Whether you love them or not, you have to admit that is one of the most excellent names for a rock band imaginable.
It's impossible to write about the backstory of QOTSA without beginning in the late 80s/early 90s music scene of Palm Desert, California (a place I actually know rather well). In 1987 (great year) a band was formed by schoolmates John Garcia, Brant Bjork, Nick Oliveri and Joshua Homme. Initially called Katzenjammer, which is German for "hangover" (how fitting), they soon changed it to Sons of Kyuss (and eventually just 'Kyuss').
To be fair, an entire piece could be written here just about Kyuss... an incredibly influential group in the circles of metal and "stoner rock" (a term each member still strongly hates) despite enjoying little commercial success. Just their legendary "generator parties" could fill several pages, where they'd play concerts in the middle of the desert and plug their equipment into generators ("good for evading the cops but not the local meth gangbangers", according to Garcia).
After four full length albums (two of which are truly incredible) Kyuss disintegrated in 1995 for a variety of reasons. Homme, who'd been exclusively a guitarist in the group, was looking for his next move. He was still incredibly young (22) for somebody who'd just spent seven years in a notable band, and quickly caught on as a touring rhythm guitarist for Mark Lanegan's (more on him later) Screaming Trees. Homme in the meantime worked on writing his own songs and jamming with other musicians he knew in the Palm Desert scene, leading in 1997 to the creation of the Desert Sessions (yet another project involving Homme that potentially deserves its own piece... dude likes to play). The Desert Sessions are particularly important as not just a bed for the conception of many of QOTSA's most famous tunes, but really as the origin of something so key to both the Queens and Josh Homme's usual overall musical approach: collaboration.
In late 1997, there was some leftover Kyuss material kicking around and so Homme, along with Chris Goss (who'd produced Kyuss' last few records) released an EP split with these Kyuss songs (one a cover of Black Sabbath's "Into The Void") and Homme's new material. Homme wanted to call his new project "Gamma Ray" but facing potential legal problems from a German band of the same name, went with "Queens of the Stone Age" instead, as that was supposedly a nickname Goss had for Kyuss when they were still together.
Josh Homme himself is an unusual character (both for better and worse) and an unusual guitar player. Very much a rock renaissance man, who approaches his craft with a spiritual seriousness. He began playing guitar at age nine but took guitar lessons from a polka teacher, leaving him unaware of many standard rock chords or even a guitar pick until already a year into the lessons. Many folks (strawmen if you will) are quick to dismiss heavy sounding rock music as just loud, basic noise... but describing Homme's particular playing as that, even on the heaviest of QOTSA/Kyuss songs, is a grand disservice to the man's talent. He has an exceptional ear for what makes a melody work, is incredibly creative at inventing hooks that probably shouldn't work but do, and his guitar style is both unmistakably distinctive and endlessly versatile. He's one of those guys you can't decide is better as a rhythm player or when soloing, and it probably doesn't matter since he'll often bleed the distinction of those together regardless.
Yes yes, Queens of the Stone Age are of course a band and not just Josh Homme, and there have been some pretty remarkable names who have rolled through QOTSA over the hills and through the years (see what I did there). The Queens are unmistakably Homme's band, though. He's the leader, he decides overall where they go... and this has mostly been the case since the debut album. Which is not to say the man is closed off to ideas... his love of collaborating with pretty much anybody who breathes music suggesting very much the opposite. Strangely enough, this current iteration of QOTSA is actually by far the longest any one lineup has held together in the band's history, and once you gloss over drummer Joey Castillo switching out for the truly awesome Jon Theodore in 2013... this current lineup is approaching a decade and a half together. Wild when you consider the revolving door of members coming in for a song or two on the earlier records.
Speaking of those very records, it's time to take a looksy at them. Lets dive into these masters of the lost art of keeping a secret.
#7. Villains (2017)
***
The album universally considered QOTSA's weakest is also their most recent, though "recent" is hardly applicable considering it was released over half a decade ago. Their sporadic output since 2007 is fairly indicative of the band's success: Homme is financially secure enough that instead of having to tour and grind with his most famous group, he can go off and do whatever he likes. Whether that be forming a rock supergroup (seriously, them Vultures have to make one more album soon... JPJ is getting old damnit), revisiting the Desert Sessions, producing/appearing on songs for other artists (Arctic Monkeys most notably), or just drinking enough tequila to kill a stable of horses.
