It's not unlikely that tomorrow I will regret this decision and wish I'd put
Rated R on the list instead, but that can't be helped. For such is the nature of these kinds of lists, theyre forever malleable, always for the moment, not for posterity.
I remember the autumn of 2002 when I walked to Lindgrens Radio & TV in my little town and bought this record for 179 kronor. God knows how I got the money for it, as I was literally skint as fuck. We're talking breadline here, folks.
I couldn't run home fast enough to give it a listen. Dave fucking Grohl (an old buddy of Josh Homme's from back in the 90s when they played with Nirvana and Kyuss respectively) played on it for christ's sake. As the only album featuring what many consider the classic QOTSA line-up of Homme, Grohl, Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan there's no wonder it's held at such high regard.
Songs For The Deaf is a cleverly constructed album, full of twists and turns that never feel like twists and turns, unlike its predecessir
Rated R which had more in common with Desert Sessions than anything and sometimes felt like a different band played each song.
The perhaps most accessible songs on the record,
Go With The Flow,
Gonna Leave You and
Do It Again are buried deep into the album, as opposed to up front where most bands would place them. They're neatly lined up like a string of pearls and sandwiched inbetween two murky Lanegan numbers. The desperate 60s pop of
Another Love Song is perfectly off-set against the album's closer
A Song For The Deaf, their heaviest song to date. The nostril-flaring opener
You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire effortlessly rolls into
No One Knows, which with its bouncy shuffle beat and nods to The Beatles'
A Day In The Life became the band's breakthrough hit.
Songs For The Deaf was thicker, denser, tighter, more intense and more compact than previous efforts. Hard to believe most of the album consists of first and second takes. But I suppose when you have a human metronome behind the kit that sort of thing happens naturally.
But the album was also significantly darker than the QOTSA we had gotten to know up to that point. While their quirky sense of humor and light & nimble song structures are still prevalent, the album gives you the sense of something lurking under the surface.
This would be taken one step further on 2005's
Lullabies To Paralyze. With songs about blood, witches, insanity and werewolves inspired by the brothers Grimm, Homme's description "scary night time music" fit perfectly.
Lullabies To Paralyze was the classic case of "more of everything". Even more layers of sounds, even more instruments, even darker atmospheres and even more guest appearances (everyone from Jack Black to ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons).
More of everything except Oliveri who had been given the boot, which upset and shocked many fans but it makes perfect sense given QOTSA's modus operandi of a constantly evolving line up. Sure, Oliveri was a huge part of the band for a few years and he left a big hole that has yet to be filled, but it wasn't the end of the world. It's not like he was an orignal member or anything. QOTSA since day one has been Josh Homme + whoever he feels like playing music with at the moment.
That's not to say Oliveri wouldn't have had plenty to contribute to
Lullabies To Paralyze or even been able to improve it. While a superb album
Lullabies To Paralyze does lack
something, a certain force and snidey attitude that I always associated with QOTSA. Also a lot of that subtle tongue in cheek sense of humor was missing. Guitarist Troy Van Leweewuweuwueuwuween and drummer Joey Castillo are solid players and contributors but they are perhaps not strong enough forces to make an impact on QOTSA's overall sound like Oliveri had done.
Neither Homme nor Grohl would release anything as good as this until Them Crooked Vulture's debut album came out last year. An album that was so close to making onto this list that you wouldn't believe me if I told you.
(mp3) QOTSA - Go with the flow
(mp3) QOTSA - God is in the radio
(mp3) QOTSA - Another love song
Buy it @ Amazon.com
