Imagine a long, lonely drive through the desert. There's nothing except your car's radio to keep you company, only the various Radio Jockey's and the songs they play. That is what QOTSA's ambitious 2002 effort aims to do, to put you quite literally in the driver's seat and how it succeeds! Frontman Josh Homme proves himself to be a master collaborator, bringing in a slew of guest musicians all of whom make their presence felt on this wonderful album. Some of these guests include ex-Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, who provides his signature deep vocals on a few tracks. Then there is Dave Grohl, who practically begged to be on the album after they toured with the Foo Fighters.His powerful and muscular drumming adds a whole new dimension to the album. The Queens show off their various musical influences such as hard rock,pop,punk rock and psychedelica. Uniquely, the album has three lead vocalists, frontman Josh Homme himself, bassist Nick Oliveri and of course, Mark Lanegan. The album opener is quite deceiving, for a first time listener may think of QOTSA as a screamo band. Nick Oliveri screams his lungs out over a barrage of guitars and drums. The next song is the Grammy-nominated 'No One Knows'. Josh Homme delivers his soothing vocals over a pounding distorted guitar riff; a sort of an anomaly in today's rock scene. Other tracks include 'Go With The Flow', with its chugging keyboards, swirling guitars and even a lap steel guitar, the song pays tribute to 70's pop rock. Each track Mark Lanegan contributes to is as haunting as it is heavy such as 'A Song for the Dead','A Song for the Deaf' and 'Hangin' Tree'. QOTSA's 'Songs For The Deaf' may seem like a straight forward hard rock album, but the various musical styles,the triple singers and even Dave Grohl's drumming all contribute to a wholly unique and fanatasic album. Just don't let the radio chatter get to you!
Song Picks:
- No One Knows
- First It Giveth
- A Song For The Dead
- Hangin' Tree
- Go With The Flow
- A Song For The Deaf
Hangin' Tree!
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