OT- Songs for the Deaf

[capnbringdown]

I just listened to this, and I have to tell you it was not bad. I have listened to their first one and Lullabies. I didn't really care for Lullabies, but I thought the first one was pretty good, though this one actually had a couple of songs I wanted to hear again. I think that if they had better production, they'd be a real force. Some of those moments, like when they pretend they are on the radio, are a giant mis-step. And those two songs that are basically the same thing side-by-side was kind of annoying. Basically, if they trimmed about 5 or maybe even 10 minutes off of it, it would have been a much better album. Am I expecting too much for a great album in this day and age? or have I missed one of their better albums? I still haven't got around to checking out Kyuss, maybe that'd be more up my alley?

 

The review I read about the album was pretty damn funny. I don't think QOTSA is exactly King Crimson, but the White Stripes are definitely not the {censored}ing Rolling Stones. Not even the Rolling Stones are the Rolling Stones anymore. That guy definitely sounded like Jack White was writing it.

 

I highly doubt that QOTSA is the only band that is doing this sound, and I think it's pretty good, at its core. So what other bands are kind of like them?

[capnbringdown]

Forgot the funny review, from allmusic.com

* * *

by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Certain people would have you believe that Queens of the Stone Age's third album, Songs for the Deaf, is the return of real rock -- a bonecrushing work of boundless imagination, the cornerstone in a new era of great rock, much like Nevermind was a decade beforehand. These people, coincidentally, happen to be in the same group that criticizes the Strokes and the White Stripes, claiming that those two bands are nothing but hype, while shamelessly indulging in breathless hyperbole whenever they speak a single word about QOTSA. Anybody who heard Songs prior to its release claimed it was the greatest rock album in years, at least the greatest since Rated R, setting up expectations impossibly high for this very good album. To begin with, this ain't accessible -- not because the music is out-there or unfamiliar (lots of Cream filtered through garage rock, prog-metal, album rock, and punk does not make one a Borbetomagus, nor does it make it "imaginative," either), but because it is so insular, so concerned with pleasing themselves with what they play that they don't give a damn for the audience. This extends to the production, which sounds like a stoned joke gone awry as it compresses and flattens every instrument as if it were coming out of a cheap AM car radio. Sure, that might be the point -- the album begins with radio chatter, and there are lots of jokey asides by a fake DJ -- but Deaf winds up being entirely too evenhanded and samey, since every guitar has the same beefy, mid-range, no-treble tone and Dave Grohl (aka the Most Powerful Drummer in the Universe) is pushed to the background, never sounding loud, never giving this music the muscle it needs. As such, it becomes tiring to listen to -- too much at the same frequency, all hitting the ear in a way that doesn't result in blissful submission, just numbness undercut with a desire to have some texture in this album. Once you get around this -- which is an effort; unlike, say, the Strokes' Is This It?, whose thin production worked aesthetically and enhanced the songs, this sound cuts QOTSA off at the knees -- there indeed is plenty to enjoy here since the band is very good. They're exceptional players, especially augmented here by Grohl on drums, Mark Lanegan on vocals, and Dean Ween on guitar, plus they're very good songwriters, whether they're writing technically intricate riff-rockers or throwbacks to Nuggets. All of this is sorely missing from most guitar rock these days, whether it's indie rock or insipid alt-metal, so it's little wonder that so many fans of great guitar rock flock to this, regardless of its flaws. But that doesn't erase the fact that, above all, QOTSA is a muso band -- a band for musicians and those who have listened to too much music. Why else did the greatest drummer and greatest guitarist in '90s alt-rock (Dave Grohl and Dean Ween, respectively) anxiously join this ever-shifting collective? They wanted to play with the prodigiously talented Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri, two musicians who share their taste and willingness to jam. It results in interesting music and an album that, for all of its flaws, is still easily one of the best rock records of 2002. But, to be needlessly reductive, the analogy runs a little like this -- QOTSA is King Crimson and the White Stripes are the Rolling Stones. Which one is "better" is entirely a matter of taste, but which one do you think plays to a larger audience, and is more about "real" rock?

[L6Sguy]

albums should be 36mins, like they used too (not a good thing.

that said, i dug most of Deaf.

[hoerni]

You know I actually though you might be talking about this...



Signing Time - It's a set of DVDs that teachs kids sign language through the use of song (string concept, eh)

[Lone Flanger]

Their first album makes me want to do lines of coke off a stripper's ass and drink a case of beer followed by a bottle of whiskey.

I consider this to be a good thing.

[AbbeSauniere]

You may like Torche or Floor. Kind of Stoner Rock, but not a rehash of the same Sabbath licks like most Stoner bands these days. I much prefer Kyuss over QOTSA. Sometimes QOTSA come off as trying to hard to be different IMO.

[capnbringdown]

Originally posted by L6Sguy albums should be 36mins, like they used too (not a good thing. that said, i dug most of Deaf.

Well, not to start the whole shortness of albums debate again, but I do know what you mean, though I think 36 minutes is a tad short. Personally, when I get an album that's only that long, I feel a little bit cheated. I think 45 minutes was the agreed upon number, with some exceptions. But yeah, if they had trimmed it down a little, at least for me, it would have done it good. The whole less is more kind of thing I guess. It was still a pretty good album, though. It is refreshing to listen to a band that is still together, not broken up or most of the original members dead.

[capnbringdown]

Originally posted by AbbeSauniere You may like Torche or Floor. Kind of Stoner Rock, but not a rehash of the same Sabbath licks like most Stoner bands these days. I much prefer Kyuss over QOTSA. Sometimes QOTSA come off as trying to hard to be different IMO.

 

 

Is that what QOTSA is considered? I really don't know what allmusic considers them. They're not really the treasure trove of information they used to be, but maybe I'll have to check out some of those bands. I know what you mean by "trying to hard to be different." The whole radio thing didn't work for me, though I really liked the weird parts of the title track.

[aeonrevolution]

[Seth Carmody]

I didn't really mind the whole 'flicking through the radio stations' concept but the montage before 'God is in the Radio' is much much too long.

If I'm playing it I cut out Mosquito Song and Everybody...Happy (which should have been B-sides), Hanging Tree, and Sky is Falling.

[CicadaSilence]

Huh... Hanging Tree and Sky Is Falling are my two favorite songs off of that album.

[NoirAbattoir]

I was listening to Rated R earlier tonight. That's a pretty good album...

[Seth Carmody]

Originally posted by CicadaSilence Huh... Hanging Tree and Sky Is Falling are my two favorite songs off of that album.

Aah well. D'ffrent strokes as they say.

Hanging Tree isn't written by QOTSA and IMO it doesn't gel with the other stuff, and the riff from SIF isn't good enough to sustain my interest for the 6 minutes they play it

[capnbringdown]

Originally posted by Seth Carmody I didn't really mind the whole 'flicking through the radio stations' concept but the montage before 'God is in the Radio' is much much too long. If I'm playing it I cut out Mosquito Song and Everybody...Happy (which should have been B-sides), Hanging Tree, and Sky is Falling.

What the hell song is "Everbody...Happy"? I don't even see it on my tracklist?

Anyways, I agree that the Sky is Falling is too damn long. Song for the Dead is even longer. It seems quite odd that they would put two songs that both get their length from sounding like they were just put through a repeating tape loop so close to each other. I guess that's what I mean by getting better production.

I didn't think Hanging Tree was bad. Neither was Mesquito Song, though I don't think I would have ended the album with it. I probably wouldn't remove any of the songs, well maybe Song for the Dead, but if they were just prunned a bit that would've helped them more then hurt them, at least IMO.