1 of 2 thought this review was well written- Kyuss -
“You guys sound a lot like Sabbath!"
That is something desert metal legends Kyuss heard a lot. The band always had a sense of humor, you could tell from song titles like “Supa Scoopa and Mighty Scoop" and “Thong song", to lumping a 10 song album into three tracks. And on there final Release, they had one more up their sleeve. They open their half of the split with a scorching cover of “Into the Void", and what a cover it is, it may sound blasphemous but I think this cover is more enjoyable then the original. It gets the bass involved, and gets into a groove that the original just lacked. Through some work of magic, they manage to turn the track into a lumbering 8 minute beast, with Josh Homme ripping it up most of the time. Everyone is on top of there game with this one.
I have read in interviews with bassist Scott Reader that the next track was written while eatin’ shrooms, that’s not too much of a surprise. “Fatso Forgotso" starts with a nice bass groove, and then slowly everything gets layered until its breaks out into the main riff. This is a good jam song, everything is loose. As the band jams John comes in with some nonsensical lyrics, and the band keeps going until everything stops and the guitar strums a few light chords, and the song changes directions. The rest of the song shines and it all crashes down and fade out with some bongos. Kyuss’s Closer “fatso forgotso phase II (Flip the phase)" is a quickie, it’s one of the shortest non-interlude tracks they have done. This is a personal favorite of mine; it is a fierce burst of energy. The song sticks to a rock solid groove most of the time and has a pretty wicked guitar solo. The name is kind of strange though, it doesn’t really seem to have anything to do with the previous track, but that’s Kyuss for ya. It’s a cool way to end their part of the record. All in all, Kyuss do a formidable job on their part of the record, and lay down a heavy gauntlet for the, newly formed Queens to follow.
- Queens of the Stone Age –
Still in there early stages of development, coming off of a legal dispute with power-metal band Gamma Ray over the band name, they had recently changed to Queens of The Stone Age. Its kind of funny how things worked out, The Queens went from piggy-backing on a Kyuss album, to selling out arenas and having gold/Platinum records. …Anyway on to the music.
The queens open up their half of this EP with the track “If Only Everything", this is the original version of “If Only" off of their self titled debut. From the first second you can tell it’s a pretty different song, structure wise and lyrically it’s the same, but it opens up with a count in by the drummer, and the guitar tone is completely different from the crunch of the original. Everything sounds looser on this version, and Josh’s vocals are a bit iffy, but looking back on it it’s a cool take on what is now a Queens classic. But unfortunately it’s the weakest song on the album.
The next track is, “Born to Hula" like the previous track it was also re-worked and re-released, but as a B-side, and on the EP “Stone age Complications." But unlike the previous track, this one was not left in-tact, aside from some of the lead guitar, which is awesome on this track, this is a completely different song then the version released later on, in my opinion it’s a superior track as well, It starts with clean strumming but eventually turns into a Kyuss styled guitar attack with a lead that sounds like a siren. The track gradually speeds up and slows down while Josh chants the mantra “Aint it somethin’? Were Born to Hula!" Eventually ending the same way Kyuss’s second track on here ended, with feedback and bongos.
“Spiders and Vinegaroons" opens up with lightly played guitar, pounding drums, Electronic “Whooshes", Ohh yeah… and hand claps… Anyone that knows me knows I am a sucker for hand claps. This track “reeks" of Chris Goss, which naturally isn’t a bad thing. It also sounds nothing like a Queens of The Stone Age song, about 3 quarters of the way through the six minute or so track, things go crazy, and all hell breaks loose, it’s a twist I cant really explain, but it is something special that all should hear, It’s a great closer and a stand out track in any light.
So who wins?
I suppose in the long run, it’s The Queens, but “On Wax" Kyuss takes this one, because there three songs are stellar, not to take anything away from Queens of The Stone Age, who have two excellent songs. Sadly though, your never gonna find this one in a store, or online for a reasonable price, it’s a little piece of musical history, that highlights the end of Kyuss’s Mythical Careers, and Shows the starting of something special from The Queens of The Stone Age. I highly recommend you get a hold of this some how.
