On June 2nd I listened to Queens Of The Fucking Stone Age
Queens Of The Fucking Stone Age and ...Like Clockwork.
Way back in 1998 I was working for a heavily consulted
Alternative radio station in Buffalo, NY. Heavily consulted means they played
the same 150 songs over and over again. I was the host of a Sunday night specialty
show and for ninety minutes I got to play whatever I wanted, as long as it was new. The show was called Over & Beyond, I think. I don’t remember
and I didn't name it. It was the highlight of my week. I’d put the show
together and record all the breaks on Friday and then some dope that was working
Sunday night would play it all. Where ever I was, I usually
forced whoever was with me to put it on, or I just sat at home and listened to
it. I was pretty proud of that show.
At this point in my life I was listening to at least ten
albums a week, sometimes more. All the music came fast and sometimes shit slips
through the cracks.
When Queens Of The Stone Age was released, I was sent a plain
copy of the album without any artwork and a short bio explaining this was the
debut from former Kyuss members… blah blah blah. I didn't know who Kyuss was
and I’m pretty sure I've never actually heard a Kyuss album. I gotta fix that.
Regardless, I hated this album. I hated the name of the band and just didn't
care.
At the time, Limp Bizkit, Korn, Kidd Rock and all that Rap Rock bullshit were king and I was looking for Indie Rock that didn't sound anything like it. Queens Of The Stone Age had this stoner Rock sound to me and I just didn't connect.
Some bonehead that was working the album to specialty shows
around the country was really giving me the hard sell that this album was
brilliant and I needed to spend more time with it. Plus, there was a group of
people I knew that were all of a sudden Kyuss super fans. “Kyuss was fucking
great! You gotta listen to this or that.” That’s usually a major turn off for
me. My music snobbishness pretty much pushed me away from giving this album any
time.
I’m sure I played “If Only” once on Over And Beyond and
forgot all about it.
Two years later, I’m working for some radio/music industry
rag in Philadelphia and Rated R comes out. I couldn't love it more! I spent the whole
summer at the dawn of the century listening to Rated R over and over and over again.
After about a thousand spins I dug out my plain artwork free copy of The Queens
Of The Stone Age and it all made sense.
There’s a certain cock-swinging-swagger that encapsulates the
Queens Of The Stone Age. A hundred different elements come together and create
more than just a sound, style or attitude. It’s a fucking philosophy and the
whole thing was realized right here on their debut album. I’m such an ass for
letting it pass me by when it was released.
It was nice to listen to the first album right before …Like
Clockwork, because it sounds like it was recorded at the same time. The
similarities in the two albums is definitely noticeable and almost without a
feeling that the band is just repeating itself. …Like Clockwork is now my pick
for album of the year and I couldn't be happier that they sound exactly the
same. And I'm just realizing right now that the name is perfect! Like clockwork? Get it!
I’m totally stuck on “If I Had A Tail” right now. It’s hypnotic!
“Keep Your Eyes Peeled,” “The Vampyre Of Time And Memory,” “My God Is The Sun,”
and “Fairweather Friends” are all giants. “Smooth Sailing” is wonderfully
creepy and maniac.
I now have to go back and listen to Eva Vulgaris and Lullabies
To Paralyze again, because outside of a
few standouts, I wasn't a big fan of either of those records as a whole. Add to
that the six years since Eva Vulgaris and I was expecting something good, not
great from Queens Of The Stone Age. I couldn't be more fucking jazzed they
dropped something that exceeded all expectations and is simply brilliant.
Up next... I listened to Vampire Weekend Contra and Modern Vampires Of The City.
Apologies in advance for the long ass comment comin your way :)
ReplyDeleteI have a similar-ish history with this band. I started off hating them for an absurd reason. They opened up for Smashing Pumpkins in 1999 at super awesome shows I went to at Tramps and The 9:30 Club. Maybe it's because I camped outside all night for those Tramps tix (first come first served wristband situation) but I was a cranky bitch and a half about having to endure an opening band. All they represented to me was an added barrier between me and SP. So I developed a personal vendetta against them ever since then. Mature right? Anyway fast forward to eventually admitting to myself that they are not in fact the devil in band form. I dug Songs For The Deaf privately because I'm stubborn and wouldn't relent on my stance. I wouldn't give in to admitting I liked them until I was at K-Rock and saw them at a Virgin Megastore appearance for the Lullabies To Paralyze release. I really held on to this hard for some reason. So much so that just last week my mom said to me "What? I thought you hated them and said they were completely overrated?" Whoops. I had a good run but it was time to finally publicly admit defeat.
Well, now that that's all out of the way, I didn't expect a new album to suck obviously but I was wary after a long hiatus. And this long rant of mine has just been a big lead up to me saying ...Like Clockwork is FUCKING AMAZING. Like holy shit. It's haunting, beautiful, rockin and raw all at once. And I went running for the lyrics which is always a good sign to me. I can't stop listening to it on repeat and it's my pick so far for album of the year as well.