Review Summary: Another staple on the Rubin rock production pipeline or the patient zero of desert rock?
In hindsight, Masters of Reality’s 1989 self-titled debut holds two intriguing points of niche significance in rock history. The first is its association with producer Rick Rubin, who utilized the stripped back sonic template that was established on The Cult’s Electric and finetuned here along with Danzig and Trouble among others in the era. The band may not be as high octane as their peers, but you’ll find a comparable dryness with organic guitar work and simple but muscular rhythms.
Much like how Melvins inadvertantly paved the way for sludge and grunge, Masters of Reality could also be regarded as the patient zero of sorts for stoner/desert rock. The bluesy pacing is closer in spirit to ZZ Top’s easygoing nature than the brashness of an AC/DC with extra helpings of quirky southern psychedelia while the vocal lines are delivered with a zoned out pop appeal courtesy of vocalist/guitarist Chris Goss’s gentle tenor. Their alternative tinges don’t have the edge of early Soundgarden nor the pending fuzzed out tangents of Monster Magnet and Sleep, but you can tell the degree of influence they’d come to have on groups like Kyuss and Fu Manchu.
But any way you slice it, the songs are an abundance of riff-driven grooves, and catchy vocals delivered at a free flowing pace. Tracks like “The Candy Song” and “Gettin’ High” balance off-the-cuff hooks with a workman veneer, pulling off no-nonsense struts and pulsating shuffles without coming off plain. The band’s experimental ventures also flesh out those earthy tones nicely between the Americana slide guitar on “John Brown,” the country turned barroom piano stomps on “Magical Spell” and “The Eyes of Texas,” and the dusky strums on “Lookin’ To Get Right.” The stoner foreshadowing is especially prominent with the gritty speed on “Domino” and the swirling “Blue Garden” and “Sleep Walkin’.”
Overall, Masters of Reality’s debut is an excellent effort that’s more multi-faceted than its simple hard rock components would suggest. It’s very out of step with the standards of eighties polish but the degree that it commits to the throwback retro premise ironically makes it seem ahead of its time. The band may have been a little too early to benefit commercially from that innovation, but they deserve more praise than they ever seem to get. Whether you seek fringe hard rock or the primordial desert, Masters of Reality is essential listening.
