-- Queens of the Stone Age - Rated R | (Audio CD) MSRP $ 29.49 Amazon Price $ 29.49 Savings $ 0.00 | |  Release Date: 28 November, 2000, Universal/Polydor
TRACK LISTING - Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
- Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
- Leg Of Lamb
- Auto Pilot
- Better Living Through Chemistry
- Mosters In The Parasol
- Quick And To The Pointless
- In The Fade
- Tension Head
- Lightning Song
- I Think I Lost My Headache
- Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
- Never Say Never
- You`re So Vague
- Who`ll Be The Next In Line
- Feel Good Hit Of The Summer
Usually ships in 5 to 7 days | | | Good stuff right here. | | This CD was my first taste of Queens of the Stone Age. I liked it. So I went back for more. And more, and more, and more still. For me, this CD never keeps me bored because it is so diverse in the types of music it goes after, but the absolute high point for me in `R` has to be song number nine, titled `Tension Head`. This song has `pissed off` written all over it, with the grinding guitar and Oliveri absolutely shredding his throat like he put it to a cheese grater. Very good to work out to. Other standouts for me are Lightning Song, I Think I Lost My Headache, Better Living Through Chemistry, Quick and To The Pointless, and Feel Good Hit of the Summer. | | | | Disappearing in the fade... | | Take it as a sign of things to come - upon Rated R`s release, Queens of the Stone Age rapidly seemed to be ascending the throne to hard rock royalty, and the album was one of Rolling Stone`s Top 10 Albums of the Year. With the benefit of hind sight after two more QOTSA releases, Rated R seems fairly juvenile - the songs here don`t have the jolting intensity of the best songs even from Lullabies to Paralyze, and they certainly never approach the monster slyness and exhileration of Songs For The Deaf. Even the ambitions are smaller here - songs like "Leg of Lamb" and "Monster In The Parasol" rock only intermittently, "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" is a jolt, but a joking one, and the 8-minute "I Think I Lost My Headache" has moments of rock greatness, but feels quieter than everything on the next two records, preferring slow builds. The moments that work best on this record are the atmospheric ones - "Headache," "In The Fade," or "Better Living Through Chemistry," which seems to have a creepy, inactive minute midway through. None of this makes the album bad, but it does make it, at times, feel like a wholly different group than the one that would make Songs For The Deaf. Despite a generally solid collection of songs, I`m happy they traded atmosphere for claws. | | | | so he has a sexy voice... | This CD is a brilliant, long-lasting, good-for-all-occasions work of art. The diversity, and consistent quality of tracks means you can have it on all the time, anytime.
The bonus UK disc contains three great new songs, the best being "Never Say Never". The song starts off with tinkly harmonics, and Homme just sounds...cool. The chorus sticks in your head ("I might like you better if we slept together") and the riff afterwards is very catchy.
"Who`ll Be The Next in Line?" is ok, still a 4-star song, but not one of my favourites.
"You`re So Vague" is a rewrite of Carly Simon`s "You`re So Vain" and is quite sexy, pumping, thumping and pulsating etc etc
On the main CD, there are a mix of lazy stoner epics (it IS a genre!) - "In The Fade", "I Think I Lost my Headache", "+" (which ends with a scarily insidious brass piece), and "Better Living Through Chemistry". "Autopilot" is in the same vein, sounds a bit like the Foo Fighters though.
To add diversity, there are two utterly perfect screaming sessions, entitled "Quick and to the Pointless" and "Lightning Song". These songs are two-minute sonic extravaganzas...seriously. You`ll have to irritate your friends by having little "moments" where you`ll try and get everyone to understand the beauty of them. It may take a while.
The other songs, Leg of Lamb, The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret and Monsters in the Parasol are the "just rock songs". Still, they`re a cut above most other mainstream rock, thanks to Homme`s lovely melody-making and sexy voice.
All in all, it`s an excellent album, part of the soundtrack to my teenage years. I am amazed at QOTSA and their consistency in delivering excellence again and again. A must-have for any rock fans. | | |
-- zzzz
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