Queens Of The Stone Age

Reissues MATADOR

Repackaged reissues with original artwork for the debut and coloured vinyl for all.

Josh Homme’s real genius doesn’t lie in the down-tuned riffing that’s been fashioned through closely guarded technical secrets, nor is it what he leaves out of his playing or his increasingly controlled falsetto, although these are contributing factors. His brilliance is embedded in those gloriously relentless and metronomic rhythms delivered by a variety of drummers over the years. This is music to dance to. This is rock’n’roll for the 21st century (yes, we know the debut was released in 1998, but let’s call that forward planning). This is why Queens Of The Stone Age draw mixed audiences like so few other bands can.

Emerging from the break-up of Kyuss, QOTSA’s self-titled debut (8/10) was made by just Homme and drummer Alfredo Hernández. And while there was no mistaking where they were coming from, the record was a statement of intent as to where they we were headed. While their name implied a feminine and playfully camp sensibility at odds with rock’s more Neanderthal practitioners, the music increased the melodicism, with the added bonus of repetition and groove. This is where Black Sabbath and Neu! get it on and, as evidenced by Avon and Regular John, their offspring is a wonderful thing.

…Like Clockwork (9/10) remains Queens Of The Stone Age’s heavyweight masterpiece. Recorded in 2012/13 (following a botched knee operation that almost killed Josh Homme), the album’s compact presentation of just 10 songs is in stark contrast to some of the sprawls that had gone before it. Contemplative and meditative, this is a mature work that demonstrates deftly that rock music can be made by adults without them looking like overgrown children. Proving that heavy topics don’t have to be heavyhanded, the groove of I Sat By The Ocean (‘We’re passing ships in the night… We’re crashing ships in the night’) and the Bowieesque If I Had A Tail sweeten the bitterest of pills. Elsewhere, the title track and the aching The Vampyre Of Time And Memory elevate Homme’s songwriting to a whole new level.

That continual urge for dancing is in evidence from the off on Villains (7/10), when on Feet Don’t Fail Me Homme sings

‘When the needle hit the groove, I commence to moving/I was chasing what’s calling me’. Alas, by moving too far in that direction, this is an album that loses some of the earlier firepower and weirdness, although redemption is on hand with the likes of

Un-Reborn Again.