the stoner rock appreciation thread

[fredrum]

id say go with 9&10 as well...being as the first six are near impossible (at the moment) to find.
7&8 has its moments though.

[Ayinger]

pcook said:

ayinger said:

ah! went on a stoner kick a few years back with the great aforementioned Kyuss "Blues For Red Sun" being one of the first pick-ups. Others that followed:

ORANGE GOBLIN "Frequencies From Planet Ten"
ORANGE GOBLIN "Time Traveling Blues"

SHEAVY "Electric Sleep"

SPIRIT CARAVAN "The Last Embrace"

TROUBLE "Psalm 9" "Manic Frustration"

ATOMIC BITCHWAX 1999 debut

MONSTER MAGNET "Spine Of God" & "Dopes To Infinity"

SOLACE "13"

old Pentagram
Fu Manchu

The above mentioned bands, less Fu Manchu, I don't know a thing about....I've never listened to them. Is this what shin referes to about stoner rock?

I've alway figured stoner rock to be mainly lots of classic rock tunes...Hendrix, some CCR (like "Keep on Chooglin'" live), some Doors, Pink Floyd (the last two could be acid rock)...I gues I'm confused. what is the sound of stoner rock supposed to be?

Not sure how Shin would call the bands I named but I'd shove the majority of their material as having a Stoner feel (save Orange Goblin's later stuff as it more turned into just harder metal to my ears -- I love[/b] the all out heavy vibe of their first two that I named; great mixup of slammin' riffs and psychedelic passages. If you're one that mentioned Electric Wizard, DO check out Orange Goblin -- hell, just check 'em out anyhow!).

I don't think the term "Stoner Rock" itself has been around toooo awfully long and so it wouldn't be a label I'd instinctively put on bands from back in the 60's, 70's, or early 80's simply because at their time they weren't called that. Like I said though, I can see how it may be applied in the manner that you were using it.

And while Hendrix (and a good majority before & since) being rooted in The Blues, you can hear a bit closer merge of 'blues' with 'stoner' in the thick drones of an old dude named Junior Kimbrough; "Stay All Night", "Burn In Hell", "Leave Her Alone", "Most Things Haven't Worked Out" have underpinnings in style to my ears. OR damn: check out Buddy Guy doing "Tramp"!!! ah the fuckin' thick rroooaaarr he unleashes just at the intro: for being blues, it'll blow y'er hair back and peel the paint off the wall at the same time!

[fredrum]

shin said:

One of my most favorite songs ever is Whitewater.

agreed.

[Thorngrub]

rockysigman said:

I think the term "stoner rock", like lots of other terms that are applied to various types of music, has kind of developed a particular meaning that might not be obvious to people running across it for the first time. As it so happens, there is a subgenre of hard rock that has been dubbed "stoner rock" by its fans and by lazy reviewers. But without knowing about that particular usage, I think it's perfectly reasonable to apply the term to all the stuff that Paul has applied it to here.

Perfectly said.

[Paul]

So I listened to Kyuss's Blues for the Red Sun....

I can hear the stoner part, on songs like "50 Million Year Trip" (like around the 3 minute mark), the dronie (sp?) slow heavy vibe on songs like "Mondo Generator", "Allen's Wrench" and "Freedom Run".

Overall I really enjoyed the album, but it still sounds more metal to me than rock. Also, some areas of it reminded me of Alice In Chains, but not as gloomy. So could AIC be stoner rock? Or have elements of stoner rock?

[shin]

pcook said:

I can hear the stoner part, on songs like "50 Million Year Trip" (like around the 3 minute mark), the dronie (sp?) slow heavy vibe on songs like "Mondo Generator", "Allen's Wrench" and "Freedom Run".

But see, that's just it..."stoner rock" as a genre designation isn't that part of 50MYT at all, it's more like the entirety of Molten Universe.

One thing I read recently that I had forgotten about stoner rock is that Kyuss and others plug their guitars into bass amps for that extra heavy sound. The heavier the sound, the more stoner rock it is, since "stoner rock" and "stoner metal" are actually one in the same.

