Queens of the Stone Age, Songs for the Deaf

This is one of my favourite albums. I was a fan of QOTSA, after buying this album i became an avid fan. It is a truly great album, from the roaring opening song the album takes you on a rollercoaster of songs, including popular singles 'No One Knows' and 'Go With the Flow'.

Josh Homme has a great voice and really shows why he is regarded as such a great musician.

This is the pinnacle of their work. It was also the last album bassist, Nick Oliveri worked on before leaving the band, and its his influence that sets this album above the others to follow.

If you are a QOTSA fan this album will appeal to you on every level and if you are new them then this will blow you away.

You have to listen to this album.

Songs For The Deaf took the success of Rated R and launched Queens of the Stone Age to new and fairly dizzying heights. Of course, in various forms and previous incarnations, each band member has enjoyed success elsewhere. But the mixture of talent, experience and creativity conspired to produce a belter.

Ironically, I think one of the weaker songs is the title track. But do not be fooled by this, because the rest is absolutely blisteringly good stuff. A lot of subtlety and clever licks, some neat arrangements and use of off-key chord sequences, and some fantastic tempo changes. I won't give you a run down of who does what, you can read the press reviews for that, but the craftsmanship is excellent. More irony, in that everyone knows the song 'No-one Knows', it is indeed arguably one of the best from the album, but there's plenty more where that came from.

If you are looking for a hard rock album from this era, that isn't over-produced or self-absorbed or nasty metal crossover nonsense, this is what I would recommend over pretty much any other composition this decade. Fine fare for the die-hard rocker, but with a certain panache and intelligence that really makes it stand out.

The bonus material including a live track of the Rated R classic 'lost art of keeping a secret' is just awesome!