Queens of the Stone Age | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Formed from the ashes of stoner rock icons Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age reunited the groups singer/guitarist Josh Homme, drummer Alfredo Hernandez, and bassist Nick Oliveri along with new guitarist/keyboardist Dave Catching. The projects origins date back to Homme, who in the wake of Kyuss 1995 demise relocated to Seattle to tour with the Screaming Trees; he soon began working with a revolving lineup of musicians including the Trees Van Conner, Soundgardens Matt Cameron, and Dinosaur Jr.s Mike Johnson, recording a series of 7"s originally issued under the name Gamma Ray. After rechristening the group Queens of the Stone Age, Homme recruited Hernandez to begin work on their self-titled debut LP, issued in late 1998 on Loosegroove; after the album was completed, Oliveri left the Dwarves to rejoin his former bandmates, with the subsequent addition of Catching rounding out the roster. In addition to extensive touring, Homme put together a series of albums for the indie label Mans Ruin; the various volumes of the Desert Sessions feature Hommes collaborations with a loose-knit lineup of like-minded musicians, some from bands like Soundgarden, Fu Manchu, and Monster Magnet. In mid-2000, Queens of the Stone Age issued their sophomore album, Rated R (as in the movie rating; some promo copies were distributed with the original title, II), before appearing on that years Ozzfest tour. By that point, drummer Hernandez had been replaced by a tag-team combo of Gene Troutman and Nicky Lucero. The group built a healthy buzz courtesy of accolades from such renowned publications as Rolling Stone, and good old-fashioned touring. 2001 saw the group perform at the massive Rock in Rio festival (after which Oliveri was arrested by the Brazilian police for performing nude) and a spot on the years Ozzfest. The same year, Homme and Oliveri put together yet another volume of the Desert Sessions series, while QOTSA assembled a third studio album. Ex-Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl was very vocal in the press about his admiration of the Queens, which led to an invitation for him to join the group for the third albums recording and, subsequently, supporting tour. Surprisingly, Grohl accepted, putting the Foo Fighters on hold (despite having a new album completed and ready to go). One of the years most eagerly anticipated hard rock albums, Songs for the Deaf was issued in August 2002 and was preceded by a tour that saw Oliveri and Homme joined by Grohl on drums, ex-Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, and A Perfect Circle guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen. As if their schedules werent busy enough between QOTSA and their other projects, Oliveri and Homme signed on to pen the musical score to the movie The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys (with backing by Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk), and formed a new project, Headband, with ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez and Amen frontman Casey Chaos. Homme also hooked up with old friend Jesse Hughes for Eagles of Death Metal, which issued the Peace Love Death Metal LP in 2004. (Homme played drums.) When QOTSA reconvened for the March 2005 LP Lullabies to Paralyze, the lineup featured Homme, Joey Castillo, Alain Johannes, Van Leeuwan, and Lanegan. The Over the Years and Through the Woods CD/DVD appeared in November that same year. It featured live material from the bands tour for Lullabies, but also included rare and archival Queens footage. In 2007, the band (Lanegan at this point was only a guest) released the excellent Era Vulgaris, which also included contributions from the Strokes Julian Casablancas, among others. Era Vulgaris wrapped up QOTSAs contract with Interscope and the group went into a period of inactivity as Homme pursued other projects over the next few years. Chief among these was Them Crooked Vultures, a power trio also featuring Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, who released an eponymous album in 2009. The next year saw a deluxe reissue of Rated R and in 2011, the band reissued their hard-to-find debut and did a small supporting tour behind this deluxe edition. QOTSA began recording a new album in 2012, bringing Grohl back into the fold and also finding spots for Mark Lanegan, Trent Reznor, Jake Shears, and Elton John, as well as Nick Oliveri. Queens of the Stone Age signed with Matador in 2013 and the ...Like Clockwork album was released in June of that year. ...Like Clockwork topped the Billboard 200, as well as the Alternative, Digital, Hard Rock, Independent, and Top Rock charts. Following the success of ...Like Clockwork, Homme and various Queens members participated in the Sound City documentary project and Iggy Pops 2016 Post Pop Depression album and tour. QOTSAs seventh set, Villains, arrived in August 2017, preceded by the singles "The Way You Used to Do" and "The Evil Has Landed." | ||