[Paul]

I guess I just don't get it....I'm listening to "Molten Universe" now, and if someone asked to describe it, I'd say metal, or maybe make something up like gloomy metal. But this is not what I had in mind for stoner rock....Stoner metal is a more appropriate term, IMO. From someone totaly new on this term, I think stoner metal and stoner rock should not be considered the same thing.

[luke]

That thick bass is what makes it. Think of that thick feeling in your head when you're really stoned. That bass imitates it PERFECTLY.

It's not so much about music you want to listen to when you're stoned as music that SOUNDS stoned. To me, Kyuss and QOTSA sound completely stoned. You hear it, and the shit just sinks in your head, whether you're stoned or not.

Granted, I'd much rather hear some Radiohead or Dead or anything that sounds elaborate and switches itself up a lot when I'm stoned. But stoner rock is more about sounding like IT'S high, as opposed to fucking with your head while YOU'RE high.

[shin]

Stoner rock/metal is pretty wicked and evil. You gotta pay your dues at the alter of Black Sabbath.

[fredrum]

kyuss...at least in my mind......seems to move away fom metal more and more with each successive album...and it comtinues along those lines with josh's later work with qotsa and the desert sessions etc. with kyuss, as they progressed it became less and less abrasive-often a song will just settle into a groove and ride it out until the end...playing through bass amps-and equally because of bass cabs, it took alot of the high end abrasiveness out of the music and left it with more of a low end rumble. alot of their music is very jam like in structure-but like big epic stoner jams-not wimpy guitar noodling hippy crap.

i recall reading an article/interview on them and they didnt even consider what they were playing to be "metal"-it was actually their own interpretation of punk rock. from what i understand, kyuss grew out of a very localized scene in small desert communities in california-not many bands came through there, and usually if anyoone did it was punk bands, ie black flag etc, and what they did was their own interpretation of that-according to josh, he never even heard any black sabbath until after the recording of blues for the red sun. it was all just their own interpretation of what music should be. it just happened to be really really heavy.

[Paul]

fredrum said:

kyuss...at least in my mind......seems to move away fom metal more and more with each successive album...and it comtinues along those lines with josh's later work with qotsa and the desert sessions etc. with kyuss, as they progressed it became less and less abrasive-often a song will just settle into a groove and ride it out until the end...playing through bass amps-and equally because of bass cabs, it took alot of the high end abrasiveness out of the music and left it with more of a low end rumble. alot of their music is very jam like in structure-but like big epic stoner jams-not wimpy guitar noodling hippy crap.

i recall reading an article/interview on them and they didnt even consider what they were playing to be "metal"-it was actually their own interpretation of punk rock. from what i understand, kyuss grew out of a very localized scene in small desert communities in california-not many bands came through there, and usually if anyoone did it was punk bands, ie black flag etc, and what they did was their own interpretation of that-according to josh, he never even heard any black sabbath until after the recording of blues for the red sun. it was all just their own interpretation of what music should be. it just happened to be really really heavy.

That's interesting....
I really enjoyed listening to Blues for the Red Sun yesterday, and plan to listen to more Kyuss albums, the Desert Sessions, and more QOTSA.

[Paul]

luke said:

That thick bass is what makes it. Think of that thick feeling in your head when you're really stoned. That bass imitates it PERFECTLY.

It's not so much about music you want to listen to when you're stoned as music that SOUNDS stoned. To me, Kyuss and QOTSA sound completely stoned. You hear it, and the shit just sinks in your head, whether you're stoned or not.

Granted, I'd much rather hear some Radiohead or Dead or anything that sounds elaborate and switches itself up a lot when I'm stoned. But stoner rock is more about sounding like IT'S high, as opposed to fucking with your head while YOU'RE high.

good description

[fredrum]

go with welcome to sky valley next-not only is it next in line, but its just.....huge....the first time i heard "whitewater" it hit me like a ton of bricks....

[fredrum]

and if theres one to avoid, its definitely wretch

[Paul]

thanks for the advise....Kyuss will be my next band to dissect.