Queens of the Stone Age | ...Like Clockwork (2LP)

...Like Clockwork is the first Queens Of The Stone Age album since 2007's Era Vulgaris and, according to its founder constant, Joshua Homme, "...like clockwork was the only thing that didn't happen. " After a "manic year, " Homme and the current version of the Queens -- veteran Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman and Dean Fertita--along with the outgoing Joey Castillo and returning associate Dave Grohl, decided to embrace The Beast, "ride shotgun on our emotional bandwagon... hold the horrible, lick the lunacy" and, instead of shying away from uncomfortable or painful subject matter -- face it head-on.

Along with Grohl, they picked up known associates Mark Lanegan, Nick Oliveri , Jon Theodore (now drumming full-time in the current live incarnation), Sir Elton John, Trent Reznor, Alex Turner and Jake Shears.

Whatever happened -- out there, in whatever desert arroyo, former meth lab, decommissioned missile silo, nuclear test site, underground laboratory, convergence of brain waves and gamma rays, QOTSA emerges with not only their best work to date, but one of the most ambitious, fully realized classic rock albums in recent memory.

Vinyl version contains 2 150 gram LPs packaged in a gatefold sleeve with printed inners, with full album download code.

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. Like always, Homme opens himself up to collaborations, wrangling an impressive roster that includes his wife Brody Dalle, his longtime companion Mark Lanegan, his prot?g? Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, his kindred spirit Trent Reznor, Scissor Sister Jake Shears, and superstar Elton John, but despite this large cast, the only musician who makes an indelible presence is Homme himself. ...Like Clockwork is unusually focused for a Queens of the Stone Age record, containing all of the group's hallmarks -- namely volume and crunch, but also a tantalizing sense of danger, finding seduction within the darkness -- but there is little of the desert sprawl and willful excess that have always distinguished their records. This is forceful, purposeful, fueled by dense interwoven riffs and colored with hints of piano and analog synthesizers that quite consciously evoke '70s future dystopia. QOTSA always specialized in this eerie sexiness, but the precision on ...Like Clockwork -- quite different than the merciless propulsion of Era Vulgaris, the 2007 album that closed out their time at Interscope -- feels conceptually tight, Homme smartly sculpting guitar fuzz, elastic solos, haunted harmonies, and deceptively slinky rhythms into a cool, relentless collection of heavy rock. The force impresses but also the restraint: there are missed beats and open space, muscular music that seduces and pummels, even manages to soothe while it assaults. It's complex, harder, and catchier than anything QOTSA have done in a decade, and more song-oriented, too, but that's a sign of maturity: Homme has marshaled all of his strengths on ...Like Clockwork and has found a way forward, a way to deepen his music without compromising his identity.

Tracklist

A1        Keep Your Eyes Peeled
A2        I Sat By The Ocean
A3        The Vampyre Of Time And Memory
B1        If I Had A Tail
B2        My God Is The Sun
B3        Kalopsia
C1        Fairweather Friends
C2        Smooth Sailing
D1        I Appear Missing
D2        ...Like Clockwork

*Audio and/or tracklist may vary slightly from the vinyl version.

Label: MATADOR RECORDS
Catalog: 11040
Rel. Date: 06/04/2013
UPC: 744861104018

• Handling Note: **Please allow an additional 72 hours for this item's shipment.**
• Internal ID: JITRE
• Genre: Alternative
• Format Detail: 2LP 150g standard Gatefold Jacket
• Format: Vinyl