Songs for the Deaf by QOTSA.
As fans will know, the album is played in the perspective of as radio show, taking very short commercial breaks with guest star musicians for announcers telling you how much they love Queens of the Stone Age. I suppose if the radio stations are playing this album, they have good reason for it.
It was a smart move of me to choose this after Houdini. Now I can compare one stoner album to another, and see what the rave is about this album and how well it holds up against other stoner and alternative albums. Well, I have to say that the album has many strong points, and very few weak ones. The first thing to notice is how unconventional Josh Homme plays his guitar. He adds a slight alternative feel to these stoner anthems by playing weird little tunes on a somewhat higher pitched guitar, still attempting to maintain the druggy sound of Desert Palm's notable scene. These riffs blend very well with the fast paces bass/guitars. And if one listens closely, they can tell the drummer is the amazing Dave Grohl, who plays his drums like he did with Nirvana, likely one of his Gibson sets. He uses the same light tapping on the symbols throughout his riffs. And what is possibly the best thing about the album is how well Homme holds his wonderful vocals when he's not screaming for the heck of it. And the vocal compositions work so well with the soothing vocals of this heavy stoner band (the vocals of Homme as lead, and the backing vocals of Grohl, Oliveri, and Lanegan from Screaming Trees) all contradicting their fast paced music by singing their songs as if they were lullabies. This contradiction does not tamper with the music, however. It's perfectly blended, which is somewhat amazing of the band to pull off.
As far as the consistency of the album goes, the album remains perfect until Six Shooter, which is just a decent punk song where Homme's screaming. Stick with singing. The album drops a little when it reaches the second half. Still, the album remains lovable. In fact, the consistency picks up on track 13, A Song for the Deaf (if you count it as a title track, it's one of the best title tracks I've heard). A really cool, kind of dark and haunting song with cool riffs.
Songs for the Deaf is that kind of album that grows on the listener. There's always something fantastic to find about this album, whether it's the vocals or the guitars. Songs for the Deaf is one of, if not the essential stoner rock album. Forgiver me if I speak to much of the genre, but I honestly feel that way about the album. It's an essential release, on that deserves the great recognition it gets.
97/100. This could be the one album I don't vote off when the stoner round comes along.