 | Album: 1 of 15 Title: Kyuss / Queens of the Stone Age Released: 1997-12-05 Tracks: 6 Duration: 33:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Into the Void (08:04) 2 Fatso Forgotso (08:31) 3 Fatso Forgotso Phase II (flip the phase) (02:17) 4 If Only Everything (03:32) 5 Born to Hula (05:03) 6 Spiders and Vinegaroons (06:24) |
 | Album: 2 of 15 Title: Queens of the Stone Age / Beaver Released: 1998-09-18 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 The Bronze (03:43) 2 These Arent the Droids Youre Looking For (03:08) 3 Absence Without Leave (05:06) 4 Morocco (04:24) |
 | Album: 3 of 15 Title: Queens of the Stone Age Released: 1998-10-06 Tracks: 11 Duration: 46:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Regular John (04:35) 2 Avon (03:23) 3 If Only (03:21) 4 Walkin on the Sidewalks (05:03) 5 You Would Know (04:16) 6 How to Handle a Rope (03:30) 7 Mexicola (04:54) 8 Hispanic Impressions (02:44) 9 You Can’t Quit Me Baby (06:33) 10 Give the Mule What He Wants (03:09) 11 I Was a Teenage Hand Model (05:01) |
| Queens of the Stone Age : Allmusic album Review : Hearing Queens of the Stone Ages long out of print debut many years after its initial 1998 release does pack the shock of revelation: Josh Homme’s tightly wound blueprint for QOTSA was in place from the very beginning. Where Homme’s previous outfit, Kyuss, were all about expansion, Queens of the Stone Age were about compression, Homme stripping stoner rock to its essence -- riffs as heavy as granite, solos as spacy as the desert sky. The songs on Queens of the Stone Age are shorter, pulled into focus by grinding fuzz riffs that anchor the proceedings even when the instrumental sections begin to drift into the ether. Another distinguishing factor in Queens of the Stone Age is that Homme writes full-blown songs -- pushing their two best songs, “Regular John” and “Avon,” to the front, giving them room to float later on -- so the album isn’t just about instrumental interaction, but the crucial difference is that this isn’t music solely for disaffected males. There is sex and swagger to Queens of the Stone Age, there’s a swing to the rhythms, there’s a darkly enveloping carnal menace buttressed by muscle and lust that keeps the album from being an insular stoner headpiece. Certainly, there’s enough sinewy force to suggest the mighty brawn of Rated R and Songs for the Deaf; Homme retained enough of the desert spaciness of Kyuss to give Queens of the Stone Age an otherworldly shimmer, a hazy quality he later abandoned for aggressive precision, so this winds up as a unique record in his catalog, a place where you can hear Homme’s past and future intertwining. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 15 Title: R Released: 2000-06-05 Tracks: 12 Duration: 44:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Feel Good Hit of the Summer (02:43) 2 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (03:36) 3 Leg of Lamb (02:48) 4 Auto Pilot (04:01) 5 Better Living Through Chemistry (05:49) 6 Monsters in the Parasol (03:27) 7 Quick and to the Pointless (01:42) 8 In the Fade (03:51) 9 Tension Head (02:52) 10 Lightning Song (02:07) 11 I Think I Lost My Headache (08:40) 12 Ode to Clarissa (02:40) |
