Week of Queens of the Stone Age and Black Sabbath

     This week is going to be a big one, two of the years biggest rock albums by far. I usually only do one album a week, but this week I just couldn't do that. Both of these are just too important. So here we go, this week I will be reviewing Queens of the Stone Age-...Like Clockwork and Black Sabbath- 13. We will start with Queens of the Stone Age their album came out first after all.

     Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band from Palm Desert California that formed in 1996. The band originally consisted of Lead Guitarist, Lead Singer, and band leader Josh Homme, Guitarist Tony Van Leeuwn, Bassist Michael Shuman, Keyboardist Dean Fertita, and Drummer Jon Theodore. However the band has had several lineup changes over the years. They were formed after the dissolution of Josh Homme's previous band Kyuss in 1995. The project was originally titled Gamma Ray but they had to change the name so another band with the same name wouldn't sue. The bands first live appearance was at OK Hotel in Seattle, Washington. Followed by the bands first EP Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age. The bands debut album Queens of the Stone Age was released in 1998. The band released their second album Rated R in 2000. This album had the breakout hit "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" which featured Judas Priest singer Rob Halford, and got them an opening spot at Ozzfest in 2000. In 2001 former Nirvana member and lead Foo Fighter Dave Grohl joined and the band put out Songs for the Deaf in 2002. That album got  the band huge critical success. The bands forth album Lullabies to Paralyze came out in 2005. Era Vulgaris came out in late 2007. Following Era Vulgaris Queens of the Stone Age went on hiatus, reissued their first album and toured. As well as being a part of the super group Them Crooked Vultures with Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

     This album has been a nightmare of waiting for fans of Queens of the Stone Age. The album has been in production since early 2009, a lot of things derailed the album process. Josh's previous band Kyuss reformed as Kyuss Lives! and played a tour. They wanted to record a new album as Kyuss Lives, but changed their plan and tried to record as Kyuss. This resulted in a lawsuit that took quite a lot of Josh's time since he owns the rights. As well as what would be called epic writers block by Josh himself. The production of the album didn't actually begin until 2012. The hype for the record is some of the craziest Ive ever seen. Josh said that it would be the best rock album of the year and features a whole slew of famous musicians collaborating on the album. Including: Dave Grohl on drums, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Elton John, Nick Oliveri on back up vocals, Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, and Mark Lanegan. The most inspiring thing that leads to the creative process of this album was that Josh Homme was legally declared dead on the operating table after going in for knee surgery. So this a very personal story type of record.
                                          Here is No Ones Know- Queens of the Stone Age.

          This album was inspired by Josh's near death experience and his incapacitation following the surgery. He was unable to get up for forth months following the operation, and had a deep realization about the things that mattered to him: mortality, friendship, love, and faith. The writing process was very different on this album. It took a lot longer than the normal writing process for most Queens of the Stone Age records. Which is why the album was titled like clockwork because of the large amount of time it was taking to finish the album. Not to mention a reunion of the Queens of the Stone Age's Songs for the Deaf line up. This line up makes a huge difference on this album, leaving it sounding nothing like Era Vulgaris. Which is a good thing, not to diss it, but this album stands leaps and bounds above it. It has so much more emotional depth and real feeling being written in to each song. Its a very dark, bluesier album, and it features his normal stoner rock with pop sounds mixed in.
                                            My God is the Sun- Queens of the Stone Age

      The album opener "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" features guest vocals from Jake Shears and drives the point home about what kind of album this is going to be. A dark, intricately laid out, blues album, it takes blues to a new level for the catchy opener. "I Sat by the Ocean" drops the blues completely and leaves Josh in Morning about a girl that left him.  It's a driving rock song that opens up on the chorus. "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" slows things down quite a bit to become the best example of a near death experience in a song. It's beautiful and one of the best song on here. "If I had a Tail" features Alex Turner, Mark Lanegan, and Nick Oliveri. This song really shows off Josh's creative lyric writing and some of the best back up vocals ever from the featured musicians. It is one of my favorites on the album. "My God is the Sun" is the lead single off the album and is one of the hardest rocking tracks on here. The guitars duel each other through the powerful chorus and it sucks you in. "Kalopsia" features Trent Reznor and starts off as a ballad before exploding into a jamming rock song. It really brings the strange that we are use to with Queens of the Stone Age. "Fairweather Friends" features Elton John and was co-written by Mark Lanegan. Even though it's a heavy rock song it really uses Elton's piano playing to drive the song. "Smooth Sailing" takes the cake as my absolute favorite song on the record. It's is a dark, dirty song, something that might resemble an Alice in Chains song. "I Appear Missing" is a six minute long epic describing Josh's feelings about hiding from life and avoiding problems. The closer "...Like Clockwork" features James LaVelle and Charlie May, who also helped write the song. It's a slow song that builds to a huge climax at the end, and shows some of Josh's best lyrics ever.
                                               ...Like Clockwork the whole album live!

