...And the Circus Leaves Town is the fourth and final studio album by American stoner rock band Kyuss, released on July 11, 1995, nearly a year before their breakup. Drummer Alfredo Hernández (Yawning Man) replaced Brant Bjork, who left Kyuss in 1993. The album features a tighter and more straightforward sound, both in songwriting and production, than the band's preceding efforts.[1] The album was not as commercially or critically successful as the previous Blues for the Red Sun and Welcome to Sky Valley. Critic Dean Brown attributes this partly to a lack of promotion and the band's breakup, but also notes that the album "deserves to be cherished as much as the two molten hot records that came right before it."[2] A video was released for "One Inch Man", the album's only official single.
| ...And the Circus Leaves Town | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 11, 1995 | |||
| Recorded | March 1–20, 1995 | |||
| Studio | Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 71:59 | |||
| Label | Elektra | |||
| Producer | Chris Goss, Kyuss | |||
| Kyuss chronology | ||||
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| Singles from ...And the Circus Leaves Town | ||||
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Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 8/10[4] |
| MetalReviews.com | 86/100[5] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |  [6] |
The album received a positive review in Tharunka, an Australian student publication, in August 1995. The review described the lead single, "One Inch Man", as "unrepresentative" of the album's sound. Two of the tracks, "Jumbo Blimp Jumbo" and "Catamaran", were compared favorably to Black Sabbath and Sonic Youth respectively, and the reviewer noted, "What is admirable here too is singwriter/guitarist Josh's seeming ability to formulate brilliantly executed songs, despite the regular adoption of atypical song-writing structures."[7]
Track listing
editWriting credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[8]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Hurricane" | Josh Homme, John Garcia | 2:41 |
| 2. | "One Inch Man" | Garcia, Scott Reeder | 3:30 |
| 3. | "Thee Ol' Boozeroony" | Reeder | 2:47 |
| 4. | "Gloria Lewis" | Homme, Garcia | 4:02 |
| 5. | "Phototropic" | Homme | 5:13 |
| 6. | "El Rodeo" | Homme, Garcia | 5:35 |
| 7. | "Jumbo Blimp Jumbo" | Homme | 4:39 |
| 8. | "Tangy Zizzle" | Homme | 2:39 |
| 9. | "Size Queen" | Homme | 3:46 |
| 10. | "Catamaran" (originally performed by Yawning Man) | Alfredo Hernández | 2:59 |
| 11. | "Spaceship Landing" (ends at 11:14) "M'deea" (hidden track, starts at 14:42) "Day One" (hidden track, starts at 31:41) | Homme Reeder | 34:04 |
| Total length: | 71:59 | ||
Notes
edit- The song "Catamaran" is a cover of a song originally recorded by drummer Alfredo Hernández' previous band Yawning Man.
- Hidden track "Day One" was originally released in Germany as part of the "Demon Cleaner" extended CD single under the title "Day One (To Dave and Krist)". It was dedicated to the remaining Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, after Kurt Cobain's suicide.
- The song "Hurricane" is featured in the 2006 video game Need for Speed: Carbon. An early recording of the song, as well as "El Rodeo", was released on the "Demon Cleaner" single in 1994.
Personnel
editCredits adapted from the album's liner notes.[8]
Kyuss
- John Garcia – lead vocals, producer
- Josh Homme – guitar, producer
- Scott Reeder – bass, producer
- Alfredo Hernández – drums, producer
Production
- Chris Goss – producer
- Joe Barresi – recording engineer
- Brian Jenkins – mixing engineer
- Billy Bowers – assistant engineer
- Chad Banford – assistant engineer
- Eddy Schreyer – mastering engineer
Artwork
- Jill Jordan – painting
- Michael Anderson – photography
Charts
edit| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[9] | 70 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] | 45 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[11] | 127 |
References
edit- ^ Xander_Christ. "Kyuss: ...And the Circus Leaves Town (Review)". Sputnik Music. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ Brown, Dean (February 23, 2015). "20 Years On: And The Circus Leaves Town By Kyuss Revisited". The Quietus. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
- ^ Demalon, Tom. "...And the Circus Leaves Town Review". AllMusic. Retrieved March 17, 2010.
- ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
- ^ Goat. "Kyuss – ...And the Circus Leaves Town". MetalReviews.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan (November 2004). "Kyuss". The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. p. 473.
- ^ RB (August 29, 1995). "Kyuss **...And The Circus Leaves Town**". Tharunka. Vol. 41, no. 10. Kensington, NSW: University of New South Wales. p. 35. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
- ^ a b Kyuss (1995). ...And the Circus Leaves Town (CD liner notes). Beverly Hills, California: Elektra Records. 7559-61811-2.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 159.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Kyuss – And the Circus Leaves Town" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ "Chart Log UK: Alex K - Kyuss". www.zobbel.de. Retrieved September 19, 2022.