Search - Kyuss :: And the Circus Leaves Town

Josh Homme>>>>>God

Wheelchair Assassin | The Great Concavity | 10/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Before Kyuss splintered and Josh Homme went on to form the equally brilliant Queens Of The Stone Age, the band released the excellent valedictory "And The Circus Leaves Town." Although this album doesn't quite live up to the lofty standard established by the utter masterpieces "Blues For The Red Sun" and "Welcome To Sky Valley," it still showcases the creativity and instrumental virtuosity the band was known for. At the same time, it's perhaps Kyuss's quietest album, turning down the raging sandstorm of sound that characterized "Blues" and (to a lesser extent) "Sky Valley." For the most part, "And The Circus Leaves Town" is the kind of album you could play while kicking back with a beer on your porch and not annoy the neighbors. And since it's predecessors had more of a "play it in your car at full blast with your window rolled down so everyone in a quarter-mile radius can hear it and know you have better taste than they do" vibe, that's a pretty big departure. It's still stoner rock, but stoner rock of a somewhat different and less fearsome stripe.Of course, it wouldn't be a Kyuss album without a few slabs of headbanging metal, and the opening "Hurricane," "Tangy Sizzle," and the concluding epic "Spaceship Landing" all fill the bill quite nicely in that regard. Kyuss could lay down a groove with the best of them, and these songs just provided final, convincing proof of that fact. Featuring Josh's pounding riffs and John Garcia's signature wail, these songs all rank right up there with "Green Machine," "Allen's Wrench," and a few sections of "Sky Valley" among Kyuss's most infectious moments. Likewise, the woozy, sludgy quasi-psychedelia of "Thee Ol' Boozeroony" and "El Rodeo" fits in snugly with the band's prior instrumental output. It's elsewhere than Kyuss stretches out their sonic palette. "Blues" and "Sky Valley" did have their share of quieter moments, but not to the extent found here. Josh's guitar wattage isn't as abundantly evident as before, and John's ratio of singing to wailing actually gets to right around one-to-one. "One Inch Man" and "Gloria Lewis" do contain the sun-baked riffage that Josh has made a very nice career out of, but they're more notable for two of the most relaxed and easygoing tempos of the band's career. "Phototropic," "Size Queen" and "Catamaran" also contain a few heavy moments, but they're still remarkably mellow for Kyuss songs. In the end, I can't endorse this album as heartily as "Blues" or "Sky Valley." However, those albums were such classics that they established an incredibly high target, and I'm not sure "And The Circus Leaves Town" was intended to "match" them anyway. Viewed on its own, this is still a remarkable album with the potential for hours of fruitful listening. So I say kick back and enjoy it."

The toughest listen through, but its still KYUSS.

The Velvet Tomahawk | MO USA | 05/05/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"What that title means, is that this album is worth listening to, many times, and at a very high volume. This album follows down the road that Kyuss started down with "Welcome to Sky Valley". But they are much further down the road. If you want something that resembles the intensity of "Wretch" or "Blues for the Red Sun" you probably aren't going to find it. In my humble opinion, this is their least 'metal' album. That being said, Josh's guitar seems to be tuned down even more, and John sounds as gruff as ever (though he does pull off some nice harmonies, showing the softer side of his voice-think demon cleaner). Scott Reeder returns as bassist for this album, as he did Sky Valley, this album's predecesor. Brant Bjork is gone from the mix, and the new drummer is Alfredo Hernandez. The album seems to strip down the feeling from Sky Valley, which had 6-7 minute epic songs, and turning them into 4-5 minute rock masterpieces. It took me the longest time of all the Kyuss albums to get completely addicted to "...And the Circus Leaves Town" but now it is the Kyuss album I listen to the most.



And as a final note, the band on this album, is pretty much the band Josh used for the first Queens record. subtract John Garcia on vocals, give Josh vocals and guitar, and throw Dave Catching in the mix on guitar/steel guitar and you pretty much have the Queens of the Stone Age that did their self titled album."

Simply Awesome

Simon Rourke | Chelmsford, Essex United Kingdom | 01/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am a latercomer to Kyuss's music, I found out about them after getting hooked on Queens of the Stone Age. I discovered that Josh Homme (Queens Singer/Guitarist) was also the man behind Kyuss so I checked them out.......and boy I am glad I did.There is a lot of debate among Kyuss fans as to which of their albums is the best, I personally love them all and find it hard to compare any of them. My favourite Kyuss song is 'Gardenia' off Sky Valley due to its incredible heaviness and groove.However, this album 'And the circus leaves town..' is a masterpiece. You can really see what direction Josh Homme was planning on taking after Kyuss as he introduced a lot more melody on this album.Their have also been mumblings on some reviews about the singer, John Garcia, I personally think his voice matches the songs perfectly and both music and vocals complement each other nicely.Standout songs on the album are 'One Inch Man' , 'Tangy Zizzle', 'Size Queen', 'Catamaran' and the incredible 'Spaceship Landship'The latter of those is a monster of a track and is arguably one of the best hard rock songs of all time.......it simply rocks like a ...!!There are also some really cool instrumentals and this album, in particular 'Jumbo Blimp Jumbo' which is shows off Josh's amazing guitar ability.In fact that is the one thing that stands out in all of Kyuss's albums, yes the drums are superb and the bass is f**king incredible but the guitar playing is out of this world and Josh really is a guitar god.If you are new to Kyuss I would get this album and 'Sky Valley' first and then work back to 'Blues for the Red Sun' and 'Wretch'I have just added their 'greatest hits' album to my collection although it is mainly full of live tracks and rough cuts that didn't make it on to their proper albums.....still worth a purchase though as anything Kyuss did was awesome.Don't delay......buy today.And if you are into the whole desert/stoner rock thing then check out Karma to Burn and Queens of the Stone Age who are two of my favourite bands."