Album Review: Queens of the Stone Age Provides Dark, Refined, Carnal New Album With ‘…Like Clockwork’

By: Chris D’Alessandro –

There’s a new Queens of the Stone Age’s album called …Like Clockwork and it’s well worth the six-year wait.

As soon as you click ‘play,’ the lyrics command you to stay attentive, anticipating the next dizzying era of the band: “Don’t look, just keep your eyes peeled.”  “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” features thumping bass, gritty slide guitar and tight-knit, yet pulse-pounding drumming, and it’s all instantly recognizable as a Josh Homme lead ensemble.

…Like Clockwork sounds as dark, refined and carnal as Queens of the Stone Age should with it’s gothic blues undertones and grungy riffs, but you can’t help but conjure images of the post-apoclolyptic, violent atmosphere that you see in the 15-minute animated YouTube feature by Bone Face and Liam Brazier.

Most people like to regard Queens as a jukebox band, but this has a concept album feel to it. You can’t take your mind away from that bloody comic-book world that 25-year-old Liverpool, UK designer Boneface created to flesh out the other worldly feel of the album.

While that imagery carries throughout, the album does go through a few different tones.  For example, from tracks three to five, …Like Clockwork goes from the space-aged techno ballad of “The Vampyre of Time and Memory” to the grindhouse ‘70s dance tune “If I had a Tail” to the hard-rocking, radio-play king “My God is the Sun”.

This album gushes with the complicated arrangements and sophisticated time changes that Queens of the Stone Age fans love. You might recognize little riffs or licks that remind you of “Everybody Knows That You Are Insane” or “You got a Killer Scene There, Man” from Lullabies to Paralyze, but with effects and tones that sound closer to Era Vulgaris. And of course …Like Clockwork still has all the rock and roll punch of Songs for the Deaf.

The album also features heavy collaboration, most notably on “Fairweather Friends”, which features Elton John on piano and Trent Reznor on vocals. Happily, the whole thing doesn’t fall apart on itself. While all the players get their own little spotlight, the song sounds like it’s being played by a single band and doesn’t experience any symptoms of having too many cowboys and not enough Indians.

The recording process was strained to say the least. Reznor was initially hoped to produce the album, however after a tough recording period, which saw the departure of former drummer Joey Castillo, Homme took over production duties.

Castillo’s recordings do make an appearance on “Kalopsia”, “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” “I Sat by the Ocean” and “The Vampyre of Time and Memory”. You probably won’t notice the difference between Castillo and Grohl, but put “If I had a Tail” or “My God is the Sun” up against Castillo’s tracks and one could make the argument that Grohl has a little more range and handles time changes just a bit smoother.

Grohl and Homme have a natural chemistry. They fit together and play off one another. It’s the same magic that you get on “Song for the Dead” or Them Crooked Vulture’s “Scumbag Blues”.

This is Queens of the Stone Age at its best. …Like Clockwork is a conceptually tight album that assaults your senses and you’ll love every minute of it.

Essential Tracks: “Keep Your Eyes Peeled”, “Fairweather Friends” and “My God is the Sun”.