When Queens of the Stone Age Were Rock’s Saviors
On August 27, 2002, the Queens of the Stone Age release their third album “Songs For The Deaf”. He sits at the drums Dave Grohl on leave from Foo Fighters and in more than one song he takes part Mark Lanegan. When it was released it was advertised as being so heavy that even the deaf could hear it. This is our review of the album that gave the band their first successes. Josh Man.
There are groups that are inevitably destined to attract the attention of the public and critics. Take Queens Of The Stone Age. This new chapter of the American band follows the acclaimed and award-winning “Rated R” two years later. The anticipation was such that Queens were presented by many as the saviors of rock. Well, in a period in which rock is equivalent to Nu-metal, in which grunge – which, let’s remember, at the beginning of the 90s was hailed as the return to authenticity and purity – has been lost, it seems quite natural, even a little predictable. Because this is what QOTSA do: raw and dry rock, a direct descendant of the Seattle scene, around which the two leaders Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri have largely gravitated.
Anyway, think about what happened to the big names of grunge from the last decade: Nirvana, well, you know. Screaming Trees, disbanded; singer Mark Lanegan now does a completely different genre. Soundgarden, same as above, with the difference that Chris Cornell got lost in the meanders of a collaboration with the post-RATM. Alice in Chains, may Layne Staley rest in peace. Only Mudhoney (fresh from the release of an album) and Pearl Jam survived; but the latter, by the way, had chosen other paths immediately after the success of “Ten”.
Don’t get us wrong, it’s not that QOTSA aren’t good and don’t deserve all this attention. On the contrary: this “Songs for the deaf” is a powerful and direct album like we haven’t heard in a long time. But the doubt that arises – beyond the questions about the chorus of praise from the media, which Rockol already wondered about when reviewing “Rated R” – is precisely this: isn’t it that in recent times our ears as listeners have become a bit accustomed to the pseudo-rock and glossy sounds of nu-metallers? Isn’t it that this album stands out above all in contrast with the desolate soundscape of recent times in this area?
For their part, QOTSA do nothing to deny the trail that leads to Seattle: behind the drums sits Dave Grohl (and – boy! – you can hear it…).
Mark Lanegan is also credited as a member of the group: when he sings in “Hangin’ tree” it seems to hear the Screaming Trees again. But QOTSA also put together a truly powerful mix of deadly riffs and rhythmic structures, as demonstrated by songs like “Do it again” and “Songs for the dead”. In short, “Songs for the deaf” is certainly the most accomplished and complete work of the band. QOTSA are undoubtedly one of the best realities of the contemporary rock scene, where this term must be understood in its most orthodox meaning. But the point, again, is this: how sad, this contemporary rock scene….
