan Troutman/NO/Whitewater is the best suite on the album. All hard, heavy songs, this features guitar solos, psychadelic breakdowns and mellow jams all in one. Whitewater is my favorite song on the album as well.
Anyone looking to get into stoner rock should start here or with Blues for the Red Sun, then the less accessible "And the Circus Leaves Town", then the first album "wretch." I recommend that anyone who likes hard groovy music buy this album.

All Kyuss albums are amazing. This album is increadible. Every part, the vocals, the bass, the drums, and the guitar are the work of musical genius. I've heard they're music called a few completely different things, but I'd say they're heavy rock tuned down a bunch of steps. That's about it. This is one of those albums that is worth buying just for the first song alone. Buy a bunch of Kyuss stuff starting with this one.

I don't have much to say except that if you like music and think you might be into Kyuss, then you can't go wrong here.

If you've listened to Queens of the Stone Age, then realize that they are a watered down, sterilized, mass produced version of the real thing. Imagine being lost in the desert for weeks, wandering in the darkness of night, randomly following the stars or nothing at all. You are dehydrated and on the brink of starvation when you hear a strange sound coming over the dunes. You see lights and amplifiers. Howling distortion makes the hairs on your neck stand up. A cool breeze, and you have found it. The Holy Grail of stoner rock. The kernal of the bud. You take a drink, have a smoke, and your mind catapults through the sky. All the secrets of the universe have been revealed, and your spirit is totally free. The world is yours.

Buy this album, listen to it every day, and you will never want or need anything else. Your journey is complete.