Line #28 Music/Kyuss


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kyuss.jpg]]
2
3	''The'' Stoner Rock band.
4
5	What, you want more than that? OK. Kyuss were a highly influential American stoner/desert rock band from Palm Desert, California. They were the pioneers of their genre, which is vaguely a subgenre of DoomMetal but often has very little to do with doom. Its characteristics include heavily detuned guitars, low-end-heavy sound (Josh Homme would plug his guitar into a bass amp for this very reason), massive Music/BlackSabbath influence, hallucinogenic themes and an overall insanely deep and heavy sound.
6
7	However, they didn't have nearly as much commercial success or recognition as Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge, a band you've probably heard of that is fronted by Josh Homme, former guitarist for Kyuss.
8
9	They formed in 1987 as Katzenjammer, then later changed their name to Sons of Kyuss in 1989 and released an EP [[SelfTitledAlbum under that name]] in 1990, before shortening their name to "Kyuss" in 1991 (Kyuss is an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyuss_(Greyhawk) evil demigod of worms and corruption]] from the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' game, and Son of Kyuss was an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Kyuss undead monster]] described in the 1st Edition D&D Fiend Folio). Over the next few years, the band released four full-length albums before splitting up in 1995. Their only constant members were vocalist John Garcia (known for his very recognisable voice, which is often said to be synonymous with the genre) and guitarist Josh Homme, who you already know of.
10
11	'''Former members:'''
12	* John Garcia, vocals (1987-1995)
13	* Josh Homme, guitar (1987-1995)
14	* Nick Oliveri, guitar (1987-1988), bass (1991-1992) [he has also been in Music/QueensOfTheStoneAge; he's the shirtless bald guy in their video for "No One Knows" and the shirtless long-haired dude in the one for Kyuss' "Thong Song"]
15	* Chris Cockrell, bass (1987-1991)
16	* Brant Bjork, drums (1987-1994)
17	* Scott Reeder, bass (1992-1995)
18	* Alfredo Hernández, drums (1994-1995)
19
20	''Discography (as Kyuss)'':
21	* ''Wretch'', 1991
22	* ''Blues for the Red Sun'', 1992
23	* ''Sky Valley'' (commonly known as ''Welcome to Sky Valley''), 1994
24	* ''...And the Circus Leaves Town'', 1995
25
26	----
27	!!Tropes that apply to Kyuss:
28
29	* CoverVersion: They did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNCuZvBVjtM a cover of]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cbpsuYiGVY Yawning Man's "Catamaran"]], a cover of Across the River's "N.O.", and their last release, a Kyuss/QOTSA split EP, had a cover of "Into the Void" by Music/BlackSabbath.
30	* CreditsGag: The liner notes of ''Blues for the Red Sun'' credit John Garcia with "lyrics" for "Molten Universe", "Apothecaries' Weight", "800" and "Capsized", all of which are instrumentals.
31	* EpicRocking: "Spaceship Landing" is 11 minutes, and there's a good few songs that stretch past 6-7. Played with on ''Sky Valley'', which has 10 songs but on most CD versions smooshes them together into three tunes plus the HiddenTrack.
32	-->'''Josh, asked why the [=CDs=] combine the tracks:''' I just wanted it to be like hell to play on a CD player.
33	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs12XIPy1v8 "Yeah"]].
34	* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "Hurricane" → "One Inch Man" and "Thee Ol' Boozeroony" → "Gloria Lewis" → "Phototropic" on ''...And the Circus Leaves Town''.
35	* HeavyMithril: They're named after a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' demigod.
36	* HiddenTrack:
37	** "Lick Doo" on ''Sky Valley'', about seven seconds after "Whitewater" ends.
38	** ''...And the Circus Leaves Town'' has two after the [[EpicRocking 11-minute]] "Spaceship Landing" ends; a short outtake after about three and a half minutes of silence, and "Day One", after about ''17 minutes'' of silence.