Villains reflects these many musical directions Homme has wandered down, most notably his Dean Martin inspired (no, seriously) "The Way You Used To Do". Onboard to guide this eclectic affair is producer Mark Ronson, most notable for being behind that Top 40 hit you hear a few years later and say "oh.... THAT song". Thankfully, Ronson doesn't encroach too much on the heavier, guitar driven instincts of QOTSA... instead adding a layer of sheen to the songs. This sometimes works but plenty other times make these tunes quite forgettable and same-sounding... and I frankly like "The Way You Used To Do" quite a lot despite it completely not sounding anything like a Queens of the Stone Age song.
The album just lacks punch and grittiness. I like the prog-rock influenced "Un-Reborn Again" with its keyboard moodiness, while the very Led Zeppelin inspired "The Evil Has Landed" completely steals the record... the only moment the band sounds like they're breaking through the layer of polish and unleashing glorious nastiness again. I saw the Queens during this tour (they're an incredible live band, even if its a night Josh looks like he's having trouble standing) and the Villains songs are indeed far better live... but still the highlights of that show were not connected to this record.
It's not great, but is a solid rock album... especially for the late 2010s when nobody wants to sound like this anymore. Sadly this is better on the surface than anything else. It's also weirdly the only Queens record not to feature any guest performances, which is what it is but kind of takes some of the fun away. These guys have done way better.
#6. Era Vulgaris (2007)
***1/2
I bought this the actual day it freaking came out... at the long, long gone Sunshine Records near Bloor and Yonge here in Toronto. The cute girl behind the counter suggested I also check out The White Stripes Icky Thump, which had also just been released. Icky Thump turns out is the superior record, but Era Vulgaris will always occupy a certain place in my heart, rent free.
This is where the modern QOTSA lineup begins to settle in... that being Homme singing and on guitar of course, Troy van Leeuwen on... stuff(?), Dean Fertita on keyboards and other... stuff (for real, figuring out who does what beyond Homme and the drummer on a Queens record is usually a serious blur), Mike Schuman on bass guitar (this was his first album onboard) and Joey Castillo on drums. Vulgaris as a result plays like QOTSA's tightest record to that date, with many of the songs sounding like the turning gears in an oiled rock machine instead of the earlier haze of sound. It's extremely clean and direct, compared to the intentional haze of the Queens previous records.
As an album front to back though, it is wildly inconsistent. The second half is much weaker than the first, but some of these are just killer songs. "Turnin' On The Screw" might be my favourite opening track on a QOTSA record ("might" be... the obvious one probably still tops the list), that simple beat while the guitar just grinds the riff into you. "I'm Designer" showcases Homme's rather underrated lyrical ability with its not so-subtle humourous jabs, "Sick Sick Sick" just pounds that dirty lick into your mind (and features Julian Casablancas singing like he's trying to escape), "3's and 7's" belongs in a Tarantino film and then "Misfit Love"... I can't resist a buildup like that and then the complete change of feel at the end. I mean, come on.
A decade and a half later (geez, really? Ugh) Vulgaris is probably best known for its ballad: "Wanna Make It Wit Chu". It's a great sweet song, and one that Homme had been kicking around for several years since one of the early Desert Sessions. Those early versions are neat as a cute curiosity, but this is surely where the song hits its full completed power.
#5. Lullabies To Paralyse (2005)
****
With one exception, I find the better QOTSA albums have the worse album artwork. Era Vulgaris is a wonderful cover and Villains is effectively creepy (not to mention the only time Homme's likeness appears on anything he's ever done... and even then it's just as a drawing by Boneface.)
For the longest time this was my favourite Queens album... my stubborn reasoning that it was the very one that got me so much into them (right around when it came out). I've clearly become more objective over the years (how fun) and Lullabies has slid down the list. It's a fantastic album but the run of extended songs in the middle make it feel like by far the longest album by length in their canon (it's actually 2nd, miraculously coming in just under an hour. Never would've guessed it was that short).
This is the album where QOTSA really becomes Josh Homme's band, or (rather more accurately) that the world was made aware of this fact. Bassist Nick Oliveri had alternated lead vocals with Homme on the previous two records and the two had both played in Kyuss together, but Oliveri's behavior on tour (whatever it may have been, most of the rumors sound not great) led to Homme firing him. Because of the Kyuss connection and that they shared vocals almost equally, many fans at the time considered this some kind of power trip on Homme's part and once the next album, this one, came out, with the band now completely different from the last record... some were eager to dismiss this as some kind of sell-out product (an assertion well fueled by the two successful pop singles on here).
