10 Best Rock Music Album Openers Of The 2000s

10. Feel Good Hit Of The Summer - Rated R (Queens Of The Stone Age)

The second album from desert rock royalty Queens of the Stone Age promised a big summery tune and it more than delivered.

Rated R opened up with a song called Feet Good Hit of the Summer. That's nice; is it going to be about sunshine and friendship and walking dogs in the park whilst eating ice cream? Oh wait, it's about drugs.

The meaning of the word "hit" in this instance was literally spelled out on the song's single artwork; the title of the tune written in various pills, powder, and leaves. Subtle.

It is this precise murkiness that makes the song so good though. The constant driving beat makes everything feel frantic and paranoid, while Josh Homme delivers his usual brand of idiosyncratic vocalisation. There's also a guitar solo about halfway through that is very tasty indeed.

Though Queens of the Stone Age would arguably go on to write better stuff, this was one of the earliest examples of their greatness shining through.

Feel Good Hit of the Summer sets the stage for the rest of Rated R and stands out as a banging tune in its own right.