(Translated from my original Italian text by ChatGPT and Piero Scaruffi)
The vocalist Chris Goss formed Masters Of Reality in 1981 in Syracuse. Initially, the project was simply a guitar-and-electronics duo with Tim Harrington.
Seven years later, Masters Of Reality (Def American, 1988 – Delicious Vinyl, 1990) was released, revealing to the world the secret of a gothic and mythological hard rock, nurtured in solitude at the fringes of the contemporary scene. It’s a sound that blends Cream (Blue Garden), Led Zeppelin (John Brown), and Deep Purple (Domino), producing catchy songs like Candy Song and Sleep Walkin'. Adding to the album its bluesy edge, halfway between ZZ Top and Eric Clapton, is primarily the guitar work of Tim Harrington, the true master of the record. Goss, a sort of rural Jim Morrison, provides the “Ossianic” shell that makes it marketable to heavy metal fans. The solid drumming of Vinnie Ludovico completes a trio worthy of its archetypes. The reissue two years later also includes the shadowy ballad Doraldina's Prophecies and features improved production.
However, the lineup did not survive personality conflicts. Eventually, the guitarist and drummer left to form the Bogeymen, and the thirty-five-year-old Goss reorganized Masters Of Reality with Daniel Rey on guitar and none other than the grandfather of rock drummers, Ginger Baker. The second album, Sunrise On The Sufferbus (Chrysalis, 1993), completely abandoned the dark atmospheres of the origins in favor of melodic chart-ready blues. This resulted in effervescent boogies like She Got Me and Tilt-A-Whirl, and on the catchier side, the psychedelic 100 Years (with Moody Blues-style Mellotron) and, above all, the gospel The Moon In Your Pocket. Repeatedly oscillating between the Beatles (the serenade Jody Sings), Creedence Clearwater Revival (the voodoo atmosphere of J.B. Witchdance), and Cream (the progressive blues-rock of Ants In The Kitchen), Goss achieved the greatest commercial success of the hard rock revival; yet too many tracks are stuffed to the point of tedium with refined blues or jazz touches for discerning connoisseurs.
Goss’s “spoken” singing arguably represents the greatest limitation of a band that otherwise relies on the class and experience of veteran blues-rock musicians.
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(Original English text by Piero Scaruffi)
The Ballad Of Jody Frost, never released, was recorded in 1994 by yet
another line-up. Disillusioned, Goss turned to his job as producer (for
Kyuss) but never buried Masters of Reality.
The live How High The Moon (Malicious Vinyl, 1999) shows that Goss is
still kicking.
Welcome To The Western Lodge (Spitfire, 1999) finds Chris Goss
in his nostalgic mood rehearsing old Cream and Led Zeppelin riffs.
Deep In The Hole (Brownhouse, 2002) is slightly more original, as
Goss employs an army of guests (notably Josh Homme and Mark Lanegan) to
craft soulful grooves such as Third Man On The Moon,
High Noon Amsterdam and Corpus Scorpios Electrified.