All of this is ridiculous, of course. Early QOTSA needs its own book of footnotes to keep track of the many musicians playing where and what, and nobody could seriously have expected Dave freaking Grohl to commit full-time to the Queens when the Foo Fighters were also, you know... kind of a big goddamn deal. Frankly, I find Lullabies quite the opposite of being a "commercial sell out" record: if anything this damn thing is so long and eerie sounding, like wandering through some haunted woods knowing something is going to grab you from behind. It's unsettling!
But amazing, in most moments. Even the "sell out" song, the out of place hit "In My Head", is a really damn good power-pop song. Meanwhile, you've got the horror romance of "The Blood is Love", the spooky "Burn The Witch" featuring Billy F(ucking) Gibbons (the band covers "Precious and Grace" with Gibbons singing as a bonus track in deluxe releases), an early killer back to back punch in "Everybody Knows Your Insane" leading into "Tangled Up In Plaid" (still a live favourite), and of course "Little Sister"... a huge hit that the band seems a bit sick of having to play all the time at this point (every band has at least one).
Lullabies to Paralyse is sort of the bridge between the early era of QOTSA and the modern one, featuring many of the old cast members (Mark Lanegan, Chris Goss, Dave Catching) with the new (Van Leeuwen, Castillo)... and yet it sounds very little like either of those eras. Very much a uniquely haired child in the catalogue, and underappreciated as a result.
#4. ...Like Clockwork (2013)
****1/2
Yeah.. I have a personal story with any QOTSA album on this list, and ...Like Clockwork is no exception. I remember buying it (on CD!) when it came out in 2013, putting it on for the first time late at night on headphones (with some herbs to... enhance the experience) and my first impression was... kinda not liking this. In retrospect, I didn't get it. Many of these initial complaints were problems I'd likewise later have with Villains (except for the latter those never went away): this all sounds like its trying too hard and there's nothing beneath it. Turns out there was plenty.
Sometime in the early 2010s Josh Homme needed routine surgery to repair something in his knee. For whatever reason the surgery went very nearly as badly as a surgery can go: he developed a severe infection and was medically dead for a moment. At least... that's probably what happened. Regardless, for months he was stuck in a hospital bed to recover, allowed few visitors and fell into a depression he describes as being "lost in the dark". Once back on his feet, he brought the band back together to tour the debut Queens album, but found the experience wasn't helping recapture the passion and joy for music he had before.
Homme considered quitting all of it, but instead decided to look into the darkness he was avoiding. The result was ...Like Clockwork, an album not easy to make for anybody involved considering Homme's state of mind. Longtime drummer Joey Castillo departed halfway through due to the difficulty. This brought back old friend Dave Grohl to fill in on the recordings but not to tour with the band, as well as former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore to play on the closing title track (Theodore has since become the band's full-time man behind the kit, and he's a damn good one).
Despite the strained recording sessions, Clockwork features the usual army of guest contributions you find on any QOTSA album that isn't Villains. The late great Mark Lanegan makes his final appearance on a Queens record, his distinctive whiskey-soaked croon singing backing vocals on the Stonesy funk of "If I Had A Tail", one of the few moments the album really grooves. Also onboard various tracks to help out are Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys (Homme had helped produce their third album, Humbug), Trent Reznor, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, Nick Oliveri's return on a QOTSA record (singing backing vocals on a track), and a little known artist named Elton John. Yes, that Elton John. It seems Sir Elton called up the band himself, musing that they "needed an actual queen on the record", and so he sings backup on "Fairweather Friends".
...Like Clockwork does have its moments of fun, like the slow and slick "Smooth Sailing" or the heaviness of "My God Is The Sun"... but for the majority this is an incredibly introspective record. It finds Homme searching outward and inward as he still comes to grips with what has happened, whether it be the people around him ("I Sat By The Ocean") or coming face to face with death itself ("The Vampyre of Time and Memory" or "I Appear Missing"). The latter is the emotional peak and climax of the record and is simply mesmerizing... Homme dangling on a wire above the darkest abyss and baring his soul for all to hear before its too late... while it rocks pretty damn hard too.