| R : Allmusic album Review : The second Queens of the Stone Age album, Rated R (as in the movie rating; its title was changed from II at the last minute before release), makes its stoner rock affiliations clear right from the opening track. The lyrics of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" consist entirely of a one-line list of recreational drugs that Josh Homme rattles off over and over, a gag that gets pretty tiresome by the end of the song (and certainly doesnt need the reprise that follows "In the Fade"). Fortunately, the rest of the material is up to snuff. R is mellower, trippier, and more arranged than its predecessor, making its point through warm fuzz-guitar tones, ethereal harmonies, vibraphones, horns, and even the odd steel drum. That might alienate listeners who have come to expect a crunchier guitar attack, but even though its not really aggro, R is still far heavier than the garage punk and grunge that inform much of the record. Its still got the vaunted California-desert vibes of Kyuss, but it evokes a more relaxed, spacious, twilight feel, as opposed to a high-noon meltdown. Mark Lanegan and Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees both appear on multiple tracks, and their bands psychedelic grunge -- in its warmer, less noisy moments -- is actually not a bad point of comparison. Longtime Kyuss fans might be disappointed at the relative lack of heaviness, but Rs direction was hinted at on the first QOTSA album, and Hommes experimentation really opens up the bands sound, pointing to exciting new directions for heavy guitar rock in the new millennium. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 15 Title: Feel Good Hit of the Summer Released: 2001-01-08 Tracks: 5 Duration: 16:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Feel Good Hit of the Summer (02:43) 2 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (03:36) 3 Never Say Never (04:23) 4 You’re So Vague (03:40) 5 Who’ll Be the Next in Line (02:30) |
 | Album: 6 of 15 Title: Songs for the Deaf Released: 2002-08-17 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:08:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire (03:12) 2 No One Knows (04:38) 3 First It Giveth (03:18) 4 A Song for the Dead (05:52) 5 The Sky Is Fallin’ (06:15) 6 Six Shooter (01:19) 7 Hangin’ Tree (03:06) 8 Go With the Flow (03:07) 9 Gonna Leave You (02:50) 10 Do It Again (04:04) 11 God Is in the Radio (06:04) 12 Another Love Song (03:16) 13 A Song for the Deaf / Feel Good Hit of the Summer (reprise) (06:13) 14 Mosquito Song (05:38) 15 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (03:38) 16 Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy (Non-LP version) (02:35) 17 Gonna Leave You (Spanish version) (02:55) |
| Songs for the Deaf : Allmusic album Review : On their third album, Songs for the Deaf, Queens of the Stone Age are so concerned with pleasing themselves with what they play that they dont give a damn for the audience. This extends to the production, with the entire album framed as a broadcast from a left-of-the-dial AM radio station, the sonics compressed so every instrument is flattened. It’s a joke run wild, punctuated by an ironic mock DJ, and it fits an album where the players run wild. As usual, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri have brought in a number of guests, including Mark Lanegan on vocals and Dean Ween on guitar, but they’ve anchored themselves with the drumming of the mighty Dave Grohl, who helps give the band the muscle sorely missing from most guitar rock these days, whether its indie rock or insipid alt-metal. QOTSA may be a muso band -- a band for musicians and those who have listened to too much music; why else did the greatest drummer and greatest guitarist in 90s alt-rock (Grohl and Ween, respectively) anxiously join this ever-shifting collective? -- but that’s the pleasure of the band, and Songs for the Deaf in particular: it’s restless and pummeling in its imagination and power. | ||
 | Album: 7 of 15 Title: Stone Age Complication Released: 2004-10-04 Tracks: 6 Duration: 24:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Who’ll Be the Next in Line (02:30) 2 Wake Up Screaming (05:03) 3 No One Knows (UNKLE remix) (04:37) 4 Most Exalted Potentate of Love (02:46) 5 Born to Hula (05:54) 6 The Bronze (03:43) |
 | Album: 8 of 15 Title: Lullabies to Paralyze Released: 2005-03-18 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:02:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 This Lullaby (01:22) 2 Medication (01:54) 3 Everybody Knows That You Are Insane (04:14) 4 Tangled Up in Plaid (04:13) 5 Burn the Witch (03:35) 6 In My Head (04:01) 7 Little Sister (02:54) 8 I Never Came (04:48) 9 Someone’s in the Wolf (07:15) 10 The Blood Is Love (06:37) 11 Skin on Skin (03:42) 12 Broken Box (03:02) 13 “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…” (04:56) 14 Long Slow Goodbye / Hidden Finale (06:50) 15 Like a Drug (03:15) |
