Queens of the Stone Age
Rated R
(Interscope)

     “Nicotine/ Valium/ Vicodin/ Marijuana/ Ecstasy/ and Alcohol.”  These are the words to “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” the lead-off track on the latest offering from slog-rockers Queens of the Stone Age, the MPAA approved Rated R.  Actually, those aren’t the only lyrics to the song—the chorus goes, “C-c-c-cocaine.”
     The poetic content of the aforementioned ditty pretty much describes the brand of stoned-out metal that the Queens sear into their musical cattle.  R is a fuzzy, guitar-wranglin’ ranch that would have existed quite prosperously in Seattle, circa 1992, where tasteful quasi-psychedelic solos proudly ride alongside dead-on falsetto harmonies, conga drums, and even a flugal horn.  This does not even cover the pianos, winds, and horn sections that flavor most of the eleven experimental episodes that comprise the record.
     QOTSA switch off on the vocal duties, but are most successful when guitarist and all around Stone Age-auteur Joshua Homme is center-mic, crooning his creepy canticles on such standout cuts as “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” and “I Think I Lost My Headache.”  These songs also boast the strongest songwriting, while other tunes helmed by lesser Queens sink like, um, stones.
     Although several songs on Rated R stand up to repeated listens, the album is plagued by too many fillers and musical absent-mindedness.  Homme’s cool voice and all of the interesting instrumental arrangements notwithstanding, one might be better off curling up with an old G’N’R tape.

By Casey Lombardo
Long Beach Union

Originally printed 9.18.00

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