While the blockbuster 2002 hit, “No One Knows,” wasn’t actually my entry-point into the music of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, I must admit it was the very song that got me purchasing any of their albums. Until then, the band had appeared like some random kosmiche-rock outfit spawned from the ruins of KYUSS. “Songs for the Deaf” (2002) is still regarded as the band’s greatest achievement by many but, perhaps because I overdosed on the album at the time of its release, its successor, “Lullabies to Paralyze,” released on March 22nd, 2005, via Interscope Records has become the QOTSA album that I revisit the most. Judging by the online music forums, though, this endeavor doesn’t seem as loved as those earlier albums, with their now-classic blockbusting riffathons or even the later, more experimental installments in the band’s album catalog. Let’s weigh in with why that might be…
“Lullabies to Paralyze” is substantially darker in mood, compared to its predecessors. It almost feels as though there is an overarching theme of saying goodbye on the album, with the tone of bidding farewell ranging from the beautiful sadness of the opener, “This Lullaby” to the post-breakup anger of “Broken Box” and the pain in “Long Slow Goodbye.” While the name of the game is still very much the good old riff-heavy stonerism sprinkled with vocalist Josh Homme‘s signature falsettos, this album plunges deeper into the murky, primordial soup of swampy riffs. It is like a subtle precursor of the experimentalism of, say, “Era Vulgaris” (2007) – a cautious departure from the old but not entirely sure where to head next.
Halfway through, according to some, the album sounds as though it begins to lose its grip. Depending on the day, I might agree. Nonetheless, everyone agrees that the first half of the selection is comprised of a nice streak of slapping riffages. The previous three albums had been pure bangers from front to end, however. So, if you expected something like that with this 2005 effort, you were in for a slight disappointment. Then again, the problem with those first three QOTSA outings, for me, was similar to the issue I had with NIRVANA‘s monolithic “Nevermind” in the heyday of the grunge revolution; when the album is a nonstop cavalcade of easy-to-the-ear hits, you start to feel fatigued after a while – it’s like getting super tipsy in a jiffy, only to come down with the mother of all hangovers just as fast. That’s probably the reason why I feel more at home with the band’s nuanced approach on “Lullabies to Paralyze.”
Sure, the song selection has a flow so smooth that some say no song stands out as either utterly amazing or annoying, that while there are no songs to skip, most of the tracks aren’t really memorable, either. Here, I beg to disagree. For starters, “Everybody Knows That You Are Insane” has one of the best choruses in the band’s whole discography. Homme flashes some of his most charming falsetto lines in this beast, so how could you not like it?! According to the word on the streets, this uptempo riffer of a song was written about the band’s original bassist Nick Olivieri who had been fired in 2004 due to “bad behavior.” Whether or not this is true, the lyrics sure start to resonate differently if you entertain the thought while listening to this banger.
Then, “Tangled Up in Plaid” serves even more triumphant falsetto vocals atop banging stoner riffs with the band locked into a mood of hypnotic melancholy – fucking awesome! Next up, “Burn the Witch” is another class-A stoner riffathon, featuring Billy Gibbons of ZZ TOP on the guitar. Adding a few more pop hooks, we get “In My Head,” which blends the band’s signature swamp riffs and vocal harmonies that almost recall THE BEATLES. Last, resonating with an almost Marc Bolan-esque air, “Little Sister” is the absolute pinnacle track on this album. It’s every bit as catchy as “No One Knows,” if not even more. Plus, it features a cowbell – the ultimate instrument of awesomeness, just ask Saturday Night Live!
Keeping up with the band’s tradition of featuring myriad guests, this album also rolls out special appearances. Brody Dalle of THE DISTILLERS and Shirley Manson of GARBAGE feature on vocals in “You Got a Killer Scene There Man…” The song is like a drug-hangover version of FATBOY SLIM‘s late-1990s hit “Praise You.” Then, Jesse Hughes plays the flute on the psychedelic, LED ZEPPELIN-esque stomper of a song, “Someone’s in the Wolf.” The somewhat Marc Ribot-like guitar intro in “The Blood is Love” is played by Dave Catching of EAGLES OF DEATH METAL. He had also played in the late-1990s incarnation of QOTSA. The song is a dark and brooding riff origami that builds up tension slowly but steadily.
If there is one track that does not exactly impress me very much, it is “Skin On Skin.” The song feels more like having been lifted from some experimental THE WHITE STRIPES jam sessions rather than from the QOTSA songbook. As luck would have it, the song clocks under 4 minutes, so it’s relatively swiftly over and done with. That said, “Like A Drug,” closing the album, does not exactly resonate with the band’s signature style, either. It echoes the style of mid-1980s Tom Waits, which just happens to be one of my soft spots, so I won’t mind. In conclusion, out of the album’s fourteen tracks, there is only one that I could do without. Thus, I cannot agree with factions of the band’s fanbase and posh critics alike that keep on claiming that “Lullabies to Paralyze” is not a killer album. Oh, you Philistines! It bloody well is.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- This Lullaby
- Medication
- Everybody Knows That You Are Insane
- Tangled Up in Plaid
- Burn the Witch
- In My Head
- Little Sister
- I Never Came
- Someone’s in the Wolf
- The Blood Is Love
- Skin on Skin
- Broken Box
- You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…
- Long Slow Goodbye
Lineup
Josh Homme – lead vocals, guitars, bass, piano, drums, percussion
Troy Van Leeuwen – guitars, bass, lap steel, piano, keyboards, backing vocals
Alain Johannes – guitars, bass, flute, marxophone, backing vocals
Mark Lanegan – lead vocals on track 1, piano, percussion
Joey Castillo – drums, piano, percussion
Special guests:
The Main Street Horns – tubas, baritone trombone on tracks 8, 9, and 11
Jesse Hughes – flute on “Someone’s in the Wolf”
Jack Black – handclaps and stomps on “Burn the Witch”
Dave Catching – opening guitar on “The Blood Is Love”
Billy Gibbons – guitar on “Burn the Witch”
Chris Gross – backing vocals on tracks 5, 9, and 13
Shirley Manson – backing vocals on track 13
Brody Dalle – backing vocals on track 13
Label
Interscope
