Where, oh where have you been, my love?
Where, oh where can you be?
It's been so long since the moon has gone
And oh what a wreck you've made me
Are you there over the ocean?
Are you there up in the sky?
Until the return of my love, this lullaby
This is the opening statement of the 1:22 opener “This Lullaby” which is the song on the album sung by Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees front-man) with it’s soft acoustic touch and Mark’s low husky voice, this album seems really awesome, right??? Well, yes and no. While the album includes some tracks destined to be QOTSA classics, some seem like a blip in the Queens discography. After the distinct
This Lullaby, another short song comes on. Though it’s not acoustic or soft, it is more fast and energetic. Why, this song I’m talking about is of course
Medication.
The guitars are a bit different on this album, though Josh still has that down-tuned gloomy stoner sound on his guitar, the chords are a bit different as the guitar work makes it sound bluesy. The percussion has decreased in quality mostly because this “Joey” person does it while 2002’s commercial hit
Songs For The Deaf had the almighty Dave Grohl as the one behind the drum kit. This album tries to be commercial with obvious hits
Little Sister and the more less popular
In My Head. Some of the songs are quite consistent but the track listing doesn’t flow sometimes, I can’t listen to tracks 10-13 sometimes. It also isn’t as good as it’s processor even though I gave it a 3.
Josh Homme seems to be the main point of the band, the fact is, without him the band wouldn’t be the same or even exist due to the music being circulated around him. I’m having trouble adjusting to this record, the album is just so different from “Songs for the Deaf” and it is also a lot harder to get into since a lot of the songs are more blues oriented yet SFTD was a hard rocker.
I also felt that I didn’t know who I was listening to, at this point they aren’t really a band, just Josh and his friends. It was a band before Nick left and that opened up a hole in the Queens arsenal. I bought this from the pounding catchiness of Little Sister and I was hoping for more of the same when I opened up the case but they were only a few songs like that. The rest were more serious songs which left me disappointed and felt it was false advertising (cheesy I know) Hope was not all lost as there is some songs that I felt were really good that I could easily like first listen.
In My Head was more of what I was looking for when I bought the album as it was a light catchy song which gave the album a boost but the song was still under-par for what I expected and it got boring fast. I wasn’t going to get anything I anticipated so I tried to look for other pluses about the album. Some of the songs are good,
Everyone Knows That You Are Insane is quite heavy for QOTSA’s standard but the driving repetitive chorus can sometimes be tiring.
It seems the line of songs with major repetition is high which gives me the feeling Josh is starting to run out of ideas for his super-group after Kyuss. Take
Someone’s In The Wolf for example which contains a lot of good progressive elements but there is nothing here to keep me going for the whole 7:15, no major changes and parts to fill it all up hence major repetition. I’m sorry Queens but you haven’t impressed me so far. Maybe chunky blues song is the way forward for them so sorry I’m not supporting you guys.
Maybe the many months I have had time with it hasn’t helped. I still can’t get into it at all. Maybe it’s just me that thinks this record is bad but I’m finding it hard to come round to liking it. All I really see here is some repetitive crap that goes on and on though that would be too harsh. QOTSA really need to work on their ideas and what made their other albums a success but they’ve lost it right now. The songs need to be written better. Rated R was them starting to handle themselves; Songs for the Deaf was a progression and this was supposed to be them perfecting the formula but this feels like a step backwards.
The instruments are still strong.. Though the absence of Nick, the bass is nice and chunky here and Josh sometimes has a horrible tone but his guitar playing fits nicely. The drums are too basic though (I miss Dave Grohl) and Josh doesn’t have the best voice. There isn’t much to the lyrics though as the lyrics aren’t supposed to be the main point to each song but some of the lyrics are amusing for a while.
” Medication for us all, it is a new way/ And we're gonna take it cause we love it/ Don't you know?”
I’m assuming this is some sort of drug reference as I’m still not sure but the way the song is done makes the lyrics amusing for some.
”I keep on playing our favourite song/ I turn it up while you're gone/ It's all I got when you're in my head and you're in my head so I need it”
As often, the lyrics aren’t metaphorical, a lot of them are to the point and they don’t dwell on metaphors which makes the song more interesting and there is a story behind them.
The band has changed for the worst. They aren’t good at writing songs that can keep to your attention for more than 5 minutes. I think they should have kept to the same formula as Songs For The Deaf or at least come up with something that could work. The album fails in comparison and will forever be a low point in QOTSA discography.
]Judging by how No One Knows sounds, it isn't my cup of tea.[/quote]
