Queens of the Stone Age
...Like Clockwork
Release Date: Jun 4, 2013
Genre(s): Pop, Pop/Rock, Alternative Metal, Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Stoner Metal
Record label: Matador
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Album Review: ...Like Clockwork by Queens of the Stone Age
Great, Based on 29 Critics
Based on rating 4.5/5
Josh Homme and his all-star pals prove the virtue of taking your sweet time on a record that’s as self-assured as it is damn sexy. Most bands don’t leave their fans waiting six long years for a new album. They don’t then promote said record by getting a creepy robot to leave their fans unsettling voicemails. And they definitely don’t enlist a chef to write the album notes.
Based on rating 9/10
All the surface evidence on ...Like Clockwork suggests Josh Homme is steering Queens of the Stone Age back to familiar territory. Once again, he's enlisted drummer Dave Grohl as his anchor and he's made amends with his erstwhile bassist Nick Oliveri, suggesting Homme is returning to either Rated R or Songs for the Deaf, the two turn-of-the-millennium masterpieces that thrust QOTSA out of their stoner rock cult, but ...Like Clockwork isn't so simple as a return to roots. Homme flirts with his history as a way to make sense of his present, reconnecting with his strengths as a way to reorient himself, consolidating his indulgences and fancies into a record that obliterates middle-age malaise without taking a moment to pander to the past.
Based on rating 4.5/5
Review Summary: QOTSA return with a bang, delivering a solidly constructed record that's imbued with seductive quality.As the merciless rule aptly indicates, you're as good as your latest album. Queens of the Stone Age tarnished their enviable reputation as one of the world's most consistent rock acts six years ago by releasing the uninspired Era Vulgaris. Following on such a misfire, Josh Homme made the best decision he could by taking a break from his prime outfit, which gave him an opportunity to focus on other projects.
Based on rating 8.9/10
When you think of Herculean bands in the post-Zeppelin age—rock bands that’ve not only satiated critics and conquered radio, but have in the process permanently etched their inimitable logos into rock and roll history books—you might have to go back a ways. That is, unless, you count the Foo Fighters. Which I don’t. Without overthinking it, you might get Sabbath, Queen, Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana—bands that are essential to the heavy-rock continuum, and whose appeal at some point transcended… well, everything.
Based on rating 80%%
Queens of the Stone Age...Like Clockwork[Matador; 2013]By Brendan Frank; June 6, 2013Purchase at: Insound (Vinyl) | Amazon (MP3 & CD) | iTunes | MOGTweetThere’s no rulebook for what makes metal metal, or what makes pop pop, but few bands in the past fifteen years have explored their commonalities as proficiently as Queens of the Stone Age. Since 1998, the band’s only constant member, singer/guitarist Josh Homme and his ever-rotating supporting cast, have conjured thunderous music that continues to be embraced by a wide audience. After barely escaping with his life on the operating table in 2010, Homme has reconvened the band for …Like Clockwork, the band’s first album in 6 years.
Based on rating 4/5
Is there a more debonair dirtball in rock than Josh Homme? The Queens of the Stone Age frontman is the high priest of grimy rock tradition, exalting in exquisitely wrought guitar scraping and wry machismo – whether with his main gig or in side bands like the Dave Grohl collaboration Them Crooked Vultures. For the Queens' sixth album, their sole continuous member has the band at full power, with Grohl drumming on five of 10 tracks, former members Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan pitching in, and eye-catching, yet unobtrusive, guest spots from Trent Reznor, Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner and Elton John – who, fabulously, volunteered as "an actual queen." Make no mistakes, though: . .
Based on rating 4/5
As much as the scattershot mischief of 2007's Era Vulgaris may have delighted many, the harsh truth about Josh Homme's amorphous crew is that they haven't produced much to rival the ubiquitous thump of Feel Good Hit of the Summer or No One Knows in over a decade. Fortunately, Like Clockwork feels like a return to the smart but incisive grooves and melodies that made those songs such enduring anthems. As ever, there are innumerable guest appearances here, not least the return of Dave Grohl's thunderous drumming and Elton John's joyous piano on Fairweather Friends.
Based on rating 4
In the six years since Queens Of The Stone Age‘s last album the band had to negotiate some quite difficult waters, having faced line-up changes, problems in the studio, and countless other hindrances. But there’s a certain truth to the notion that once at the very bottom emotionally, there’s nowhere to go but up. To Josh Homme’s credit he’s faced the problems head on and, in so doing, seems to have stepped away from the sound that cemented QOTSA’s stoner reputation.
