Most influential band.....

[Spitfire]

In the stoner/desert/fuzz rock scene, Monster Magnet has been just as influnetial as Kyuss. Spine of God, which came out in 1992 sounded like nothing else out at the time...

here arpi ---
from <!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.allmusic.com">http://www.allmusic.com</a><!-- w -->

Stoner Metal
genre: Rock
Though plenty of heavy metal bands have been regarded through the years as especially compatible with the effects of marijuana, stoner metal was a distinctly '90s phenomenon. Stoner metal bands updated the long, mind-bending jams and ultra-heavy riffs of bands like Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Blue Oyster Cult, and Hawkwind by filtering their psychedelia-tinged metal and acid rock through the buzzing sound of early Sub Pop-style grunge. Stoner metal could be campy and self-aware, messily evocative, or unabashedly retro; in any case, bands like Monster Magnet and Kyuss were perfect fits for the eclectic tastes of the early-'90s alternative metal movement. Even after grunge had faded away, and the influence of industrial and hip-hop began to dominate alternative metal, stoner metal maintained a devoted cult following into the new millennium.

and the Kyuss listing on allmusic.com

Hailing from Palm Desert, CA, Kyuss (pronounced "kai-us") has become a heavy metal Velvet Underground of sorts. <span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>Though they are widely acknowledged as pioneers of the booming underground "stoner rock" scene, the band enjoyed little commercial success during their brief existence. Still, their combination of sludgy, down-tuned guitars (often played through a bass amp for maximum earth-shaking intensity), galloping thrash metal rhythms, and organic drum sound has become the blueprint — often copied but never replicated — by countless underground metal bands.</span>

Formed in 1990 by vocalist John Garcia, guitarist Josh Homme, bassist Nick Oliveri, and drummer Brant Bjork, Kyuss began jamming at "desert parties," in and around the isolated towns of the southern California desert. The band eventually built a local following, signed with tiny independent label Dali Records, and released their first album, Wretch, in 1991. Underproduced and financed, the album failed to capture the band's live sound and went completely unnoticed, but constant touring earned them a reputation as a ferocious live unit as well as the respect of many fellow musicians. One of those, Masters of Reality singer/guitarist Chris Goss, decided to produce the band's next effort, 1992's stunning Blues for the Red Sun, eventually hailed as a landmark album by critics and fans alike. The Kyuss sound takes the heaviness of Black Sabbath, the feedback fuzziness of Blue Cheer, plus other '70s influences, and infuses them with psychedelic flashes, massive grooves, and a sensibility for '90s metal and thrash.

The band was signed to Elektra Records just as their label was about to go bankrupt, and despite the loss of bassist Oliveri (he was replaced by Scott Reeder), the band continued to build momentum. Also recorded under Goss' guidance, 1994's Sky Valley saw Kyuss taking the novel approach of grouping the songs into three extended suites, and nearly matched the brilliance of its predecessor. But despite their creative promise and growing fan base, personal strife began tearing the band apart, and drummer Brant Bjork departed by tour's end. After recruiting Alfredo Hernandez to replace him on 1995's less-inspired ...And the Circus Leaves Town, a final rift between Homme and Garcia finally brought the band to a halt. Homme, Reeder, and Hernandez reappeared as Queens of the Stone Age in 1998, and Garcia is currently a member of Unida. — Ed Rivadavia

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Luckily in ‘86/’87 things started heading in the right direction again with The Seattle Scene and early “Grunge” start-ups Green River and Melvins. Again some people prefer to consider “Grunge” and “Stoner Rock” to be one-in-the-same and cite ’86/’87 as the beginning of “Stoner Rock”. Not me. I consider true-Grunge like Green River, Melvins, Mudhoney, Nirvana and TAD as being the beginning of a re-evolution of Stoner Rock but with a much broader influence base to feed off. Also, still riding hard for Doom in these years was the mighty St. Vitus. The creativity was back, the passion for the music was back and it was all underground, where it was safe! Music was finally being made for the sake of the music and at the grassroots level again and not for image and fame alone. The dark years were essentially over, except, not very many people knew about The Seattle Scene – until “Teen Spirit” – but we won’t talk about that or about Grunge after that. Grunge was just a media-fabricated image anyways, it had nothing to do with the music and poser-rock bands like Bush and Creed prove that with every song and every video they make.

In the early ‘90s things got even better with the epic “Stoner Rock” bands Monster Magnet and Kyuss reinventing the wheel again but with much more ooomph and raw psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll energy than ever before! Many uninformed people claim that Stoner Rock is a homogonous form of music derived only from the sounds of Kyuss and Monster Magnet. Of course some bands follow this ideology but the majority do not. Also, in the early ‘90s, enter stage left with hardcore nihilistic sludge rock like “Eyehategod” and Stoner/Doom hybrids “Sleep” – arguably the heaviest, most evil rock music ever! Then enter stage right with the jazzy-soul-core-rap-metal outfit “Clutch” and their unlimited creativity and soulful grooves to throw a wrench in the works once again!

Anyway, Who the fuck is Elvis Costello????