| Lullabies to Paralyze : Allmusic album Review : Before heading into the studio in early 2004 to record the fourth Queens of the Stone Age album, Lullabies to Paralyze, the bands guitarist/vocalist/chief songwriter, Josh Homme, kicked out bassist Nick Oliveri for undisclosed reasons. Since Homme and Oliveri were longtime collaborators, dating back to the 1990 formation of their previous band, Kyuss, this could have been a cause for concern, but QOTSA is not an ordinary band, so ordinary rules do not apply. Throughout their history, from Kyuss through Queens of the Stone Ages 2002 breakthrough Songs for the Deaf, Homme and Oliveri have been in bands whose lineups were as steady as quicksand; their projects were designed to have a revolving lineup of musicians, so they can withstand the departure of key musicians, even one as seemingly integral to the grand scheme as Oliveri -- after all, he left Kyuss in 1994 and the band carried on without him. Truth is, the mastermind behind QOTSA has always been Josh Homme -- hes the common thread through the Kyuss and QOTSA albums, the guy who has explored a similar musical vision on his side project the Desert Sessions -- and since hes wildly indulging his obsessions on Lullabies to Paralyze, even hardcore fans will be hard-pressed to notice the absence of Oliveri here. Sure, there are some differences -- most notably, Lullabies lacks the manic metallic flourishes of their earlier work, and the gonzo humor and gimmicks, such as the radio DJ banter on Deaf, are gone -- but it all sounds like an assured, natural progression from the tightly wound, relentless Songs for the Deaf. That album contained genuine crossover pop tunes in "No One Knows" and "Go With the Flow," songs that retained QOTSAs fuzzy, heavy neo-psychedelic hard rock and were channeled through an irresistible melodic filter that gave the music a serious sexiness that was nearly as foreign to the band as the undeniable pop hooks. Homme has pulled off a surprise of a similar magnitude on Lullabies to Paralyze -- he doesnt walk away from these breakthroughs but marries them to the widescreen art rock of R and dark, foreboding metal of Kyuss, resulting in a rich, late-night cinematic masterpiece. One of the reasons QOTSA have always been considered a musicians band is that they are masters of mood, either sustaining tension over the course of a six-minute epic or ratcheting up excitement in the course of a two-minute blast, all while using a familiar palette of warm, fuzz-toned guitars, ghostly harmonies, and minor-key melodies. While Lullabies is hardly a concept album, its songs play off each other as if it were a song cycle, progressing from the somber Mark Lanegan-sung opening salvo of "This Lullaby" and steadily growing spookier with each track, culminating in the scary centerpiece "Someones in the Wolf." The key to QOTSAs darkness is that its delivered seductively -- this isnt an exercise in shallow nihilism, theres pleasure in succumbing to its eerie, sexy fantasies -- and that seductiveness is all musical. Specific lyrics dont matter as much as how Hommes voice blends into the band as all the instruments bleed together as one, creating an elastic, hypnotic force that finds endless, fascinating variations on a seemingly simple sound. Simply put, there is no other rock band in 2005 that is as pleasurable to hear play as QOTSA -- others may rock harder or take more risks, but no one has the command and authority of Queens at their peak, which they certainly are here. They are so good, so natural on Lullabies to Paralyze that its easy to forget that they just lost Oliveri, but that just makes Hommes triumph here all the more remarkable. Hes not only proven that he is the driving force of Queens of the Stone Age, but hes made an addictive album that begs listeners to get lost in its ever-shifting moods and slyly sinister sensuality. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 15 Title: Over the Years and Through the Woods Released: 2005-11-21 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:14:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Go With the Flow (02:58) 2 Regular John (05:25) 3 Monsters in the Parasol (04:40) 4 Tangled Up in Plaid (04:00) 5 Little Sister (02:52) 6 You Can’t Quit Me, Baby (09:49) 7 I Wanna Make It Wit Chu (04:28) 8 Leg of Lamb (03:35) 9 I Think I Lost My Headache (05:24) 10 Mexicola (05:09) 11 Burn the Witch (03:13) 12 A Song for the Dead (07:47) 13 No One Knows (07:47) 14 Long Slow Goodbye (07:20) |
