"    < Previous Album | Next Album >         Queens of the Stone Age – … Like Clockwork Chosen and written by Matt Doyle.   This is an album that had no business being released. Queens of the Stone Age, after a fraught and fractionated history and a revolving door effect on […]"

THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2013: QOTSA – LIKE CLOCKWORK


“face-melting stoner rock formula”

 

Part 2

 

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QOTSA

 

 

Queens of the Stone Age – … Like Clockwork

Chosen and written by Matt Doyle.

 

This is an album that had no business being released. Queens of the Stone Age, after a fraught and fractionated history and a revolving door effect on band members, could have been forgiven if they had never returned to the studio for ‘…Like Clockwork’. However, Josh Homme and his ever-increasing band of contributors have released an LP that displays and celebrates the trials and tribulations and the subsequent growth of the band.

…Like Clockwork is the band’s most varied release to date, with a lot of slow, emotional melancholic tones and trippy funk-inspired bars perforating the usual face-melting stoner rock formula. Homme has worked on his vocal range, managing to convey emotion and vulnerability through an impressive falsetto timbre found on The Vampyre of Time and Memory and the album’s title track, acting as a fascinating juxtaposition to his usual, familiar swagger.

 

you can’t argue with Homme’s switched up solos and hard-hitting peeling riffs

 

Disorientating synths, delicate keys sects, plenty of guest vocals (including Elton John, Trent Reznor, Alex Turner and Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters fame) ensure that there is never a dull moment on this album. Strikingly inventive song layouts as seen in album highlights Kalopsia and I Appear Missing surprise the listener and draw them into a truly immersive release. This invention all aside, you still can’t argue with Homme’s switched up solos and hard-hitting peeling riffs and Dave Grohl’s authoritative return to the drums for the band, providing an awesome base to layer on top of.

 

VERDICT 10/10

 

 

Second opinion

Written by Sean May.

Before listening to …Like Clockwork, my exposure to Queens of The Stone Age was very limited, as in pretty much restricted to “No One Knows” and that’s about it. Keeping that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by this album. I’ve always lumped QOTSA in with metal/progressive, something I haven’t been into, but …Like Clockwork does all the things within that genre that I can really enjoy. The songs on the album are cinematic and epic, with frontman Josh Homme’s voice providing a murmuring sinister tone to things.

VERDICT 6/10

 

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7 comments
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  • Chela
    Chela
    December 3, 2013 at 4:39 pm

    just by having alex turner in it makes it an amazing album

    Reply

  • Jack
    Jack
    December 3, 2013 at 5:48 pm

    This album is a masterwork, and my experience with it is almost identical to Matt’s. Always been hit and miss with QOTSA but this album floored me from the get go. On a meta note, posting all of these day by day is super annoying, you would be much better off posting it all in one shot.

    Reply

  • David Marshall
    David Marshall
    December 4, 2013 at 5:15 am

    Another album of complete garbage. See this is why critics can’t be taken seriously. They have a penchant for liking crap and pushing stuff that has no appeal.

    Reply

  • Anthonaut
    Anthonaut
    December 5, 2013 at 9:45 am

    Incredible album. Best album of 2013 easily.

    Reply

  • simieski
    simieski
    December 10, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    Doesn’t sound like a 6/10 review to me. Can we possibly get someone who actually cares about the album to take a third look? This was in my view their best album to date and one of the top 10 best albums of the year.

    Reply

  • Sean
    July 21, 2014 at 1:36 am

    The tune with Elton was ok, but I was hoping for something better.

    Reply

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