MY FOUR FAVORITE BANDS

In My Opinion

I’ve loved music ever since I could hear and have been making horrible forms of it for about a decade now. In my time, I’ve gone through many phases and evolutions as I discovered new sounds. However, there has been a select group of noise makers that have stuck to me throughout my life; here they are… Now if you think I’m missing The Beatles or The Stones, I would be more than happy to enlighten you of your objectively incorrect opinion on this subjective matter.

LED ZEPPELIN

The greatest band ever. No contest, no debate, no question. Four legends of music that did what nobody else could do and nobody else will repeat. They created an unparalleled mystique and unholy discography with live performances of folkloric proportion. Covering a vast range of musical genres, they did it bigger and better than anyone else, all while having a style all their own. There’s a reason every Zep cover band is absolute garbage.

They’re still an incredibly polarizing band and will never get the mainstream credit they deserve from critics. Even more reason they’re the greatest. No matter how much slander they take, there will always be a long-haired kid at every high school that spends their days writing the lyrics to “Over the Hills and Far Away” on their textbook and every man worth their salt will go through a phase (or a million phases) where the only sound they want to hear is that first note of “Heartbreaker” off of How the West Was Won, that seems to be the biggest, most grand, all-encompassing single sound ever played at a show; back when mythological giants still walked the Earth.

PERSONALLY NOTABLE ALBUM: Led Zeppelin III

After releasing Led Zeppelin II, many people were wondering how Zep could follow up such a monumentally heavy album. With tracks like Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, The Lemon Song, Moby Dick, What Is and What Should Never Be, and Bring It On Home, the bar was set extremely high; they had blown the top off of the music scene. But instead of trying to “one up” themselves, they went to the countryside and recorded a largely blues-folk album with a sizable chunk of the album being acoustic numbers. Everyone expected and wanted them to do one thing and they did the opposite; they did what they wanted. That is punk; that is rock.

BLACK SABBATH

Godfathers of metal; the first to synthesize heavy into a consistent, singular sound; four industrial burnouts that changed the world. Every metal band ever owes a debt equal to their entire career to Sabbath. When you see a modern rapper with some heavy metal album on their shirt, it’s because Iommi got his fingers caught in a factory machine, Geezer couldn’t afford his fourth bass string and saw the Devil, Ward grew up on big band and jazz, and Ozzy put an ad on a bulletin board that said, “OZZY ZIG Needs Gig – has own PA”.

Another band that was initially dismissed by critics… but who can name one of those critics? Sabbath’s influence on music history cannot be overstated; while their entire career has inspired countless musicians, their individual riffs, 10 second snippets, and even single words or notes have inspired entire songs, albums, and careers. Much like Zep, they seemingly sprung from the depths of the ether and changed the way music was to be perceived; it was hard, heavy, and unapologetically itself. In a time when music was dominated by flower-power hippy bubblegum garbage churned out of the pop music meat grinder, their debut album, Black Sabbath, was five songs (with the fifth being 14 minutes long; the record label eventually jammed in five more song titles to make it seem like more music) recorded in one, single 12 hour session, with minimal overdubs and most songs done in one take, and done in time to hit the pub that night; that is the stuff of legend. Just don’t be fooled by the image others have placed on them; their songs are of deep introspection, societal criticism, and ultimate hope:

Leave the earth to Satan and his slaves

Leave them to their future in the grave

Make a home where love is there to stay

Peace and happiness in every day

-Into The Void

PERSONALLY NOTABLE ALBUM: Vol. 4

This album so perfectly encapsulates the sound of Sabbath and I think was best described by Henry Rollins, “so painful and yet so powerful”. While it was largely fueled by booze and cocaine, the energy of a band at the peak of their early musicianship, pushing their minds, bodies, and spirits to the very limit, on the verge of spiraling completely out of control, is palpable. I still remember driving much too fast on an off-ramp in high school after winning a little freeway race while blasting Under the Sun; those two incredible drum fills should be studied in higher education. Funnily enough, this album is also one of the most dynamic pieces of their entire careers, going in many directions with layers and layers of sound.