| Over the Years and Through the Woods : Allmusic album Review : Released a mere eight months after their divisive fourth album Lullabies to Paralyze, Over the Years and Through the Woods is a CD/DVD package documenting Queens of the Stone Age in concert -- and as the punning title indicates, its not just on the 2005 tour, either, but from throughout their career. The centerpiece of the DVD, and all of the CD, is their London shows at the Brixton Academy and Kokos from the summer of 2005, but the DVDs bonus footage includes a wealth of performances shot at the time of each albums release. Which means, of course, that theres footage of QOTSA with Dave Grohl on drums for 2002s Songs for the Deaf, but thats hardly the only captivating footage here -- theres grainy audience tapes for the first album, Billy F. Gibbons playing "Burn the Witch" with the band for Lullabies, and the main feature has behind-the-scenes footage and interviews scattered throughout. Its an excellent DVD, and while the CD isnt nearly as an immersing experience -- how could it be? -- it is a lean, hard live album that thrives on its casual virtuosity. While that may not be the sort of thing that will win over new fans, this densely packed set is targeted at the hardcore fans and it more than pays back their long-standing devotion. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 15 Title: Era Vulgaris Released: 2007-06-08 Tracks: 24 Duration: 2:00:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Turnin’ on the Screw (05:20) 2 Sick, Sick, Sick (03:34) 3 I’m Designer (04:04) 4 Into the Hollow (03:42) 5 Misfit Love (05:39) 6 Battery Acid (04:06) 7 Make It Wit Chu (04:50) 8 3’s & 7’s (03:34) 9 Suture Up Your Future (04:37) 10 River in the Road (03:19) 11 Run, Pig, Run (04:40) 12 The Fun Machine Took a S*** ! and Died (06:56) 13 Make It With Chu (acoustic) (04:34) 14 Era Vulgaris (Richard File remix) (06:05) 15 I’m Designer (UNKLE remix) (06:11) 1 Monsters in the Parasol (03:34) 2 Misfit Love (06:41) 3 If Only (03:42) 4 I Think I Lost My Headache (06:09) 5 Into the Hollow (04:13) 6 Go With the Flow (03:21) 7 Regular John (10:59) 8 Avon (03:17) 9 A Song for the Dead (07:12) |
| Era Vulgaris : Allmusic album Review : Josh Homme is a man of many talents, but hes not quite a man of his time. He floats outside of it, sniping and sneering at it, but hes not part of it -- hes too in love with rock & roll to belong to a decade thats seeing the musics slow decline. You could say that Queens of the Stone Age keep rocks flame burning, but unlike other new-millennium true believers -- like Jack White, for instance -- Homme lacks pop skills or even the interest in crossing over (which isnt the same thing as lacking hooks, mind you), and unlike the stoner metal underground that provided his training ground, hes not insular; he thrives on grand visions and grander sound. Hes an anomaly, a keeper of the flame that will never be played on Little Stevens Rock & Roll Underground because Queens of the Stone Age are too heavy, too muso, too tasteless in all the wrong ways to be commonly accepted or embraced as among the next generation of rock heroes -- which only makes them more rock & roll, of course. And if rock & roll is indeed in decline in the 2000s, Homme and his Queens of the Stone Age prove that rock & roll can nevertheless be just as potent as it ever was with each of their remarkable albums. All are instantly identifiable as QOTSA but all are quite different from each other, from the sleazoid freak-out of R to the dark, gothic undertow of Lullabies to Paralyze, a record so willfully murky that it alienated a good portion of an audience ready to bolt in the wake of the departure of Hommes longtime partner, Nick Oliveri. Its 2007 successor, Era Vulgaris, is as different from Lullabies as that was to their dramatic widescreen breakthrough, Songs for the Deaf: its mercilessly tight and precise, relentless in its momentum and cheerful in its maliciousness. Like other QOTSA albums, guest musicians are paraded in and out, but here its impossible to tell if Mark Lanegan contributed anything or if that indeed is the Strokes Julian Casablancas singing lead on the lethal "Sick, Sick, Sick," because Homme has honed Era Vulgaris so scrupulously that its impossible