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The following was originally published in our Killer CD's section.
Review By Dan Grote
“You can’t even hear it,” the generic
DJ says in the intro to “You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar but I Feel like
a Millionaire,” the first track off Queens of the Stone Age’s third album,
Songs for the Deaf, and for the first 20 seconds of song or so, you can’t.
What comes out is that high-end treble you’d expect from your computer
speakers (and perhaps it is, if you’ve already burned the album off the
Internet), but then, after you’ve been given enough time to turn your stereo
up, the Queens assault your ears and insult the unintelligent, and they
don’t let up till the album’s over.
Songs for the Deaf is probably one of the
most critically acclaimed and anticipated albums of 2002, and Queens’ founders
Joshua Homme and Nick Olivieri do not disappoint, having created one of
the best pure rock albums in years. The two get high with a little help
from their brand name friends, including A Perfect Circle’s Troy van Leeuwen,
Screaming Trees’ Mark Lanegan, and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, back behind
the kit (Grohl also supplied drums on the Tenacious D album).
Beyond the scream of “Millionaire,” Songs
for the Deaf includes the bouncy “No One Knows,” the breezy “Hangin’ Tree”
and the pointed “Another Love Song.” Variety is the spice of Deafness,
as vocalman Homme varies between screaming (“Six Shooter”), melodic (“First
It Giveth”) and falsetto (“The Sky is Fallin’”), with guitars to match
the mood. Grohl rounds out the group as the consummate rock and roll drummer;
he supplies a good deal of the album’s power but still manages to stay
in the background to let the frontmen shine. And the frontmen do plenty
of shining, as guitar solos abound on pieces like “Song for the Dead” and
“Go with the Flow.”
Other sonic treats on the album include,
“God is in the Radio,” which, in addition to being intro’d by a series
of religious radio banterings, sounds suspiciously like the classic rock
staple “Spirit in the Sky” by Norman Greenbaum. Another area of variation
lies in the hidden track, “Mosquito Song,” on which Homme and Olivieri
work on acoustic guitars as opposed to the standard distorted electric.
The album also includes skits, centered around the blandness and interchangeability
of modern radio.
VERDICT: Songs for the Deaf is going to
sell largely without the support of MTV or radio. Queens of the Stone Age
aren’t looking for a hit, not singleswise anyway. Fans who liked their
2000 sophomore LP Rated R will love Songs for the Deaf, as the band has
truly taken themselves to the next level. Word of mouth (and the deluge
of magazine reviews the band has already received) will be what makes the
Queens kings.
CD Info
Queens
Of The Stone Age: Songs For The Deaf
Label: Interscope
Records
Rating:
Tracks: You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar, But
I Feel Like A Millionaire
No One Knows
First It Giveth
Song For The Dead
The Sky Is Falling
Six Shooter
Hangin' Tree
Go With The Flow
Gonna Leave You
Do It Again
God Is In The Radio
Another Love Song
Song For The Deaf
Mosquito Song - (hidden track)
Posted by Shayn:
This album would have been #1 in my books if they had gone off and did one of their Kyuss songs.
Posted by Marty:
Awesome CD. Rated R and the first cd were good, but this one has it all. Bought it before it exploded into consciousness, glad everyone knows what I was talking about.
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