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Stoner rock or stoner metal is a musical subgenre which combines elements of traditional heavy metal, psychedelic rock, blues rock, acid rock, and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and "retro" production. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by the Californian bands Kyuss and Sleep.

Terminology

The descriptor "stoner rock" may originate from the title of the 1997 Roadrunner Records compilation Burn One Up! Music for Stoners. Desert rock is also used interchangeably as a descriptor, and was coined by a MeteorCity Records intern, around the time the label released the 1998 stoner rock compilation Welcome to MeteorCity.

Due to the similarities between stoner and sludge metal, there is often a crossover between the two genres. This hybrid has traits of both styles, but lacks stoner metal's somewhat uplifting atmosphere and its usage of psychedelia. Bands such as Bongzilla, Weedeater, High on Fire and Electric Wizard creatively fuse both styles.

History

Influences (1960s–mid-1980s)

Like most subgenres of music, the origins of stoner rock are hard to trace and pinpoint. Nevertheless, stoner rock has its known progenitors and signature songs that helped shape the genre. Blue Cheer is considered one of the pioneers of the style, as Allmusic author, Greg Prato, put it, "When talks about 'stoner rock' come up, one band that tends to get overlooked is Blue Cheer." Piero Scaruffi has stated that the band's first album, Vincebus Eruptum, "introduced a terrifying sound (deafening guitar and bass amplification), that predated stoner-rock by 25 years."

Rolling Stone claims, "What stoner rock delivers, slowed down and magnified, is the riff, the persistent legacy of Mississippi blues. Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath were the first to make a monolith of it." Sir Lord Baltimore have been called "the godfathers of stoner rock" and Leafhound have been cited for influencing countless bands in the stoner rock movement including Kyuss and Monster Magnet. Primevil's album Smokin' Bats at Campton's has been called a "touchstone" of stoner rock. Jim DeRogatis has said that stoner rock bands are "reaching back for inspiration to the psychedelic, proto-metallic jamming of bands like Cream, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Hawkwind." According to DeRogatis, the roots of stoner rock can be heard on Black Sabbath's Master of Reality, Hawkwind's 25 Years On 1973–1977 box set, the aforementioned Blue Cheer's album, Deep Purple's Machine Head and Blue Öyster Cult's Workshop of the Telescopes.

Allmusic summarizes this fusion as follows:

"Stoner metal bands updated the long, mind-bending jams and ultra-heavy riffs of bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Blue Öyster Cult, and Hawkwind by filtering their psychedelia-tinged metal and acid rock through the buzzing sound of early Sub Pop–style grunge."

However, Josh Homme and John Garcia of the seminal stoner rock band Kyuss shrugged the heavy metal influence, and instead cite punk rock and hardcore punk, particular the sludgy hardcore of Black Flag's album My War.

Early development (late 1980s-1990s)

In 1992, Kyuss emerged from the Palm Desert Scene with Blues for the Red Sun. Critics have hailed it as "a major milestone in heavy music," while NME described their music as an attempt to figuratively melt "a hundredweight of hot desert sand into metal". In 1992, San Jose doom metallers Sleep released their album Sleep's Holy Mountain. It became a favourite of the heavy metal press and the band was heralded, along with Kyuss, as leaders of the emerging stoner scene. These two bands were the first to introduce a "trippy" groove to their doom-influenced sound. During the same year, New Jersey's Monster Magnet released their debut album Spine of God, which displayed fewer metal influences but was psychedelic and sludgy, in the vein of their Californian peers. In 1994, San Francisco's Acid King and Britain's Acrimony released their debut albums, both of which adopted this psychedelic approach to doom metal. Other bands from this era include Fu Manchu, Clutch and Sons of Otis.