to hear anybody elses imprint on the overall sound. QOTSA retain some of the spookiness of Lullabies -- theres a ghostly hue on "Into the Hollow" -- but this is as balls-out rock as Songs for the Deaf, only minus the mythic momentum Dave Grohl lent that record. But Era Vulgaris isnt designed as a monolith like Songs; its appeal is in its lean precision, how the riffs grind as if they were stripping screws of their threads, how the rhythms relentlessly pulse, and, of course, how its all dressed up in all kinds of scalding guitars, all different sounds and tones, giving this menace and muscle. If the songs arent pop crossovers -- not even the soulful seductive groove of "Make It Wit Chu" (revived from one of Hommes Desert Sessions) qualifies it as a potential pop hit -- they still have hard hooks that make these manifestos even if they arent anthems: "Misfit Love" digs in like a nasty Urge Overkill, "Battery Acid" is metallic and mean, blind-sided only by the gargantuan, gnarly "3s & 7s." Its hard to call Era Vulgaris stripped-down -- theres too much color in the guitar, too much willful weirdness to be that -- but this is Queens of the Stone Age at their most elemental and efficient, never spending longer than necessary at each song, yet managing to make each of these three-minute blasts of fury sound like epics. Its exhilarating, the best rock & roll record yet released in 2007 -- and the year sure needed the dose of thunder that this album provides. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 15 Title: Rated R + Songs for the Deaf Released: 2010-05-11 Tracks: 27 Duration: 1:44:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Feel Good Hit of the Summer (02:43) 2 The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret (03:36) 3 Leg of Lamb (02:48) 4 Auto Pilot (04:01) 5 Better Living Through Chemistry (05:49) 6 Monsters in the Parasol (03:27) 7 Quick and to the Pointless (01:42) 8 In the Fade (03:51) 9 Feel Good Hit of the Summer (reprise) (00:34) 10 Tension Head (02:52) 11 Lightning Song (02:07) 12 I Think I Lost My Headache (08:40) 1 You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, but I Feel Like a Millionaire (03:12) 2 No One Knows (04:38) 3 First It Giveth (03:18) 4 A Song for the Dead (05:52) 5 The Sky Is Fallin’ (06:15) 6 Six Shooter (01:19) 7 Hangin’ Tree (03:06) 8 Go With the Flow (03:07) 9 Gonna Leave You (02:50) 10 Do It Again (04:04) 11 God Is in the Radio (06:04) 12 Another Love Song (03:16) 13 A Song for the Deaf / Feel Good Hit of the Summer (reprise) (06:42) 14 Mosquito Song (05:38) 15 Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy (02:35) |
 | Album: 12 of 15 Title: …Like Clockwork Released: 2013-05-31 Tracks: 10 Duration: 46:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Keep Your Eyes Peeled (05:04) 2 I Sat by the Ocean (03:55) 3 The Vampyre of Time and Memory (03:34) 4 If I Had a Tail (04:55) 5 My God Is the Sun (03:55) 6 Kalopsia (04:38) 1 Fairweather Friends (03:43) 2 Smooth Sailing (04:51) 3 I Appear Missing (06:00) 4 …Like Clockwork (05:24) |
| …Like Clockwork : Allmusic album Review : All the surface evidence on ...Like Clockwork suggests Josh Homme is steering Queens of the Stone Age back to familiar territory. Once again, hes enlisted drummer Dave Grohl as his anchor and hes made amends with his erstwhile bassist Nick Oliveri, suggesting Homme is returning to either Rated R or Songs for the Deaf, the two turn-of-the-millennium masterpieces that thrust QOTSA out of their stoner rock cult, but ...Like Clockwork isnt so simple as a return to roots. Homme flirts with his history as a way to make sense of his present, reconnecting with his strengths as a way to reorient himself, consolidating his indulgences and fancies into a record that obliterates middle-age malaise without taking a moment to pander to the past. Like always, Homme opens himself up to collaborations, wrangling an impressive roster that includes his wife Brody Dalle, his longtime companion Mark Lanegan, his protégé Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, his kindred spirit Trent Reznor, Scissor Sister Jake Shears, and superstar Elton John, but despite this large cast, the only musician who makes an indelible presence is Homme himself. ...Like Clockwork is unusually focused for a Queens of the Stone Age record, containing all of the groups hallmarks -- namely volume and crunch, but also a