Queens Of The Stone Age - Rated R

Still-gobsmacking synthesis of pop hooks and gut-shaking riffs

 Remarkably, it’s a decade since the nonmetal- consuming world first heard of Josh Homme. He’d been a cult hero with his stoner band Kyuss for years before that, and Queens Of The Stone Age’s first, self-titled album had attracted plenty of attention, but it was Rated R that first got the masses in a froth. Much of this was due to the killer radio single The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret (still the best song here by several leaps), which added a Beach Boys-style hookline to a gritty, downtuned drone riff. Furthermore, the addictive, unhealthy appeal of QOTSA was enhanced by their reputations as drug hoovers, and their willingness to discuss said habits in song form – Feel Good Hit Of The Summer (featuring Rob Halford of Judas Priest on backing vocals!) being a case in point.

Homme’s insolent sneer, bassist Nick Oliveri’s punkish antics and their tales of life in the Coachella/Joshua Tree desert combined for a recipe that briefly made Queens the coolest band on the planet. QOTSA may not occupy the exalted position they once held, but this expanded reissue illustrates just how sleek they were a while back, when this album and its successor, Songs For The Deaf, sounded like nothing else. Six B-sides plus a Reading Festival set from 2000 complete the package.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

Polydor | tbc

Reviewed by Joel McIver
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