2. Kyuss – Welcome to Sky Valley (1994)

At first blush, Welcome To Sky Valley seems like a simple retread of Blues For The Red Sun. Opening track “Gardenia,” for example, mimics “Green Machine” almost too well with its masculine posturing. But a lot changed for Kyuss between the two records; most notably, Nick Oliveri was replaced by Scott Reeder, formerly of the Obsessed. Reeder’s playing, at the time, was more prone to melody than Oliveri’s. More importantly, Reeder didn’t focus on playing the downbeats as much. For evidence, see his introduction to “Whitewater,” an album closer so strong that Homme would not top it until 2002. Reeder and Homme run circles around one another all over Welcome To Sky Valley, and as a result the album feels more adventurous and brighter than its predecessor. A contemplative and tender song like “Demon Cleaner” — for my money the best song Kyuss ever produced — would have sounded out of place earlier in Homme’s catalog.