Random Album Review #4

Each week I am going to write a short (under 200 word) review for an album from my collection chosen at random by iTunes. You can expect anything from Slayer to Salmonella Dub to (Ravi) Shankar and that is all part of the fun. Enjoy.

Week 4: Masters of Reality – Masters of Reality (1990)

Country: USA / Rock, Metal, Blues-rock

Originally released in 1988, the 1990 edition of Masters of Reality’s self-titled debut album is the definitive version. It is the benchmark record that birthed and defined the so-called desert rock scene and positioned singer/guitarist at the top. It is not hard to see why either with strong numbers like ‘John Brown’, the brief but incendiary instrumental ‘Theme For The Scientist Of The Invisible’ and the epic ‘Kill The King’ in tow. There is even a nod to the favourite pastime of the stoner rock set in drop-out anthem ‘Gettin High’. Goss unites many disparate themes and ideas under his Masters of Reality banner, but it is his swaggering guitar and papery croon that reign supreme. You can hear everything from Cream (‘The Candy Song’) to Alice Cooper (‘Doraldin’s Prophecies’) to John Fogerty (‘Lookin To Get Rite’) in here. This was just the first album from a band that had a long career ahead of them even if they remain unknown to many rock fans who should know better. Not their best but one hell of a good way to start off.

Rating: A-

For fans of: Queens of the Stone Age, Led Zeppelin, The Cult