Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork (2013)

[alan nagsworth]

Anyone heard this yet?

Here's what I think of it: shite.

A load of unremarkable desert blues that you'd assume Homme could write in his sleep now, given his illustrious career. The second track was probably the only one that really grabbed me. It's a foot-tapper but it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. The most redeeming quality is that it regresses back to SFTD territory and forgoes most of the the direction of the last two albums, which were rubbish, but a regression is nowt to be proud of and frankly the two most promising features - the return of Grohl and Oliveri - are as forgettable as everything else here. Sorely unimpressed with this one. Sigh.

I will give it another listen at some point - production wise it does sound nice and that's what kept me from turning it off halfway through, so maybe I'm missing something, but probably not. Even SFTD had its weak points but the radio dial concept behind it and its rich diversity meant that it stood out just as much as Rated R as an absolute, creative piece of work. Seems like there's not much of that left here.

[Kane Jones]

QOTSA, Rated R and SFTD are all brilliant.  LTP had one song I think is absolutely sublime; 'Someone's In The Wolf' and a lot of filler and very average material.  I gave Era Vulgaris a listen and hated it.  I'm loathe to even bother with this after your assessment, Nags.  But I will, no doubt.  And no doubt I'll be disappointed.

[Canted_Angle]

It's certainly their sexiest album. I really like the way all the guest appearances are subtle[nb]the whole thing feels subtle actually[/nb]. My favorite album by them has to be the self titled closely followed by SFTD. I think this one is going to be a grower. I really liked Vulgaris but I felt there was something missing LTP got amazing half way through but I didnt really like the first half. I hate it when people say this is a 'mature album for X' but this really sounds like a settled album full of nuance and refinement, I've only heard it twice but sounds seem to become clearer on the second listen.

[Slaaaaabs]

Nope. No thanks. Far, far too clean for me. No bite, nothing raw about it whatsoever.

"The robots are back" said Mr. Hommy in 2011 about this record. Unfortunately they turned out to be a Roomba and C3PO.

[The Region Legion]

They'll never better Rated R.

[Slaaaaabs]

In other post-Kyuss news the horribly renamed Vista Chino have shown their hand...

https://www.facebook.com/VistaChinoMusic/app_208195102528120

Now that is more like it.

[graffic]

Its definately a grower, but some of the songs sound like they have good choruses but could be arranged in a different way to make them better. Fairweather Friends and I appear missing are good songs.

[Canted_Angle]

In other post-Kyuss news the horribly renamed Vista Chino have shown their hand...

https://www.facebook.com/VistaChinoMusic/app_208195102528120

Now that is more like it.

Really like the sound of this, can't wait for the full length!

[Gamma Ray]

I'm gonna catch flack for this but my opinion is diametrically opposite. I don't have a problem with Vista Chino but listening to Dargona Dragona I'm just left thinking that I heard it done better twenty years ago and since then bands like Colour Haze have taken that sound in different and more interesting (to me) directions.

I suspect that for the new QOTSA long player people were expecting a more straightforward rock effort, maybe like the Them Crooked Vultures album. I read an early review on the Rekords Rekords forum from a long time fan absolutely slating the record so wasn't sure what to expect, but like graffic says (and inevitably proves to be the case with most of Homme's work) it's a grower. If I Had A Tail is what got me into it, it's killer, and the more I listen to the rest of the album the more I appreciate the lyrics, the nods to influences, the craft. Homme doesn't seem to put restrictions on his music so for me at least it will always be worth listening to.

[alan nagsworth]

I suspect that for the new QOTSA long player people were expecting a more straightforward rock effort, maybe like the Them Crooked Vultures album.

Nah, see if that was what I expected, I'd have been far less disappointed, because that's essentially what they've done.

[Pepotamo1985]

I don't have a problem with Vista Chino but listening to Dargona Dragona I'm just left thinking that I heard it done better twenty years ago and since then bands like Colour Haze have taken that sound in different and more interesting (to me) directions.

Yeah, agreed. I mean, the song's not terrible, but it's spectacularly uninteresting - even when compared to Kyuss' previous output. I mean, with a lot of Stoner Rock, you know exactly what you're getting, and the song certainly delivers a predictably driving, waily crunch for a few minutes, but still - it's something you can pick up any Stoner album from the past twenty years and hear done better. Even Garcia's projects in the late-90s (in particular Unida) strike me as a lot more engaging than that tune, and they didn't have the instrumental/songwriting talents that the rebooted Kyuss apparently have access to.

[Pepotamo1985]

Nope. No thanks. Far, far too clean for me. No bite, nothing raw about it whatsoever.

This has been a problem with all of Homme's output since SFTD, really. Lullabies had absolutely no groove or balls to it whatsoever (I'd agree with Canted Angle that about half of it was good and half of it was shite), and Era Vulgaris was...I don't think I've ever listened to that album all the way through, actually. There's bits and bobs on it I like, but it just felt a bit meh as a whole. Possibly the only thing he's been involved with that I've liked since...02 or some shit is Heart On by Eagles of Death Metal. There are some great melodies on there...

I haven't had a chance to listen to Like Clockwork yet, but I'm not holding my breath after that TCV record.

"The robots are back" said Mr. Hommy in 2011 about this record. Unfortunately they turned out to be a Roomba and C3PO.

That made me legit lol, nice one xx