Listen Here         Q ueens of the Stone Age (QOTSA) is an interesting band because each of their albums is like a new experience; Songs for the Deaf is very hard rock, Villains is more dance rock, and Lullabies to Paralyze is softer, stoner rock. Despite this, I'd say QOTSA is a stoner rock band since that is their most common sound. The band is led by Josh Homme who also is a founding member of Kyuss and the Eagles of Death Metal. Homme formed the band after the breakup of his previous band, Kyuss, and a short tour with Screaming Trees. The band started named Gamma Ray, and released an EP of the same name, but after being threatened with a lawsuit by a German power metal band, Gamma Ray, they changed the band's name to "Queens of the Stone Age". They took this name from a nickname given to Kyuss by the band's producer, Chris Goss; "Kings would be too macho. The Kings of the Stone Age wear armor and have axes and wrestle. The Queens of the Stone A...

Since this is my first blog post, I thought it would be appropriate to start with the album that started the genre of metal, Black Sabbath by Black Sabbath. This album is possibly one of the most influential albums ever made, not only because it was the first metal album ever made, but also because it kick-started several other related genres of music such as doom metal, stoner metal, and psychedelic metal. Although in my opinion this isn't the best Black Sabbath, it is definitely one of my favorites. The album starts out strong with one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs, and the first ever doom metal song, "Black Sabbath" (on the album Black Sabbath by the band Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath Cubed if you will). This song does a great job of creating a heavy sense of dread and impending doom, which puts shivers down my back whenever I listen to it. This song also set the seeds of occultism and satanism which are now common themes in modern metal. Sadly the other son...