Time To Get Stoned

Queens Of The Stone Age are:

Josh Homme: Vocals, Guitar.
Joey Castillo:Drums, Percussion.
Troy Van Leeuwen:Bass, Guitar.
Alain Johannes:Bass, Guitar.

Track Listing:

1. This Lullaby
2. Medication
3. Everybody Knows That You Are Insane
4. Tangled Up In Plaid
5. Burn The Witch
6. In My Head
7. Little Sister
8. I Never Came
9. Someone's In The Wolf
10. The Blood Is Love
11. Skin On Skin
12. Broken Box
13. "You Got A Killer Scene There, Man..."
14. Long Slow Goodbye


Pointless trivia time: from which previous Queens of the Stone Age song is the album title Lullabies to Paralyze taken? If you answered Mosquito Song from Songs for the Deaf then congratulations you just wasted another moment of your life. Oh, well don't worry you were probably gonna waste it anyway.

Anyway back to the review. Speaking of Songs for the Deaf this album doesn't really have all that much in common with it's predecessor. This is probably because Dave Grohl(drums) and Nick Oliveri(bass) have been replaced on this album. Grohl left to work with his other little band the Foo Fighters(album due this summer). Oliveri on the other hand was kicked out of the band for personal reasons. Surprisingly the album fares pretty well without them.

The kicks off with a simple acoustic ballad the amazingly deep voiced Mark Lanegan(Screaming Trees) called This Lullaby it's nice but more of an intro than a song. After lulling you into a false sense of tranquility Medication comes in with a fast driving beat and humming guitars. Josh here shows off a different singing style that pervades the album, he seems to be singing in a slightly higher tone and there seems to be some sort of reverb effect. It's strange at first but it really gives the songs a haunting feel, if that makes sense.

Everybody Knows That Your Insane follows much in the same vein as Medication except during the verses it slows down and has more of a bluesy feel to it before the semi-punk chorus. Many people have suggested that this song was aimed at Nick Oliveri, I really have no way of knowing if that's true or not but if it is he must really hate the guy: You wanna know why you feel so hollow?/Because you are/Everbody knows that you are insane.

Tangled Up In Plaid really reminded me of No One Knows from Songs for the Deaf. It has that same insanely catchy drum and bass beat. Upbeat and danceable it really is a great song to get you going. This is followed by Burn The Witch which really changes things up with hand-claps, bluesy guitar riffs and odd subject matter: The mob it cries for blood/To twist the tale/Into fire wood/Fan the flames/With a little lie.

The first single from the album Little Sister while being an awesome single doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the songs here. It's almost as if it was purposely made to be the mainstream single. Anyway that doesn't mean the song is bad it's actually quite good. It makes extensive use of the cowbell which oddly enough works. The guitars here seem to be weaving in and out and around the main riff quite nicely. Someone's In The Wolf is a seven minute epic with whispered lyrics and a slightly repetitive beat but it still works for the most part.

Slow and bass heavy with intentionally garbled vocals from Homme Skin On Skin is about exactly what it sounds like. The incredible beat and nonchalant vocal style allows the song to pull off lines like:I'm just sweating my sheets/I hate to see you leave/but i love to watch you go baby. Broken Box utilizes piano, handclaps and fuzzy guitar riffs that Josh uses to lash out at an old flame(or maybe women in general). You Got A Killer Scene There, Man.. has a laidback nonchalant feel to it that seems to ooze coolness. This effect is helped by the incredibly deep and slow guest vocals.

In Summary:

This album while being a departure from the style of Songs for the Deaf creates it's own style and it's quite good. A mixture of blues, punk and just straight up rock this album will have something to please all rock fans. Although the year is still young this could end up being the best rock album of the year. In short pick it up and check it out.