12 '00s Hard Rock Albums All Fans Should Own
2. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs For The Deaf
Queens Of The Stone Age are built in the image of frontman and sole consistent member Josh Homme: big and tough, but with a sly humour and intelligence that you might not expect on the surface. Their follow up to 2000’s Rated R is the ultimate distillation of this, full of thumping desert rock but with a smart, radio friendly core.
They start things off aggressively with "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire", featuring explosive stop/start rhythm and a scorching vocal from former bassist Nick Oliveri, but they show their savvy after this. “No One Knows” was their biggest hit to date, and is perhaps their best known song, which in spite of its prominence is still not stale.
Soloist and former member Mark Lanegan features heavily on the record, excelling on "Hangin' Tree", one of the spookier, more rhythmically complex compositions. Then there’s "First It Giveth", maybe the album’s heaviest track between Oliveri’s rumbling bass and the massive chorus.
While QOTSA would gain further mainstream notoriety from here, this remains their most balanced album, brilliantly straddling the pop world and the grungy desert they continued to record in.