Queens of the Stone Age
Lullabies to Paralyze
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I’d hate to deduce that Josh Homme cannot hack it as a one-man band because I want to champion the guy. He’s a seminal guitarist with the right skills to pay the bills, but on his rather congestive new record, Lullabies To Paralyze, nothing sticks in the throat like the best moments on Songs For The Deaf. I still remember the first time I heard “No One Knows” and was instantly floored. Even the one-dimensional lyrics seemed to work on a melodic level, and soon thereafter I was embarrassingly rocking out in my car to the tune. And about a third of that magnum force of a record solidified my approbation for Queens as a taut rock and roll band. Not a stoner metal band, but a rock and roll band with chops to boot.

Lullabies To Paralyze is a step-back even if the guitars still mesh cohesively, if not redundantly. It could be the fact that I miss Grohl’s phenomenal contribution to the previous endeavor or the fact that the bass-playing isn’t nearly as strong due to the departure of ex-bandmate/party animal Oliveri. The proceedings start out promising but soon the listener might be feigning interest as the slow drudge wall of distortion becomes exasperating and even grating by the time the melodically devoid “Skin On Skin” storms onward. The denouement later becomes a chore to grasp. Homme -- with help from longtime collaborator Mark Lanegan, Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle), drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig) and even (albeit very faintly) Shirley Manson of Garbage and the Distillers' Brody Dalle -- has assembled a crowded headphones album of bulky, drop-C bottom-heavy guitar screeches, and cosmic thumpalong grooves. But certainly not much in the way of sticky melody. Exception to the disappointment is first single “Little Sister” which is a superior example of Homme at his best with fire-rapid syncopation illuminated by speckles of fret harmony.

“You’ve Got a Killer Scene There Baby,” is composedly reminiscent of Superunknown-era Soundgarden (which was essentially a reworking of Black Sabbath). Some of the other impressive moments are undemonstrative rather than gruff, coiling out energizing fuzz-rock moments with rigid methodology. A welcome track like "I Never Came" evenly rides an undemanding backbeat and understated bassline gliding into tuneful pop-song pay dirt. When Homme manages to overindulge in dynamic guitar pomposity and showing off his virtuoso craftsmanship (the overlong “Someone’s In The Wolf”) it grows tiresome even with repeat listens. It’s too bad that he can’t manage to construct memorable songs in the same vein as “The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret” or “Go With The Flow.” For the most part, Lullabies teeters along a nightmare rollercoaster ride with hardly any pay-off or signs of waking up. But for fans of progressive metal that flaunts style over substance, then perhaps this is their kind of rock and roll and they’ll like it.

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