Based on rating 4/5
Lead-up hype to Queens of the Stone Age's first album in five years has focused on its loaded guest list, which includes Trent Reznor, Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears and Elton John. But for long-time fans, one name stands out: Nick Oliveri. The bearded bassist's growl was once a prime element of their stoner sound, before a much-publicized breakup saw lead vocalist Josh Homme take the reins as sole remaining member from their breakthrough days.
Based on rating 3.9/5
Review Summary: Josh Homme & Co. return with a stellar album that blends their many influences and idiosyncrasies together, but it's not quite the 'return-to-form' we all hoped it would be.Queens Of The Stone Age certainly stirred up quite a lot of hype when they announced their return to the public eye. After all, it has been 6 years since they've released Era Vulgaris, and within that time frame, Josh Homme appeared so preoccupied with his other musical endeavors that it seemed as if he had lost all interest in what is 'supposed' to be his primary band.
Based on rating 7.3/10
Deep into the new Queens of the Stone Age album, Josh Homme blithely declares, “I blow my load over the status quo.” Missions statements don’t come cockier than that. But Homme can get away with it because the status quo he’s referring to could easily be his own band. Since launching Queens of the Stone Age from the ashes of the almighty Kyuss in 1998, Homme has treated hard rock and metal as soluble materials; his band’s music is mercurial, its membership highly fluid.
Based on rating B
Josh Homme almost died. Actually, he did die for a brief moment. While on an operating table receiving knee surgery, undisclosed complications nearly took his life. I woke up and there was a doctor going, Shit, we lost you, Homme told the Irish Independent.. The Queens of the Stone Age ….
Based on rating 3.5/5
A lot has changed since Queens of the Stone Age brought Era Vulgaris into the world six long years ago. Never mind the revolving door of band members; that's always been a factor with this band. With all of the high profile side-projects, production gigs and near-death experiences, and the return to an independent label for the first time since their 1998 self-titled debut, quite frankly it's a little surprising that it's only taken six years for mainman Josh Homme to release the resulting record, â?¦Like Clockwork.
Based on rating 3.5/5
While it was impossible to fault the musicality of Queens of the Stone Age’s last two albums—2005’s Lullabies to Paralyze and 2007’s Era Vulgaris—it was equally impossible to ignore the overripe scent of self-indulgence that hung over both of them. Thankfully, Josh Homme and fellow Queens Troy Van Leeuwen, Dean Fertita, and Michael Shuman have gotten back on beam for the band’s first album in six years, apparently rediscovering the joys of creating robotic, riff-oriented hard-rock songs like “I Sat by the Ocean,” “If I Had a Tail” and “My God Is the Sun,” which exude the band’s intelligence and innate weirdness without ever softening their visceral punch. DAN EPSTEIN .
Based on rating 7/10
It’s been six years since Era Vulgaris, the last Queens of the Stone Age album. But it’s not like frontman and co-founder Josh Homme has just been sitting around in the interim. He worked on the Eagles of Death Metal’s third album in 2008, and he formed the supergroup Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. That band’s recording and touring schedule took up most of 2009-10.
Based on rating 7/10
Well. Here we are again. A new Queens of the Stone Age album. It's been six years since the disappointing Era Vulgaris, eight since the equally 'meh' Lullabies to Paralyze, and over a decade since their last really exciting album, Songs for the Deaf. The goodwill from those albums - and for ….
Based on rating 6.5/10
More than a decade ago now, my best friend made me listen to Rated R and Songs For the Deaf, claiming they were musical life-changers. I listened to them plenty and liked them, even if they didn't change my musical life (but, honestly, how often are such aural promises fulfilled?). He also dragged me to a show somewhere in London; the sound was off and so I drank at the bar in a fit of puerile angst, leaving my friend to it.
Based on rating 3/5
It seems pop stars’ address books are playing an increasing role in the way an album’s marketed. Just as Daft Punk trickled out news of their latest collaborators, so QOTSA’s Josh Homme has been coy about who feature on his band’s first album in six years. But do the songs warrant the Elton John/Dave Grohl/Scissor Sister/Arctic Monkey mega-scaffold? Well, largely, they don’t.
Based on rating 6/10
It's certainly split opinion, we'll say that... This review, much like this record, is likely to divide opinion more readily than Marmite. ‘…Like Clockwork’ kicks off in smart fashion with the snarling, distinctively Queens-sounding ‘Keep Your Eyes Peeled’, and from there it continues in not entirely convincing fashion. Whereas the defining ‘Songs For The Deaf’ had menace, punch and conviction, this is the sound of a band struggling to match former glories.
