Queens Of The Stone Age includes: Joshua Homme (vocals, guitar); Dave Catching (lap steel guitar, electric piano); Scott Mayo, Fernando Pullum, Reggie Young (horns); Barrett Martin (vibraphone, steel drum); Nick Oliveri (bass, background vocals); Nick Lucero, Gene Trautmann (drums); Alfredo Hernandez (percussion); Nick Eldorado, Wendy Ray Moan, Rob Halford, Mark Lanegan, Mike Johnson, Pete Stahl (background vocals).
Recorded at Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California from December 1999 to February 2000.
Instead of trying to recreate the sound of his former band Kyuss, Josh Homme took a new approach to music. He crafted tight hard rock songs that were heavy on melody and light on vocals. While there is still a lot of fuzz coming from the amplifiers, the vocals are softly interwoven among the chords. There's no screaming or rock & roll antics, and the group takes an almost lo-fi attitude to heavy metal -- an interesting combination that produced instant radio gems like "Regular John," the extreme ranges on "Avon," and the smoky, blues-influenced "Walkin' on the Sidewalks." Queens of the Stone Age are creating a new blend of heavy metal that makes it acceptable to produce creative music that doesn't rely on testosterone as the driving force. ~ David Thomas
Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (p.70) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[T]hey'd never again groove like this, with gurgling Teutonic drones swallowing Stooges chords and intercepted radio cross talk."
Spin (1/99, pp.119-120) - 7 (out of 10) - "...While there's really nothing in this collection worth trading in those Melvins albums for, it's strangely compelling to hear how Homme and his cohorts killed many an afternoon in a thick THC haze with Can's TAGO MAGO, then worked it into their patented pedal abuse..."
Q (12/99, pp.126-127) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...deriving maximum power from a sound stripped to its core elements (Homme's bone-hard riffs and mournful vocals and a juggernaut of rhythm section)..."
Kerrang (Magazine) (p.52) - "[With] an array of influences as wide-reaching and sprawling as its sound."
Record Collector (magazine) (p.93) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Queens Of The Stone Age were edgy, sarcastic and perfect for rock and metal audiences sick of Korn and Disturbed."
Uncut (magazine) (p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[With] a belief in timeless, classic riffs and also more toothsome and unswinging structures..."
