When their self-titled debut slipped underneath the radar in 1998, Queens Of The Stone Age had been nonetheless very a lot a cult-level affair, unknown to most save for California’s alt.rock cognoscenti. Nonetheless, their inventory rose dramatically when, on June 6, 2000, they issued the broadly acclaimed Rated R, a superlative second effort that discovered QOTSA frontman Josh Homme coming into his personal.
Take heed to the deluxe version of Queens Of The Stone Age’s Rated R now.
To these within the know, Homme was already one in every of rock’s go-to guys. Previous to forming Queens Of The Stone Age’s preliminary line-up, he’d already toured with Seattle grunge stalwarts Screaming Bushes, helmed cult Californian cult-rock outfit Kyuss, and co-founded Eagles Of Loss of life Metallic with Jesse Hughes. That he was in a position to name upon Soundgarden’s Matt Cameron, Dinosaur Jr bassist Mike Johnson, and Monster Magnet’s John McBain to again him for QOTSA’s first gig, in 1997, hints on the esteem he was held in even then.
Homme additional enhanced his popularity by his Desert Periods collection, which kicked off that very same 12 months. Finally operating to 10 volumes, these much-loved collaborative albums had been recorded at Homme’s studio in Joshua Tree and featured contributions from alt.rock stars corresponding to PJ Harvey, Soundgarden’s Ben Shepherd, and ex-Marilyn Manson mainstay Twiggy Ramirez.
A unfastened, collaborative affair
Initially known as Gamma Ray, Homme’s first Queens Of The Stone Age line-up was additionally a unfastened, collaborative affair, with their psych-flavored eponymous debut album that includes drummer Alfredo Hernandez and Kyuss guitarist/producer Chris Goss. Nonetheless, after their debut album was launched, the band’s first touring line-up coalesced round Homme and ex-Kyuss members, bassist Nick Oliveri and guitarist Dave Catching.
Personnel-wise, QOTSA had been nonetheless in a state of flux once they got here to report their second album. Nonetheless, bassist Oliveri stepped up as Homme’s unofficial second lieutenant, whereas the recording periods once more featured contributions from musicians Homme may rely on, together with ex-Screaming Bushes frontman Mark Lanegan and drummer/EODM acolyte Gene Trautmann.
“If anyone has a good song, we should play it”
Having signed to Interscope in between releasing the group’s debut album and its follow-up, Homme had grand designs for what grew to become Rated R. “We wanted to do a record that had a lot of dynamic range,” he revealed in an interview with The Fade in 2001. “We wanted it set up in this band so we could play anything. If anyone has a good song, regardless of style, we should be able to play it.”
Homme’s freewheeling method meant that Rated R discovered house for leftfield tracks corresponding to Oliveri’s wild, Dee Dee Ramone-esque hardcore exercise “Quick And To The Pointless” and the eight-minute “I Think I Lost My Headache,” an “LA Blues”-esque sonic pile-up that includes trumpet serenades and metal drums. Elsewhere, bold however beautifully-realized tracks such because the chameleonic, suite-like “Better Living Through Chemistry” and the hypnotic, motorik groove of “Auto Pilot” demonstrated QOTSA had vividly realized the “dynamic range” Josh Homme envisaged.
“Recalls Iggy Pop in his prime”
Crucially, wickedly infectious, post-grunge belters corresponding to “Monsters In The Parasol” and the acid-fried “Auto Pilot” additionally confirmed the band had been starting to stockpile materials that would deliver them mainstream consideration. Certainly, the stupidly catchy “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer” would absolutely have been a monster radio hit if its controversial refrain (“Nicotine, Valium, Vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy, alcohol!”) hadn’t been fairly so gleefully hedonistic.
The tune’s controversial lyric initially triggered Walmart to refuse to inventory Rated R, however any hostile publicity did the band little hurt in the long term. Homme’s elegant, noir-flavored “Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret,” in the meantime, proved way more palatable for radio, marking Queens Of The Stone Age’s mainstream breakthrough when it broached the High 40 of each Billboard’s Trendy Rock chart and the UK singles chart.
Additional elevating QOTSA’s profile, Rated R was greeted by a raft of constructive critiques, with The Guardian even declaring that “with the atmosphere thickening with every psychedelic swirl, Rated R recalls the menace of Iggy Pop in his prime.” It duly bought solidly, yielding the band’s first gold disc within the UK and setting the scene for his or her arrival on the broader international stage with 2002’s formidable Songs For The Deaf.
Queens Of The Stone Age’s Rated X may be purchased right here.