KYUSS

To be honest, I don’t even know how to explain Kyuss; they just seem best understood by blasting “Molten Universe” as loud as possible. I first heard Kyuss sometime early in high school, I believe at the behest of my uncle, and it changed what I thought rock could be. Like any band, to understand them you have to understand their environment. The band started by playing at outdoor “generator parties” in Palm Desert and, along with other local bands, created a unique sound, called “Desert Rock”, that can only be attributed to the environment they played in; vast, beautiful empty spaces. An ancient land with the universe above, Earth below, and beer in hand, it inspired the musicians to fill this intergalactic void with a full sound worthy of the space.

While you have to listen to understand, I think their sound is best described by their producer, Chris Goss, who said metal in the 80’s was getting to sound like a ticky-tacky typewriter and Kyuss was like stomping on a typewriter with a boot; they just crushed the whole scene and brought it back down to the core of the world. The fusion of big, heavy riffs with psychedelic jams, mysterious production techniques, and an undeniable groove is perfect to my ears; I mean “Mondo Generator” doesn’t have any discernible lyrics but just chugs along and “Gardenia” is one of the greatest jams ever; not to mention the entire rest of their catalogue.

PERSONALLY NOTABLE ALBUM: Welcome to Sky Valley

While they are more known for Blues for the Red Sun, an incredible album in its own right, I find it necessary to single out their following album. Besides the tremendous musicianship (that bass is worth writing home about), Welcome to Sky Valley also sits perfectly in the timeline of the band; coming after their first two albums when they were still finding their sound and before their last album when they had refined and polished it. In between these former and latter eras, they were able to take the best of both worlds, the heavy psychedelia and polished riffs, and combine them into a perfect balance, a landmark album. And an album is what it is; the whole thing is one single unit with songs melding together into one long trip of an experience. A bit like taking a spaceship through the universe they created; I recommend you buy the ticket and take the ride.

SLEEP

A very, very close contender for 3rd place, I love Sleep (the act and the band). While Kyuss takes third for their initial introduction in my life and greater use of dynamics in their sound, Sleep holds a special place in my heart. I have to admit, when I first heard them, I couldn’t listen; it was too crazy and loud and distorted for my uninitiated ears; however, I soon grew to love that sonic slaughter. Listening to songs like Evil Gypsy/Solomon’s Theme, Nebuchadnezzar's Dream, and Into The Sun are like reading the wisdom from ancient tablets unearthed thousands of years later; there’s something unhuman that cuts to the core of heavy music, a certain essence.

The remnants of a band called “Asbestosdeath”, Sleep formed in the city of San Jose (where I bought my first guitar amp; still murdering ear drums to this day) and created a genre of metal steeped in marijuana smoke, distortion, and meditative repetition well-versed in the Iommic tradition. Their debut album (titled Vol. 1 in clear homage to their predecessors) is painfully heavy, and their second album, Sleep’s Holy Mountain, is a perfect metal album. And while they have only put out four albums and a handful of EPs/singles, every one of their songs is a seminar, a journey to the murky waters and a lesson in what lies there.

PERSONALLY NOTABLE ALBUM: Vol. 1

This album opens with Mongolian throat singing followed by some disgustingly dissonant chords. Lest I say more? There’s something truly sinister yet emotional about this album; a cathartic release from the members as they take out any tortured thoughts on the sonic space. I couldn’t imagine what it was like to take your dog for a walk and hear these sounds coming from some garage. After this album, one of their guitarists would quit the band to be an orthodox monk and join a monastery…talk about having some heavy thoughts.

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A Final Note: You may disagree with me on much of the above, but I must state that I believe in two things: Humans have inalienable rights that are derived from the laws of nature including the ownership of themselves and their will, and that Led Zeppelin is the greatest band ever. I will die on the hill of the former while listening to the latter. Good day.