Blues for Red Sun

Blues for the Red Sun is the finest album by short-lived rock gods Kyuss. With guitars tuned way down and amps turned way up, Kyuss'sdeafening assault switches from light to hammering in a blink on some tracks ("Thumb," "Thong Song"), while slowly building on others ("Freedom Run"). They achieve full rock bliss when they're relentless. By updating Black Sabbath from the perspective of psychedelic jammers out of the California desert, Kyuss established the blueprint for the entire stoner rock movement with this 1992 release. Even its makers never matched it, let alone beat it. --Robert Burrow