Instant Q

As promised here are the Q's, and they are coming a whole lot sooner than the P's. There's good reason for the quick turnaround, the Q's are the smallest playlist on my iTunes of all the letters. The Q's featured two bands and 72 songs. The Q's were completely dominated by the first band, with 71 of the 72 songs coming from this band. The Q's were really easy to get through, and really quick to finish. Let's get it started.

The first of the two bands featured on the Q's is Queens of the Stone Age. Queens of the Stone Age are a hard rock band out of Palm Desert, California who began in 1997. The band was formed by Josh Homme after the breakup of his previous band, the previously mentioned, Kyuss. Homme briefly played as a touring guitarist, but then recruited several other ex-Kyuss members to become Queens of the Stone Age. The band released their first full length album in 1998 with the self titled Queens of the Stone Age. The band had no bass player at the time of the recording so Homme played guitar and bass on the record in addition to his duties as lead singer. After the record was finished former Kyuss bass player Nick Oliveri joined the band. The band then went on to record Rated-R and after its 2000 release began to obtain some mainstream attention. The band gained opening slots for bands like Foo Fighters and Smashing Pumpkins. Their success and popularity grew even more with the release of their third record Songs For The Deaf. The album featuring Dave Grohl on drums and powered by the rock radio standard "No One Knows" went Gold. Oliveri was fired by the band shortly after finishing the tour for the album due to erratic behavior, and there has since been a rotating cast of musicians to replace him. The band's next two albums Lullabies To Paralyze and Era Vulgaris only helped grow the band's popularity, despite failing to meet the success of Songs For The Deaf. The band is known for their hard, driving sound that Josh Homme has described as "Robot Rock" due to their tight riffs and repetitive riffs. The band's music has also been described as "Stoner Rock" for its themes, but the label has been rejected by Homme. The band features a rotating cast of musicians providing guest spots on each album with just a few core members staying constant between albums. Queens of the Stone Age's music has changed slightly from album to album, but the music generally features driving riffs with heavy fuzz on the guitars. Josh Homme has shared vocal duties from to time, but it's his vocals that make the biggest impact. His voice can go from a monotone droning to a higher pitched wail and everywhere in between. I first heard Queens of the Stone Age with the release of Songs For The Deaf in 2002. I heard "No One Knows" on the radio and instantly fell in love, I purchased Songs For The Deaf and my love grew. The album is just one amazing song after another. The album has a unifying concept of listening to the radio on a road trip from Los Angles to Joshua Tree, California and features several different "stations" and "DJs." I listened to this album on repeat for a long time, and I liked it so much that I was given Rated-R by my older brother. I really liked Rated-R as well, it was a different sound but just as good. I then purchased Lullabies To Paralyze which was a bit of a disappointing effort after the previous album. I the purchased Era Vulgaris and a 8 song CD featuring a few covers and B sides called Stone Age Complications. Finally, this year I purchased their self titled debut when it was reissued in May. The first album was good in its own right and felt like what it was, the beginning of the band's amazing sound. I've been a big Queens of the Stone Age fan for a long time now, and Songs For The Deaf is one of my all time favorite albums. I come back to the album frequently and every time I still love it. I also enjoy Homme's side project Them Crooked Vultures, which will be mentioned in the T's. I look forward to new Queens of the Stone Age material, and will continue to enjoy what I have in the meantime.

Queens of the Stone Age "No One Knows"




The second and final band is The Queers. The Queers are a punk rock band who formed in New Hampshire in 1981. The band broke up three years later without releasing any music. The band reformed in 1986 with the only original member being the lead singer Joey "Queer." The band began to gain a following in the punk rock community, with their following growing with each new album. The band plays a Ramones influenced style of punk, featuring poppier riffs and lyrical themes centering around girls, drugs, alcohol, and having a good time. The song featured here "LoveLoveLove" is a fun and quick little song about being left by a women, and hurting badly afterwards. The lyrics at points proclaim "I'll never smile again," but then in the chorus he tells himself "I didn't like her anyway." It's a song with some really nice guitar riffs and fun vocal delivery for a song about losing a relationship. I had heard of The Queers before this blog and listening to this song, but I hadn't really bothered to listen to them before. I like this song, it's fun, and it does remind me of the Ramones, but it also reminds me of bands like Screeching Weasel. I can see myself coming back to this song as part of a playlist of punk rock songs, but not really any other time. I'll enjoy it on shuffle, but not frequently.

The Queers "Love Love Love"



That's it for the Q's! As promised they were quick! The R's are quite a bit longer and will be up as soon as possible, but it will probably be at least two weeks. Check back just in case I get done quicker than expected. Please comment.