Sex. Drugs. Rock n’ Roll. True indescribable rock style. California desert, psychedelic atmosphere. “Kill-your-radio-before-it-kills-you” mentality.
Music so real you can eat it. Music so different you can’t find anything like it.
Music so serious, yet so mocking, you do not know if you should believe it.
Music so addicting people surrender to it.
Queens of the Stone Age is what you get when you mix Josh Homme, Nick Oliveri, Dave Grohl (of Foo Fighters and formerly of Nirvana), and Mark Lanegan (formerly of the Screaming Trees).
The minute you begin to listen to their new album, “Songs for the Deaf,” you know there is something different about the band.
As soon as you flip over the CD case and see that a hidden track is listed with the other songs, you know you’re in for a special treat.
The Queens’ unconventional, damn the man, who cares what other people think mentality is immediately shown in the first song, “You think I ain’t worth a dollar, but I feel like a millionaire.”
It rips into the continuous crap that is being generated by the record labels, which is being forced down our throat via the radio.
The melodic vocals are as powerful now as they were on their last album, “Rated R.”
The drum genius that is Dave Grohl, and the heavy bass beat played by Nick Oliveri create a perfect balance with the mesmerizing vocal styling of Josh Homme.
This “stoner rock” is mixed with a pinch of classic rock, a few drops of classic punk, a sprinkle of the British sound, and a chunk of their own secret ingredient of heavy, ripping musical genius that is clearly hard to define.
The change of style from song to song presents not only the immense talent of the bands, but also shows the depth and seriousness, which the band can possess.
Between the addictive sound, the hypnotic rifts, and the subtle intense undertones, their album could easily be listed among the top 20 albums of 2002.
This album is a consistently powerful follow up hit to their last album. It has just as much integrity, but with a more expansive exploration of their musical abilities.
Once again, Queens of the Stone Age refreshes the belief that some good, original music is still being produced today.
You just have to look a little harder to find this music because most radio stations and stores only supply cookie-cutter hits.