Middle years (1995-1999)

Kyuss broke up in 1995, with many of the members going on to form new projects with stoner rock traits. In 1997, Roadrunner Records released the stoner rock compilation Burn One Up! Music for Stoners, which included tracks by bands such as Fu Manchu, Celestial Season, and The Heads. In August 1997, Josh Homme founded The Desert Sessions in Joshua Tree, California. The Desert Sessions are a musical collective series, and the first rendition included members from Monster Magnet, Goatsnake, earthlings?, Kyuss, and Soundgarden. The result of the session was Volume 1: Instrumental Driving Music for Felons. Over the years, artists such as Brant Bjork, PJ Harvey, Dean Ween and many others from the Palm Desert scene have contributed as songwriters and musicians. In September 1997 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jadd Shickler (of stoner band Spiritu) and Aaron Emmel founded the online store called All That's Heavy, which sold hard-to-find releases of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, and Fu Manchu.

They soon expanded the catalog to include artists that stylistically fit with the first three bands. After half a year they were contacted by the former proprietor for the first Kyuss fan website, who recommended All That's Heavy do a compilation of unsigned bands that Kyuss fans would enjoy. The result of the suggestion was the formation of MeteorCity Records and the release of the compilation Welcome to MeteorCity, which was released in May 1998. The compilation included established desert and stoner rock acts, including new bands established by John Garcia of Kyuss, Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet, and Pete Stahl of Goatsnake. The album was the first time that the new stoner rock bands Sixty Watt Shaman, Lowrider, The Atomic Bitchwax, Dozer, Goatsnake, Drag Pack, and Los Natas were heard on a record. According to MeteorCity founders,

"When this was happening, there wasn't really a scene yet, there were just a lot of people around the world who were still sad about the end of Kyuss, as well as the end of Slo Burn, and who listened to stuff like Monster Magnet and Fu Manchu but wanted more. The label took off when we appeared with Welcome to Meteor City, as though the world was waiting for someone to do what we were doing."

The label soon signed a number of musicians and bands from the Palm Desert Scene of desert rock, such as Hermano and Unida, both featuring former Kyuss frontman John Garcia. Swedish stoner rock bands such as Lowrider, Dozer and The Mushroom River Band were also signed to MeteorCity and exported.

The Atomic Bitchwax which features Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell, and the The Hidden Hand and Spirit Caravan and led by Obsessed/Saint Vitus guitarist Scott "Wino" Weinreich began to gain in popularity. As the scene continued to develop, the popular website StonerRock.com was launched in 1999. The website became a central community hub for heavy music artists and fans.

Mainstream exposure (2000-present)

Songs for the Deaf, their next release in 2002, cemented the genre's popularity, with a single from the album peaking at No. 1 on the US Modern Rock Tracks. Another label focusing on the international stoner rock scene was Small Stone Records, which released a number of compilation albums of stoner rock bands doing covers of 1970s music, including Right in the Nuts: A Tribute to Aerosmith (2000), Sucking the 70's (2002), and Sucking the 70's – Back in the Saddle Again (2006).

In 2002, the Orquesta del Desierto was formed featuring key members of the major desert rock bands, and released two albums. StonerRock.com continued until 2010, when it went offline. Much of the online stoner rock and sludge metal community began going to sites such as theobelisk.net instead.

In 2009, the magazines Decibel and Terrorizer released issues featuring a list of the 100 greatest and most important albums of the 2000s, respectively. The stoner band Electric Wizard's Dopethrone was featured on both lists, being placed 10th on Decibel's list and 1st on the Terrorizer's one.

Since Kyuss' break-up, the success of the bandmates' other projects has caused the Kyuss back catalogue to become more widely listened to and their fanbase has inevitably swelled. The sound has been continued on by directly descendant bands Unida, Slo Burn, Hermano, Mondo Generator, Fu Manchu, and Brant Bjork and the Bros.

