Queens Of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
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The Queens Of the Stone Age have a new album coming out called Era Vulgaris. I was lucky enough to listen to this cd recently, and fans of the band are going to like what they hear. It had been reported that Trent Reznor, the Strokes' Julian Casablancas and regular guest Mark Lanegan were supposed to have helped out on this album but I am unsure how they were incorporated into the development of the music. My guess is the liner notes will answer a lot of the questions I have regarding the music. Unlike their last album Lullabies to Paralyze, Vulgaris is much louder and a lot faster than any QOTSA album to date. I feel fans will be happy with this; I know it was something I was hoping for when I first put the record on.Listening to the album felt a lot like listening to the soundtrack for a "thriller" type of movie: slower opening, straight into an action sequence, followed with different plot twists that make the listener wonder what they will hear next. The first track, "Turning the Screw", is a perfect opener for the record. A steady beat, fuzzy guitars, and Homme's falsetto make the easing into this album rather nice. Then "Sick, Sick, Sick" slams into your head and you can feel your heartbeat quicken before the lyrics even begin. The song is fast and intense, and while the lyrics are hard to decipher, the music alone makes it worth a listen with the volume turned way up. The next two songs would be the time in the movie where the plot develops. "My Generation" and "Into the Hollow" are slower tracks that would be great music to listen to while driving down a backwoods road at 3:00 in the morning. The combination of eerie guitars, steady drum beats and Homme’s voice definitely leaves you wanting more. When "Misfit Love" begins, the guitar tells you that things are starting to pick-up. The drums start to pound and they dare you not to pay attention. It is a minute and a half before any vocals come on, and the build-up to them is incredible. Then, "Battery Acid" follows-up on the mood and goes right for the jugular. Straight forward rock and roll for a full four minutes and six seconds without any let-up.Like any good movie, you can’t have a love-making scene without a great song playing in the background. "Make It Wit Chu" is an old Desert Sessions song, revamped into a pseudo 70's soft rock love song. I dare you not to think of the lyrics "I love the night life, I got to boogie on the disco 'round oh yeah" by the great Alicia Bridges during the chorus of the track. Once the song is finished, we are back to the churning, heavy pop sound with "3's & 7's". This song sounds like something Soundgarden could have put out early in their career and that is not a bad thing. "Suture Up Your Future" comes on and we are back to a mellower mood, but this is only for a moment. The music builds throughout the course of the song, similar to the events found near the end of a movie. You kind of know what is coming in the last 10 minutes of a movie and the same is true for this record, yet you are not sure how they are going to unfold. The ending with Era Vulgaris is just what you were hoping for in a Queens of the Stone Age album. Hard guitar-driven tracks, ones that make you wish your volume knob had an 11 somewhere on it. "River In the Road" is an appetizer for the last song, a mere set-up to the end of a great record. When "Run Pig Run" comes on, you are given music that attacks your eardrums like a jackhammer. The end of the movie is here and now you know why you spent your money on this delicious piece of work.I liked this record quite a bit, and it was one that seemed to grow on me the more I listened to it. With each spin of the record, the more things seemed to pop out at me that I didn't catch the last time through. Whether is was a guitar riff I thought I knew, or a pick-up of a lyric that I didn’t understand the first time around, each listen brought new things to the table. If I had to give it a grade, and you know how teachers love to grade things, I would easily rate this one an 8.5 out of 10. I feel this record will both please the die hard fans, as well as gain the appreciation of listeners who have not listened to this band before.
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