tantalizing sense of danger, finding seduction within the darkness -- but there is little of the desert sprawl and willful excess that have always distinguished their records. This is forceful, purposeful, fueled by dense interwoven riffs and colored with hints of piano and analog synthesizers that quite consciously evoke 70s future dystopia. QOTSA always specialized in this eerie sexiness, but the precision on ...Like Clockwork -- quite different than the merciless propulsion of Era Vulgaris, the 2007 album that closed out their time at Interscope -- feels conceptually tight, Homme smartly sculpting guitar fuzz, elastic solos, haunted harmonies, and deceptively slinky rhythms into a cool, relentless collection of heavy rock. The force impresses but also the restraint: there are missed beats and open space, muscular music that seduces and pummels, even manages to soothe while it assaults. Its complex, harder, and catchier than anything QOTSA have done in a decade, and more song-oriented, too, but thats a sign of maturity: Homme has marshaled all of his strengths on ...Like Clockwork and has found a way forward, a way to deepen his music without compromising his identity. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 15 Title: iTunes Festival: London 2013 Released: 2013-10-08 Tracks: 6 Duration: 25:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 My God Is the Sun (05:35) 2 You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar but I Feel Like a Millionaire (02:54) 3 In the Fade (04:40) 4 If I Had a Tail (04:50) 5 I Sat by the Ocean (04:01) 6 Go With the Flow (03:11) |
 | Album: 14 of 15 Title: ...Like Cologne Released: 2013-11-22 Tracks: 3 Duration: 14:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Long Slow Goodbye (05:39) 2 The Vampyre of Time and Memory (03:51) 3 I Sat by the Ocean (04:36) |
 | Album: 15 of 15 Title: Villains Released: 2017-08-25 Tracks: 9 Duration: 48:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Feet Don’t Fail Me (05:41) 2 The Way You Used to Do (04:34) 3 Domesticated Animals (05:20) 4 Fortress (05:27) 5 Head Like a Haunted House (03:21) 6 Un-Reborn Again (06:40) 1 Hideaway (04:18) 2 The Evil Has Landed (06:30) 3 Villains of Circumstance (06:09) |
| Villains : Allmusic album Review : It takes nearly a minute for Villains to begin its slow ascent from the murk and even longer before the clenched funk of "Feet Dont Fail Me Now" clicks in, a deliberateness that suggests Josh Homme has supreme confidence in the seventh album from Queens of the Stone Age. Perhaps some of this swagger flows in Hommes blood, perhaps it stems from QOTSA finally reaching Billboards pole position with 2013s …Like Clockwork, but theres an undeniable assurance to Villains that surely has something to do with the band -- or specifically Homme, who is the only constant in QOTSAs career -- knowing precisely who they are as they close out their second decade. To that end, the hiring of Mark Ronson -- the man whose star rose with Amy Winehouse and whos sustained his fame through Bruno Mars -- as producer feels like the move of a group who knows no outside influence will dilute their music, and Villains proves this to be true. QOTSA doesnt come to Ronson, Ronson comes QOTSA, sharpening their attack and adding spooky grace notes to the margins. On these asides, QOTSA conjures the dark magic thats been their calling card since the start, but where …Like Clockwork gained strength from its foreboding, Villains feels designed to lift spirits. For one, its filled with ravers and boogies, alternating between taut vamps and louche glam grooves. Homme goes so far as to tip his stove pipe hat to Marc Bolan on "Un-Reborn Again," one of a few classic rock nods scattered throughout the album. As classic as Villains can sound -- and theres no doubting that Homme and company pledge allegiance to the sounds and styles patented in the 70s -- it feels fresh due to execution. At this stage, Queens of the Stone Age dont have many new tricks in their bag, but their consummate skill -- accentuated by the fact that this is the first QOTSA album that features just the band alone, not even augmented by Mark Lanegan -- means they know when to ratchet up the tempo, when to slide into a mechanical grind, and when to sharpen hooks so they puncture cleanly. All that makes Villains a dark joy, a record that offers visceral pleasure in its winking menace. | ||