About Masters of Reality
Masters of Reality is an American rock band formed in 1981 by frontman Chris Goss and guitarist Tim Harrington in Syracuse, New York, United States. They took the name for the band from a misprinted label of the third Black Sabbath album, Master of Reality. Goss has remained the only constant band member.
The band's music has touched on many styles, ranging from hard rock to blues, from progressive rock to Beatlesque pop music. The band is sometimes associated with the "Palm Desert Scene", which includes bands like Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age and many other stoner rock and "desert rock" bands.
Frontman Chris Goss started out with a band covering heavy 1970s rock acts and writing his own songs since circa 1975. After getting into punk rock for a while , he didn't play guitar for a few years, instead preferring electronic music like Kraftwerk and becoming a club DJ.
In 1981 Goss and Tim Harrington started to make experimental home recordings with lo-fi, cheap and/or borrowed equipment that included a Sanyo boombox Rhythm Ace drum machine, a Korg, synthesizers and a Fender Vibroverb amp. The rhythm tracks of synths and a beat recorded on cassette would be played back to "overdub" vocals, guitar, more synthesizers, et cetera. They considered Manson Family as a name for their act, but never actually used it for their performances. They played regularly at CBGB with a sound reminiscent of Suicide or somewhat like how Nine Inch Nails or Marilyn Manson would sound in the 1990s.
Early original songs included "Building the Kingdom", "Voodoo Doll", "Metal Entity", "Cash", "Anchor", "Stones in Every Field" and "Doraldina's Prophecies".
Masters of Reality grew into a four-piece with the addition of Googe and Vinnie Ludovico and developed a sound with less electronics and more heavy blues rock with influences like Black Sabbath, Cream, Led Zeppelin and King Crimson. A demo tape reached producer Rick Rubin who went to see a live show in late 1986 and then signed the band to Def Jam. Rubin brought out the blues rock character of the band Rubin quit Def Jam but took the band with him to his new Def American label, before their self-titled debut album was eventually released in 1989.
The band appears briefly in the 1990 film Marked for Death .
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