The second
Queens of the Stone Age
album,
Rated R
(as in the movie rating; its title was changed from II at the last minute before release), makes its
stoner rock
affiliations clear right from the opening track. The lyrics of
"Feel Good Hit of the Summer"
consist entirely of a one-line list of recreational drugs that
Josh Homme
rattles off over and over, a gag that gets pretty tiresome by the end of the song (and certainly doesn't need the reprise that follows
"In the Fade"
). Fortunately, the rest of the material is up to snuff.
R
is mellower, trippier, and more arranged than its predecessor, making its point through warm fuzz-guitar tones, ethereal harmonies, vibraphones, horns, and even the odd steel drum. That might alienate listeners who have come to expect a crunchier guitar attack, but even though it's not really aggro,
is still far heavier than the
garage punk
and
grunge
that inform much of the record. It's still got the vaunted California-desert vibes of
Kyuss
, but it evokes a more relaxed, spacious, twilight feel, as opposed to a high-noon meltdown.
Mark Lanegan
Barrett Martin
of
the Screaming Trees
both appear on multiple tracks, and their band's
psychedelic
-- in its warmer, less noisy moments -- is actually not a bad point of comparison. Longtime
fans might be disappointed at the relative lack of heaviness, but
's direction was hinted at on the first
QOTSA
album, and
Homme
's experimentation really opens up the band's sound, pointing to exciting new directions for heavy
guitar rock
in the new millennium. ~ Steve Huey