Based on rating 3/5
The title track finds this previously vengeful alpha male crooning: "Not everything that goes around comes back around, you know/ One thing that is clear/ Is that it's all downhill from here." With this album, you'll be scrabbling for a lyric sheet because Homme seems so uncharacteristically unmoored. .
Opinion: Excellent
When a band that had previously averaged a record every two years suddenly goes six years without a new one, it’s a pretty clear indication that things are running like anything but clockwork. We’ve heard nothing new from Queens Of The Stone Age since Era Vulgaris back in 2007, although that’s certainly not to say that they’ve kept a low profile over six enormously tumultuous years. Josh Homme formed Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, produced an Arctic Monkeys record, welcomed a second child into the world and ‘died’ on the operating table during complicated surgery.
Opinion: Excellent
The six years since the release of Queens Of The Stone Age's last album, Era Vulgaris, an effort best described as a 'one for the hardcore fans if not the casual observer', has seen enough movement and drama to wonder if Josh Homme was ever going to return to the band that propelled him into the major league. Side projects in the shape of supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, production duties with Eagles Of Death Metal and Arctic Monkeys, detours into contributing material to film soundtracks as well as line-up changes and near-death experiences have all conspired to keep one of the 21st century's most original and intriguing rock bands out of the public eye and off turntables with new material for more time than is healthy for any artist. Whether Homme cares to admit it or not, these are all events that have left their indelible mark on his muse and so it is that the hedonistic swagger that characterised so much of Queens Of The Stone Age's output is replaced by a sense of doubt and introspection that runs through …Like Clockwork.
Opinion: Excellent
As the title of Queens of the Stone Age’s sixth album suggests, no other band of their generation has turned out such fully-formed, unforgiving albums with such regularity and precision. That is, ironically, until …Like Clockwork, an album that comes six years since 2007’s Era Vulgaris. In the meantime, Queens frontman and bandleader Josh Homme had another child with wife Brody Dalle, launched supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, and — most significantly for this record — had a near-death experience during what should have been routine surgery.
Opinion: Excellent
Flippancy has faded and distortion has cleared on “... Like Clockwork,” the sixth studio album by Queens of the Stone Age. It’s the first new album since 2007 for the band led by the songwriter, singer and guitarist Josh Homme. It’s also the band’s first album since Mr. Homme’s heart ….
Opinion: Great
How many major contemporary rock bands are we down to in America? A couple dozen, maybe? That's the desert-dry landscape that Queens of the Stone Age returns to with "… Like Clockwork," and fortunately it does everything a good rock record should — wringing new blood from classic forms and sounding absolutely sexy and a little scary while doing it. Six years after their last album, "Era Vulgaris," Queens' "… Like Clockwork" calls in a lot of friendly favors (cameos come from Trent Reznor, occasional drum-throne lord Dave Grohl and a very unexpected Elton John, among others). But this show is all frontman Joshua Homme's.
Opinion: Satisfactory
byJERRICK ADAMS A brief summary, in case you’re pressed for time. The title of the new Queens of the Stone Age album, …Like Clockwork, tells only half the story. The cover, featuring a goateed fellow in a high-collared vampire-style cloak against a neon red backdrop, tells the other half. Our creepy friend from the cover makes sense almost immediately.
Opinion: Fantastic
For Queens of the Stone Age and leadman Josh Homme, the band he’s fronted has always maintained a revolving door of members. Never one to truly solidify his outfit and also a musician who has a couple of side projects (Them Crooked Vultures, Eagles of Death Metal) of his own, the quality of Queens of the Stone Age’s material has always been an equally righteous aspect. On their fifth album, Era Vulgaris, Homme turned to a more relentless and rocking affair but six years apart, it felt like a very long time since that last album.
Opinion: Fantastic
It starts with the sound of broken glass. An inauspicious beginning to any new undertaking, you’d imagine; but when it’s the first noise on the new Queens Of The Stone Age record, breaking the silence and bridging the chasm between 2007’s ‘Era Vulgaris’ and 2013, which gives us their sixth studio album, it takes on a different significance – and a cold wave of something between compulsion and apprehension creeps over you. What do Josh Homme and co.
Opinion: Fantastic
Queens of the Stone Age ... Like Clockwork (Matador) Josh Homme's desert rock powerhouse just debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts as an indie act. After six years' absence, guitars squeal and groan with juicy tones ("If I Had a Tail"), weird noises become hooky piano ballads ("The Vampyre of Time and Memory"), and guest stars range from the inspired (Trent Reznor, Brody "Mrs.
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