Music Review by Bill Rendall
Queens of the Stone Age
Are radio songs the mortal enemy of musical artistry? Songs for the Deaf is a vitriolic attack on the commercial radio format. Satirical radio DJ chatter is used as a segue between many of the songs on the album.
I think that radio-friendly songs and alternative music can peacefully co-exist in the universe. There are times when I enjoy the comfortable familiarity of radio songs as background music. There are other times when I feel like listening to something more challenging and Songs for the Deaf fits the bill admirably.
Two of the core members of Queens of the Stone Age, Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, previously played together in the stoner rock band Kyuss. Dave Grohl, who previously played drums for Nirvana, was so keen to play with the Queens of the Stone Age that he put his role as frontman for The Foo Fighters on hold.
Queens of the Stone Age are more accessible than Kyuss and have had more commercial success. However, their songs are not as accessible as the average radio song.
The opening song,"Millionaire", features screaming vocals by Nick Oliveri. I don't much like this vocal style but "Millionaire" is a good song. Later in the album is "Six Shooter" which features more screaming vocals by Nick Oliveri. This track is not even listenable but is mercifully short.
The second song on the album,"No One Knows", has Josh Homme on vocals and is very catchy. This is a great example of a song that has commercial radio appeal without sounding blandly formulaic.
"A Song for the Dead" introduces another vocal variation by featuring guest vocalist Mark Lanegan. Strangely, his voice is distorted within a narrow bandwidth and it literally sounds like he has phoned in his performance. Later on there is a better example of Mark Lanegan singing on "Hanging Tree". For this gloomy song he sings in a dark voice which perfectly suits.
I like Homme's distorted bottom-heavy guitar sound but it is overused at times. "The Sky is Falling" is an example of a song in which the guitar riff is too repetitive but the song is rescued by a section near the end with a variation in guitar tone.
"A Song for the Deaf" is my favourite track on the album. It features a variety of interesting sound effects. The guitar riff sounds similar to "A Song for the Dead" but the song is in a fast waltz time.
I like the hidden track "Mosquito Song". It sounds quite different to the rest of the album, featuring acoustic instruments and orchestration rather than heavy electric guitar. However, the gentle sound of the song belies the dark lyrical content.
There is another hidden track, which is a cover of the early Kinks song "Everybody's Gonna be Happy". I am a little puzzled as to why this is on the album as there are plenty of better Kinks songs which could have been chosen.
Songs for the Deaf features a lot of heavy guitar riffing but also plenty of catchy melodies and a variety of sounds. Queens of the Stone Age have tried a little too self-consciously to make the album quirky and unpredictable through the use of radio sound effects and false finishes to songs. However, the album has a generous running length of over an hour so some filler can be forgiven. I highly recommend the album to fans of alternative rock, and even fans of radio songs.
Band Members:
Mark Lanegan - Vocals
Josh Homme - Guitar,vocals
Nick Oliveri - Bass, vocals
Dave Grohl - Drums