While ...Like Clockwork retains that unmistakable Queens swagger and style, much of the usual sexiness is stripped away for naked feeling and emotion. This isn't as fun as many of their other albums... this is like a long look in the mirror after a questionable week. It's a very dark record in sound and substance, and as such is probably their least accessible work. It certainly took me a while to warm up to it. This is still a fabulous album with some incredibly powerful moments, but a tough one to revisit frequently.
#3. Queens of the Stone Age (1998)
****1/2
The LP that started it all, and was released to such little notice at the time that it was out of print for a while (Homme has since remastered and re-released it multiple times so it isn't exactly a rarity anymore).
This debut album finds Homme between what Kyuss was and what early QOTSA would eventually become... like an intersection where past and future greet each other. The bone rattling desert riffage of Kyuss is unmistakable here (some of these riffs are so low you'd think Josh grabbed them from the bottom of the ocean), as is Homme's evolving gift for agreeable melody and hooks. It also finds the former lead guitarist on vocals for the first ever time (he hadn't sung a single track for Kyuss) and while he does a pretty impressive job considering, you can tell he's still finding his voice at certain moments.
Most of the record is just Josh Homme and (one of) Kyuss' former drummers Alfredo Hernandez, with Hernandez on drums and Homme playing pretty much everything else (this is the birth of his bass playing alter ego, Carlo von Sextron, which just an awesome monikeer). This is a great record for bassists by the way, with those addictive low licks that swagger their way into your mind.
Queens of the Stone Age is very much a "nothing held back" hard rock album, going from one heavy guitar riff to the next without apology. As such, the biggest weakness is that lack of variety, since some of the lesser tracks tend to blend together (I still get a few of the names mixed up). Even if stuck in that one particular lane, however, this record does a hell of a lot with it. There is some distinctive songcraft going on here, whether it be the hypnotic opener "Regular John", the brooding obsession tale of "You Can't Quit Me Baby", the lightning fast romps of "Give The Mule What He Wants" and "How To Handle A Rope", or the downright gritty "Mexicola", where you can almost smell the gasoline in the hot desert air while listening.
The two standouts for me however are the closer "I Was A Teenage Hand Model" (QOTSA just have some wicked song titles, eh) and "If Only" with its semi-borrowed Stooges lick. "Hand Model" sounds like nothing else here, a slowed down piece driven by a dissonant electric piano and Homme softly singing about... who the hell knows. I agree though the final minute of the song where all you hear is the grating sound of a whirring tape machine... very obnoxious! (although if you stick through it, you eventually get the recorded phone message of Nick Oliveri agreeing to join the band, which is rather neat).
All in all, with the debut QOTSA album I find people who are also big Kyuss fans appreciate this one significantly more than myself (I like Kyuss a lot but not nearly as much as the Queens). There's plenty of great heavy guitar on this record and very underrated melody... while the overall feel of it bleeds together this is far from the same song played over and over. It's one hell of a debut, but this band (once additional personnel joined) was about to take even bigger steps.
#2. Songs For The Deaf (2002)
*****
Hey, it's my list. If I wanna put one of the greatest rock concept albums ever made in second place... well I'm probably wrong but whatever!
Deaf is rightfully regarded as QOTSA's masterpiece, and probably the greatest hard rock album of the past twenty years. The "concept" of the album is straightforward: it takes the listener on a drive through the southern California desert (the destination probably Joshua Tree) with various fake radio stations coming in between songs as a framing device for the journey (most of the "DJs" are musician friends of the band).
Even without those interjections (and they are incredibly funny, such as Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal doing a preacher bit), this would still be a phenomenal record because most of the songs are just killers. It gave QOTSA two big hits in "No One Knows" and "Go With The Flow", which are terrific but definitely about as poppy as this record gets. No, much of this album scorches and blisters: the sheer power and muscle of songs like "The Sky Is Falling", the title track, "Songs For The Dead" (still a live highlight), Mark Lanegan's "Hangin' Tree" or the opening wakeup punch of "Millionaire" (a leftover of Mario Lalli from an early Desert Session). And yet still none of these wicked songs hit quite the way "God Is In The Radio" does, with it's trance-like melody and Lanegan warning/prophesying about a deity he's convinced is in the transistor.