39	* IconicItem: Josh Homme's black Ovation Ultra GP guitar, of which only less than 1,000 were made. [[CrackIsCheaper Good luck trying to get one for a reasonable price]].
40	* MinisculeRocking: ''Blues for the Red Sun'' ends with the three-second-long "Yeah", consisting of John Garcia saying exactly that.
41	* NonAppearingTitle: It's easier to list songs where this ''doesn't'' apply; about 55% of their songs have titles that don't appear in the lyrics at all, not counting instrumentals.
42	* NonIndicativeName: Released five years after their breakup, the compilation ''Muchas Gracias: The Best of Kyuss'' is not exactly the GreatestHitsAlbum that the title implies: It includes five songs from their four proper albums, and out of those, only "Demon Cleaner" was a single. The rest of the album consists of {{B Side}}s, rarities and live tracks.
43	* SelfTitledAlbum: The aforementioned 1990 EP, back when they were called Sons of Kyuss. Also, ''Sky Valley'' was intended to be self-titled, but it was changed at the last minute.
44	* ShoutOut: The main "Freedom Run" riff has a slight similarity to [[Music/BlackSabbath Sabbath]]'s "War Pigs". Both are completely awesome.
45	** ''Blues for the Red Sun'' takes its name from the ''Series/CosmosAPersonalVoyage'' episode "Blues for a Red Planet".
46	* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: Many of their song lyrics are somewhat hard to make out due to John's vocals being overpowered by the sheer amount of low end, though the standout example would have to be "Mondo Generator", sung by Nick Oliveri, whose vocals are so muffled and distorted that the only line in the song that is even remotely intelligible is "what can you do?", at approximately 1:03.
47	* StepUpToTheMicrophone
48	** "Mondo Generator" is [[IndecipherableLyrics 'sung']] entirely by Nick Oliveri.
49	** Likewise, "Shine!" is [[TitleOnlyChorus 'sung']] entirely by Scott Reeder.
50	** Their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppKuLavQDp8 cover]] of Music/TheGerms' "Our Way" is sung by Josh Homme, in one of his earliest lead vocal performances.
51	* StonerMetal: TropeMaker along with Music/{{Sleep}}.
52	* TitleConfusion: The band has always said that their third album was meant to be just a self-titled record; the fact that most of the spines for the CD prints label it as just ''Kyuss'' was proof of this [[note]]though the LP and cassette releases actually labelled it as ''Sky Valley'', furthering confusion[[/note]]. However, because of that "Welcome to Sky Valley" sign on the cover, the album has been nicknamed that by fans, so much that the band eventually [[AscendedFanon referred to it by that name from then on.]]
53	* TitleOnlyChorus: FREEDOM RUN! FREEDOM RUN!
54	* WordSaladLyrics: A lot of the stuff they made.
55	** Subverted with "Demon Cleaner," where the lyrics seem to mean nothing, but it's actually about brushing your teeth. [[SincerityMode No really,]] look:
56	--> "Homme: I have a tooth obsession. I've had everything done to my teeth that you could have done. I used to dream about teeth all the time-I've had nightmares about them since I was a kid, like horrible night terrors. I even went the doctor about it, and that's why I hate going to sleep even to this day. I still always have nightmares. So I'd have this recurring dream where I'm getting my teeth pulled out and then I'd flash forward and I'd be in a giant mouth with these teeth bleeding everywhere. And I'd be cleaning these giant teeth while the blood was coming down and I'd be drowning in a sea of toothbrush foam and blood. So "Demon Cleaner" was this metaphor for, you know, you gotta keep yourself clean, you gotta keep yourself tight."
57	* WordSaladTitle: "(Beginning of What's About to Happen) Hwy 74", "Apothecaries' Weight", "Molten Universe", "50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)", "Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop", "Un Sandpiper", "Thee Ol' Boozeroony", "Tangy Zizzle", "Mudfly", "Fatso Forgotso". Their other songs tend to be less out there as far as titles go.
58

Context Music / Kyuss