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By GREG MAKI
Josh Homme has never courted mainstream success. It found him in 2002, which saw the release of Queens of the Stone Age’s third album, Songs for the Deaf, a stoner rock masterpiece with the best downtuned guitar sound this side of Black Sabbath. Sure, the album featured the can’t-get-it-out-of-your-head single “No One Knows,” but let’s consider for a minute the people Homme surrounded himself with: his one-time musical partner, bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri; ex-Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan; and head Foo Fighter Dave Grohl, who let loose one of the most ferocious drumming performances I have ever heard. Yeah, those guys were pretty good.
The follow-up, 2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze, Homme’s first QOTSA effort sans Oliveri, had some quality tunes (“Tangled Up in Plaid” and “Burn the Witch” foremost among them) but lacked the energy of its predecessor. It often felt as if Homme wasn’t sure which direction he wanted to go. His latest, Era Vulgaris, serves as a giant middle finger to those who hopped on the “No One Knows” bandwagon.
There’s no flirting with the mainstream here. This is Homme, now joined in the QOTSA core by guitarist/keyboardist Troy Van Leeuwen (formerly of A Perfect Circle ) and drummer Joey Castillo, going wherever he wants to go without regard for airplay. I can respect that, though I miss the more focused approach of Songs for the Deaf.
Walls of fuzzed out guitars make the primary assault on the listener, and there is far more at work underneath, making this an ideal headphones album. Though Lanegan and The Strokes’ Julian Casablancas allegedly appear (I use “allegedly” because Homme has become such a chameleon with his voice that it’s hard to tell who’s singing what), this record is all about Homme, who shares the producer credit with Chris Goss. (A song featuring backing vocals by Trent Reznor didn’t make the cut.) Only the punk rock edge of “Sick, Sick, Sick” and the ’70s swagger of “Misfit Love” immediately grabbed my attention. That’s probably just fine with Homme, whose goal seems to be to please QOTSA die-hards and almost no one else. If that is indeed the case, consider the mission accomplished. |
