Queens of the Stone Age
Songs For The Deaf (2002)

review by: Matthew Scrivner
Date: 10/25/02

Somewhere between the melodic punk of Rocket From the Crypt and the grunge metal classics of Soundgarden stand the Queens of the Stone Age. These guys are rock monsters. No, better yet, they're rawk monsters. I mean in twenty years you're going to see them on Time/Life late-night infomercials for Rock Record Anthology, Monsters of the New Millennium, send check or money order for 30-day trial or call toll free! And the title is deserved since their heavy, intelligent, stoneresque sound has rarely been heard since the epic bands of the 1970's that appear on the infomercials now. That isn't to say they are carbon copies of Deep Purple or Led Zeppelin, more that the depth, richness, and composition of that style of rock is very present on this album, the overall effect is hard, heavy and complex enough to be far from the bubble-gum retro of the Strokes and the Hives, while at the same time resisting the urge to be the clichéd dark and angsty night-club metal.

Every song here is thundering, sharp edged, and oddly harmonic. It's tight, slick, deadly, riff-rock that absolutely spanks to weeping all the sad corporate nü-metal being handed golden Grammaphones these days. I've had this CD since August and it's finally starting to see major radio play on the hip young alternative station in town. Which is nice, since I was wondering if those monkeys were capable of spinning anything that didn't sound like Korn or Green Day.

So, what's the deal? Well there's an ever-shifting membership in this band; it's originally the brain-child of Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, and they are joined on this album by Mark Lannegan of the Screaming Trees whose yowling, high pitched vocals introduce the album on the track, Millionaire. This song is probably one of the hardest (and harshest) on the release-most of the other songs are characterized by the smooth, calm voice of bandleader Homme, which adds this fresh, musicality to a genre that seems to rely more and more on howling and screaming. Homme sings sweetly, "Close your eyes and see the sky is fallin'," on the track Sky Is Falling and is backed in harmony by Oliveri in a way that sounds almost like the Dead if it weren't for the cringing roar of distortion from the guitars.

Also backing the band is Foo-Fighter and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, sitting down where we know and love him, on the drummer's stool, whacking tight punk rhythm on kick-bass and snare. I think there is something Grohl brings to the band here, something that is missing, stylistically, from a lot of the hard rock and alternative metal drumming I hear being played. There's a catchy boom-click, and the quick rattle of fills, none of which is over done. I like that you never see Dave Grohl do the cliched kiss-lips expression drummers always get and spin the drumsticks in his fingers when he plays. While his own success could easily eclipse this lesser-known band, it is clear by the strength and subtlety of his playing that he is there totally for support.

The result of this collaboration is strong, rich, and clean, unlike any of the Nickelback and Linkin Park crapola that's being relentlessly mass-marketed on the altnerna-rock charts. I think the title of this album implies this very idea and in interviews that the band members provide (on the bonus DVD that came with the album) they admit as much. Homme explains that driving the two hours from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree National Monument he heard total garbage on the radio and wanted to produce an album to give all the radio listeners "deaf" to the lack of quality, something better.

Thanks Josh and Nick. This is the rock album I was waiting for to fill the void left by the break-up of bands like Soundgarden. I am deaf no more.