Speaking of the vocals, Songs For The Deaf employs a three-headed singer approach that really works considering how different each of the three leads are. Josh Homme brings his usual smoothness and is a nice contrast to Nick Oliveri's fondness for screaming at the top of his lungs... meanwhile Mark Lanegan was just such a goddamn legend, switching from mellow croon to hard rock soulman so naturally you forget its the same guy.
So why is this masterpiece in second place? Well... like any long car trip, there are some points where the journey lags a bit. It's taken me over a decade to warm up to/not skip Oliveri's "Gonna Leave You", and his "Another Love Song" is probably the record's most uninspired track (for the record I quite like "Six Shooter", he sounds legitimately terrifying on it). It's a record that, because of the grand scope and idea of it, plays a lot longer than it actually is... I was shocked to find the runtime is less than an hour and that's including the hidden closing track "Mosquito Song" (another winner, I've heard rumours of concerts where Homme comes out alone and plays it as a second encore once almost everyone has left).
Anyhow, it's freaking Songs For The Deaf. A landmark album that belongs in the collection of any fan of hard rock.
#1. Rated R (2000)
*****
....and my friends all rolled their eyes thusly, suspecting I couldn't resist putting R in the top slot.
Where Queens of the Stone Age was a culmination of Josh Homme's solo material he'd had kicking around since the end of Kyuss, the second album Rated R is when QOTSA truly becomes a cohesive presence. The lineup (as it constantly would be, it turns out) is extremely fluid, sure, but this is where we first get bassist Nick Oliveri's distinctive scream and Mark Lanegan's unmistakable presence.
Much of your opinion of R may likely hinge on your opinion of the opening track, "Feel Good Hit of The Summer", wherein Homme simply names off multiple drugs over a very repetitive 'A' note (it does go to 'C' though!). Myself, I've always quite liked it... the catchy simplicity of it becomes rather irresistible... plus that's indeed Rob Halford of Judas Priest singing harmony in the final chorus (he was in a neighbouring studio).
What really sets Songs For The Deaf and R apart from other QOTSA albums are their melodic variety. Sure, every album after the debut hasn't been wary of experimenting or changing the style... but often times these less successful forays into different styles often come across as trying something for just the sake of it (it's mostly Villains and Era Vulgaris that are guilty of this). I love R so much because none of these songs (save Oliveri's two screamo numbers) sound at all like each other, and yet they're all excellent, flow together naturally and are unmistakably Queens.
"The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" is just great late 90s alternative rock, showcasing Homme's underrated pop skill... Oliveri's "Auto Pilot" finds the gruff bassist toning himself down for a soaring kinda-ballad (it's more likely about being drunk on a plane, but whatever it rules)... "Better Living Through Chemistry" harkens back to the first album (except done with deeper intention) and gets the band into familiar trippy metal territory... "Monsters In The Parasol" is an acid trip gone wrong and then Lanegan's "In The Fade" steals the show... spooky, soul-searching, cinematic, intense... one of QOTSA's very best songs and mind-blowing when live, even now with Lanegan long gone and Homme's higher vocal pitch singing it.
The closing "I Think I Lost My Headache" deserves mention as well, not only because it's great (assuming you stop the record three minutes early before the grating horns kick in, a deliberate move to wake up listeners who may have fallen asleep)... but that it utilizes an unusual 15/8 time signature. Dave Catching's wonderful acoustic guitar instrumental "Lightning Song" is another quick track that just adds so much flavour to this record as well. That's really why I have R here in the top spot: there's a buffet of atmosphere and melody and unlike Songs for the Deaf, I dearly love every song on here. Yes, even "Quick and To The Pointless". It's QOTSA at the pinnacle of their creative powers... they've reached this impressive height many times since on pretty much every record, but never this consistently or tightly through an entire play.
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Since Villains in 2017, the Queens have been pretty quiet. Despite that close call with death, Josh Homme still has a knack for getting himself into trouble (which is even more of a problem when you're 6'5 and notoriously drink tequila to the point where people who tour with you hide so not to drink any more).
Homme, mired for a while in some serious and weird family troubles, has been mostly busy producing other people's songs, like the latest Royal Blood album, while other QOTSA members like Mikey Schuman and Dean Fertita are prominent members of other groups. The Queens are playing a few shows in Europe this upcoming summer, which lends some hope that new music might be on the horizon soon. Even if their last album was overall underwhelming, they're still an excellent band, incredible to see live, and nobody really sounds anything like them. Here's hoping.