Notes

1. "Stoner age: Priestess marries metal and melody - The Buffalo News". Buffalo News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
2. Huey, Steve. "allmusic (((Master of Reality > Overview)))". Allmusic. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
3. Ellis, Iain (2008). Rebels Wit Attitude: Subversive Rock Humorists. Soft Skull Press. p. 258. ISBN 1-59376-206-2.
4. Sharpe-Young, Garry. "MusicMight – Kyuss biography". MusicMight. Retrieved 10 December 2007. almost single handed invented the phrase 'Stoner Rock'. They achieved this by tuning way down and summoning up a subterranean, organic sound…
5. ^ "Stoner Metal". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 May 2009. Stoner metal could be campy and self-aware, messily evocative, or unabashedly retro.
6. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Kyuss biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 10 December 2007. …they are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming stoner rock scene of the 1990s…
7. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Sleep biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
8. ^ "News: StonerRock.com and MeteorCity Part Ways". Bravewords.com. 19 May 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
9. Serba, John. "Bongzilla - Gateway". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 September 2008. …sounding like a cross between Sleep's drowsy, Black Sabbath-like meanderings and Electric Wizard/Burning Witch-style gut-curdling, muddy sludge.
10. Mason, Stewart. "Kylesa". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 September 2008. …elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge appear in their music.
11. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Bongzilla". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
12. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Weedeater". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
13. Violante, Isaiah. "High on Fire - Surrounded by Thieves". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 1 September 2008. …manufacturing that sludgy, choleric sound…
14. MusicMight: High on Fire biography
15. Rivadavia, Eduardo and Koets, Tara. "Electric Wizard". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 September 2008. …it so effortlessly bridged the stylistic gaps between doom, sludge, stoner, horror, and, at times, even space metal…{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
16. Prato, Greg. "Live Bootleg: London - Hamburg". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
17. Scaruffi, Piero (2003). A History of Rock Music: 1951–2000. ¡Universe, Inc. p. 46. ISBN 0-595-29565-7. Blue Cheer (1) on the other hand, played blues-rock with a vengeance: Vincebus Eruptum (1968) introduced a terrifying sound (deafening guitar and bass amplification), that predated stoner-rock by 25 years.
18. Ratliff, Ben. "Rated R: Queens of the Stone Age: Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 3 December 2007. Retrieved 11 November 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
19. Sleazegrinder (March 2007). "The Lost Pioneers of Heavy Metal". Classic Rock.
20. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Smokin' Bats at Campton's". Allmusic. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
21. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. "The Drummers of Stoner Rock". Retrieved 26 January 2012.
22. Lynskey, Dorian. "Kyuss: Kings of the stoner age". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
23. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Kyuss Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 15 July 2007. Although they are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming stoner rock scene of the 1990s, the band enjoyed little commercial success during their brief existence . Soon hailed as a landmark by critics and fans alike, the album (Blues for the Red Sun) took the underground metal world by storm and established the signature Kyuss sound once and for all: .
24. Kyuss - Muchas Gracias: The Best Of - Album Reviews - NME.COM
25. Kyuss biography
26. Eduardo Rivadavia. "Monster Magnet biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
27. "Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme Rules Out KYUSS Reunion". Blabbermouth.net. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
28. ^ "Where to Start: MeteorCity". The Obelisk. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
29. ^ Smith, Todd K. "Meteor City". The Cutting Edge. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
30. Christian, von (26 August 2009). "MeteorCity: Play It Very Loud!". Metal Glory. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
31. "Artist Chart History - Queens of the Stone Age". Billboard. Retrieved 19 February 2008. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
32. Callwood, Brett (18 April 2008). "Small Stone Records. Detroit's home-grown label". Metromix. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
33. Smith, Brian (28 May 2003). "Huge stones". Metro Times. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
34. "Meet & Greet: Small Stone Records". Detour Mag. 17 January 2008. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
35. "StonerRock.com Down for Good". The Obelisk. November 2010. Retrieved 26 August 2011. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
36. "100 Greatest Metal Albums Of The Decade", Decibel Special Collector's Edition.
37. "Terrorizer's Secret History #2", Terrorizer Souvenir Issue.

See also

• Palm Desert Scene
• Doom metal

• Use dmy dates from January 2011
• Stoner rock
• Heavy metal subgenres
• Cannabis music
• Psychedelic rock