Wow, talk about a complete turnaround. Queen of the Stone Age’s last album before this was much more oriented toward hard rock or maybe even stoner rock, but with Lullabies to Paralyze, it is clear that QOTSA has changed their overall approach to writing music when they were so busy changing the lineup all around. This album is much more laid back then Songs for the Deaf even was and this isn’t in any way even an actual rock album. I would say that this is more of a blues-rock album than anything else. When I first heard the single
Little Sister, I was afraid that I wouldn’t like this album as much as I did SFTD. I was right about that, but SFTD is one of my favorite albums of all time so that would be hard to beat. After getting this album I became disgusted with it, but soon over time, namely in the last two months, I have begun to let this album grow on me.
The intro song
This Lullaby, has Mark Lanegan singing softly with Joshua Homme on the acoustic sounding guitar and whispering in the background. About one minute and twenty seconds long; this intro sets the eerie, gothic like mood for the rest of the album. Most of the songs on this whole hour-long album have a laid back feel that I find easy to listen to when I’m attempting to fall asleep at night. The guitar and bass keep their overall sound that they had on Songs for the Deaf, but is slightly tamer. On songs such as
Everybody Knows That You’re Insane,
In My Head, and
Skin on Skin is where the guitar really stands out. Joshua Homme’s singing voice is the same that everyone has come to expect of with a dark, smooth, and almost distorted feeling. Those expecting many of the songs to be catchy will be incredibly disappointed, but the nice melody’s should more than make up for that. Most likely the best performance that Josh gives vocally are on the songs as well as singles;
In My Head and
Little Sister, which are both also about as catchy as you get on this album. As for the bass, well, it just doesn’t stand out as much as it would have on older songs from the band, but bassist Troy Van Leeuwen (Also known from A Perfect Circle) still does an above average job on the album and can still be heard distinctly in the background on songs such as
I Never Came and
Skin on Skin. The drums that are played by Joey Castillo don’t ever stand out much on any songs, and sometimes I must say that it doesn’t even add to the music. One song where the drums are good though is
Broken Box.
Overall, most songs will stick to the same music formula and won’t ever go from being really quiet to loud or vice versa except for maybe the song
Someone’s In The Wolf. Some people will think that this album is one of the more repetitive albums that they have ever heard while others will find this album as an incredibly relaxing,
almost psychedelic album that they love to listen to when there is gloomy weather or something. The best songs on the album are most likely
In My Head and
The Blood Is Love and there are no really weak songs on the whole album. Mainly because of the enjoyable vocals and the talented guitar playing I believe that this album deserves a rating of great (3.5 out of 5).