| Blues for the Red Sun | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Kyuss | ||||
| Released | June 30, 1992[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1992 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California | |||
| Genre | Stoner rock | |||
| Length | 50:39 | |||
| Label | Dali | |||
| Producer | Kyuss and Chris Goss | |||
| Kyuss chronology | ||||
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Blues for the Red Sun is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Kyuss, released in 1992.[2] While the album received mainly favorable reviews, it sold only 39,000 units.
Songs from the album received airplay on multiple radio stations and the music videos that were made for "Green Machine" and "Thong Song" were played on MTV. To promote the album, Kyuss played as an opening act on tours for several bands. The music on the album features a mix of various genres, has heavily distorted guitar riffs, and mainly slow tempos. The album has been considered influential on other bands.
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Before the group began touring to support Blues for the Red Sun, bassist Nick Oliveri was replaced with Scott Reeder who had previously played with The Obsessed.[3] Kyuss eventually went on to open and tour for such groups as Faith No More, White Zombie, and Danzig. In early 1993, the band was chosen by Metallica to be an opening act for nine shows in Australia.[4] Aside from their first show with Metallica, the group only used half the P.A. system for the other eight concerts.[5]
The music videos for the songs, "Green Machine" and "Thong Song", received heavy rotation on MTV's Headbangers Ball. The album also received airplay on such album-oriented radio stations as KNAC, KISW, WYSP, and KIOZ.[4] The album was released by the independent record label, Dali, which was later bought out by Elektra Records.[6] It ended up selling only 39, 000 copies.[4]
Blues for the Red Sun incorporates acid rock,[7] grunge,[8] psychedelic rock, space rock, and doom metal, and has been compared to such acts as Black Sabbath, Hawkwind, Blue Cheer,[9] and Alice in Chains.[10] The album is considered a pioneer to the stoner metal genre.[9] Daniel Bukszpan, the author of The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal, has written that the album has influenced "countless" bands.[11] Many consider Blues for the Red Sun, "the template for 21st century bands that have followed in the pioneering wake of Kyuss."[12] Exclaim! credited the album for opening, "the way for bands like Monster Magnet and a whole host of other desert grunge practitioners."[13] Melissa Auf der Maur has said that she attempted to "knock-off" Blues for the Red Sun for her single, "Followed the Waves", to the point that she recruited the band's rhythm section to play on the track and Chris Goss to produce.[14] Other fans of the album include Dave Grohl and Metallica.[4][15]
Steve Taylor, the author of A to X of Alternative Music, wrote that in comparison to the music, "lyrics can't really compete," and went on to call the album's lyrics, "stoned immaculate phrases."[16] Rolling Stone described the lyrics of "Thong Song" — a song about flip-flops[17] — as "deathless."[18]
Guitarist Josh Homme plugged down-tuned guitars into bass amplifiers for the distortion featured on the album.[2] Wah-wah pedals were also used by Homme on Blues for the Red Sun.[11] Wayne Robins of Newsday described Homme's riffs as, "post-Hendrix guitar flurries."[19] Several of the songs on Blues for the Red Sun have slow tempos and groove-laden rhythms.[8] "Green Machine" features a bass guitar solo, and the album features several instrumental tracks.[2]
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Billboard | (favorable)[10] |
| College Music Journal | (favorable)[8] |
| Entertainment Weekly | (B+)[20] |
| Piero Scaruffi | [21] |
| Q | [22] |
| Rolling Stone | [18] |
| Kerrang! | [23] |
The album received generally positive reviews from both fans and critics.[4][9] Steve Taylor considers it the best album Kyuss ever made.[16] Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia gave the album four and a half out of five stars and called the album, "a major milestone in heavy music." In particular he praised producer Chris Goss, who had also been the singer-guitarist for Masters of Reality,[4] for its "unique heavy/light formula."[2] Debaroh Frost of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+,[20] and Italian music writer Piero Scaruffi gave the album an eight out of possible ten rating. Scaruffi went on to call the album, "one of the masterpieces of noise rock."[21] Scaruffi also ranks it as the third best metal album of all times, just after Metallica's Master of Puppets and before Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction.[24] Rolling Stone considered "Green Machine" and "Thong Song" to be the albums highlights and also thought that the production had greatly improved from the band's prievious album, Wretch.[18] Kerrang! also gave the album a favorable review.[4] College Music Journal claimed that the album was "raw and unorthodox" and, like Rivadavia, complimented Chris Goss for the production.[8] Q called it "one of the landmark metal albums of the '90s," and rewarded it a perfect five out of five stars.[22]
Spin ranked Blues for the Red Sun 10th on their list of the "10 Best Albums You Didn't Hear in '92."[17] In 2002, Spin put the album in 36th place on their list of the "40 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time."[25] IGN listed the album as an honorable mention on their list of the "Top 25 Metal Albums."[26] Chad Bowar of About.com named the album the 8th best heavy metal album of 1992 and went on to write that Blues for the Red Sun, "was a landmark album that influenced a lot of bands."[27] MusicRadar included the album on "The 50 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time" and ranked it in 48th place.[28]
| No. | Title | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Thumb" | Bjork, Homme | 4:41 |
| 2. | "Green Machine" | Bjork | 3:38 |
| 3. | "Molten Universe" | Garcia, Homme | 2:49 |
| 4. | "50 Million Year Trip (Downside Up)" | Bjork | 5:52 |
| 5. | "Thong Song" | Homme | 3:47 |
| 6. | "Apothecaries' Weight" | Garcia, Homme | 5:21 |
| 7. | "Caterpillar March" | Bjork | 1:56 |
| 8. | "Freedom Run" | Bjork, Homme | 7:37 |
| 9. | "800" | Garcia, Homme | 1:34 |
| 10. | "Writhe" | Homme | 3:42 |
| 11. | "Capsized" | Garcia, Homme | 0:55 |
| 12. | "Allen's Wrench" | Bjork, Homme | 2:44 |
| 13. | "Mondo Generator" | Oliveri | 6:15 |
| 14. | "Yeah" | Garcia | 0:04 |
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