Queens Of The Stone Age - 'Lullabies To Paralyze' (Interscope)
3/5
By: Toby L
Naked bass-lad Nick Oliveri chucked out the fold, and what do we have. Another Queens record, only this time led by one definitive force, Josh Homme. As is cursory with a QOTSA/big US rock record, 'Lullabies To Paralyze' features guests galore (Homme's squeeze, Brody Dalle; Garbage's Shirley Manson; part-time Queen's-er, Mark Lanegan) and is a thrilling, turgid, metal mish-mash as a result. Few cut it finer.
Or quite so obscurely. 'This Lullaby' is a series of whispers and exchanges between Josh and Mark, a palpably eerie entrance, whilst 'Everybody Knows You Are Insane' is gothic space-rock, 'Tangled Up In Plaid' playful, if sinister, medieval scales, and 'Burn The Witch' the provider of a howling, Led Zep blues stomp. Collectively, it's seemingly Queens doing straight-delivery - only, this time, after a pit-stop at the Vampire-infested club that lurks out in the sticks in 'Dusk Till Dawn'; more-so than ever, there's a constant air of the macabre at every turn. And it's quite sick.
Thank God for the po(m)p, then. 'In My Head' and 'Little Sister' - back to back - almost proffer straightforward riffs and ravaging choruses, comparatively; but it's not to last. If you needn't even spin the record, you only have to set your eyes on the artwork for a sign where this is heading - 'Someone's In The Wolf' and 'Long Slow Goodbye' are melodrama epitomised. If it weren't for the almost tender standout 'I Never Came', we'd be on to the Samaritans.
So out goes the stoner-rock. In comes the dawn of the delinquents, the onslaught of the oddballs. As a result of all the fantasy, as time passes, Queens Of The Stone Age become less and less easy to take seriously (examine that album-title again, folks; this ain't Sigur Ros). But, equally, remain a force continuing to carve a niche and fettle that could only be theirs. That's still to be winningly commended.
Artists in this article: Queens Of The Stone Age
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