Songwriter/guitarist Josh Homme has been part of two of the most acclaimed stoner rock/metal bands of the late '90s, early 2000s: Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. Formed in the late '80s, Kyuss hailed from Palm Desert, CA, and built a following by throwing "generator parties" (which consisted of inviting friends out to a secluded part of the desert at night while the band would plug into a power generator and jam away until dawn). The band's 1991 debut, Wretch, was ignored by the public (despite such similar-sounding acts as Soundgarden and Alice in Chains storming the charts), and while 1992's Blues for the red Sun received widespread critical acclaim, it, too, failed to break the band commercially. Kyuss signed with Elektra, issuing two more releases (1994's Welcome to Sky Valley and 1995's And the Circus Leaves Town) before calling it quits in 1995.