4. Queens Of The Stone Age (1998)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaVlYh7Je9Y Emerging from the shadow of cult stoner-rockers Kyuss was always going to be a strange transition for Homme, but its a move he pulled it off with style - and then some - in the form of QotSAs eponymous 1998 release. The desert-cooked jams concocted by his previous band remained a key touchstone, but Homme sculpted his new material into tighter, more compact statements. These more instantaneous offerings take collective shape in an album dressed in a heat-haze of sleaze, bookended by tales from toilet stalls and suggestive subject matter. Homme took on the lions share of instrumental duties himself, assisted by studio drummer Alfredo Hernández. As a consequence of this heightened autonomy, Queens Of The Stone Age has a markedly singular focus, and gathers a steady momentum as it rumbles through the valleys and landscapes of Hommes id. The buzzword here is bass: this is the most low-slung QotSA record to date. The bass arrangements holding these tracks together may not possess the same vitriolic, jabbing intensity which Nick Oliveri brought to the table, but the grooves mined by Hommes rumbling four-stringer are menacingly hypnotic, especially on mammoth cuts such as You Cant Quit Me Baby and Mexicola. The issue which holds back Queens Of The Stone Age from being classed as one of Hommes major musical achievements is the albums relative lack of tempering. Although most are enthralling in their sedate wooziness, there are several instances where the arrangements spin into uninteresting tangents or overly repetitive codas. Hispanic Impressions is all in good jest, but its clunky charm wears off faster than its three-minute runtime should warrant. Elsewhere, Avon is agreeable but slightly flat, and the final two minutes of Walkin on the Sidewalks could easily have been shed without much complaint. Other than these criticisms, however, Queens Of The Stone Age stands as an impressive and intriguing debut; one packed tight with riffs and brimming with promise. Sixteen years on from its release, its still a formidable starting block. Highlight: If Only The Queens have come a long way since 1998, but few of the bands cuts are as cool and peppy as the infectiously likeable If Only. Boasting the catchiest riff on the album, it nimbly thumps through its cropped verses before upshifting to one of those gloriously simple but so-darn-effective refrains that Homme would go on to master for Rated R. It may be built of relatively basic components, but sometimes of course, the simple pleasures are hard to beat.
Michael Perry
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Film and Literature student, keen bloggist, and aficionado of most things music, film, and TV. I've also been told I should stop quoting pop-culture as often as I do in everyday conversations.
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