      The crazy thing about this album is the emotional depth in the stories it tell through the lyrics and songs. You have to remember that this is all stuff that happened to Josh during the darkest and hardest moments in his life. He does his best singing and songwriting of his career on this album. The album was one of the most hyped albums I can remember, and it features so many amazing musicians that it's incredible the way it comes out. It feels like an intimate up close look into the mind of a depressed musician. It's dark it's beautiful and it rocks. You almost forget that it has so many featured artists on it. I still can't believe this is the band that wrote Era Vulgaris.
Recommended Songs: The Vampyre of Time and Memory, If I Had a Tail, Fairweather Friends, and Smooth Sailing.

5/5 Stars

      Black Sabbath are an English Rock band from Birmingham formed in 1968. The band originally consisted of Guitarist Tony Iommi, Bassist Geezer Butler, Singer Ozzy Osbourne, and Drummer Bill Ward. The band was originally called Earth up until 1969 when they had to change the name. They based it off of Boris Karloff's film Black Sabbath. They signed to Vertigo Records in 1969 and only had two days to record their debut album. Black Sabbath came out in 1970. Quickly followed by Paranoid in 1971, it has been called one of the most important metal records of all time. Jumping right back in the studio again they released Master of Reality in 1971 and Volume 4 in 1972. This is when fatigue and drug addiction really started to take effect on the band. After this Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage quickly followed. The next two albums really felt the effect of drug abuse as they didn't do half as well as the ones before, and in 1979 Ozzy Osbourne was fired from Black Sabbath for being a drunken mess.
     

     

      In 1979 former Rainbow singer Ronnie James Dio joined sabbath as Ozzy's replacement. The band was reinvigorated and inspired coming out with two very strong albums in a row Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules. A couple of years later Bill Ward quit missing Ozzy and being drunk 24/7, replaced by Vinny Appice. For Born again in 1984 Dio left and was replaced by Deep Purple's Ian Gillian. Geezer Butler quit the band went on hiatus before putting out Seventh Star which was really a Tony solo album. The next three albums The Eternal Idol, Headless Cross, and Tyr all felt like Tony just keeping the band barely alive. Then Dehumanizer was here with Geezer Butler and Dio joining the band again for just one album. The next two albums Cross Purposes and Forbidden saw Tony and Geezer bringing back former vocalist Tony Martin. Then there was the Ozzfest reunion phase. The band originally reformed with Ozzy at the helm to co headline 1997's Ozzfest, Mike Bordin filled in for Bill Ward. Bill did rejoin the original line up eventually to tour and release the double live album reunion. The band occasionally reformed to play Ozzfest's and even tried to record an album in 2001 with Rick Rubin but it didn't come to. The band went their separate ways until 2011 when they announced the reunion and new album that would be 13.
                                                           Black Sabbath- God Is Dead?

           The band announced plans for a full Reunion, new album, and world tour. However when you're Black Sabbath drama is only a second away. Tony Iommi was diagnosed with cancer, Bill Ward refused to be involved unless his contract was changed, which never happened and he bowed out, and Ozzy suffered a relapse, but they trucked on anyway. They brought back Rick Rubin on as producer and began what would be 13. They had to bring in Rage Against the Machines drummer Brad Wilk to play drums. This is a painful restart for the band and a fun one to listen to for us. They work through all of their pain by channeling it through their music. Rick Rubin works miracles with the band and brings them back to their classic dark bluesy sound. They still keep their trademark doom sound especially from Tony Iommi's guitar, Ozzy voice sounds great for its age and his hard life, and Geezer  brings the heavy bass lines and writes some seriously dark and intense lyrics. The fact that this album came to exist at all is a miracle. It's been since 1979's Never Say Die! that the band put out a studio album with Ozzy on vocals, and it really does deliver. The band followed Rick Rubin's advice to pick up Brad Wilk and to go back to their very first album's sound and it all just comes together and clicks.
                                                   Black Sabbath- End of the Beginning

      The album opens with "End of the Beginning" a song about a cyborg clone, and it sets the tone for what is to come on the rest of the album. Which is a hell of a bluesy metal ride. The lead single "God Is Dead" is an almost 9 minute epic about whether god exists. This song is amazing it brings us back to the days of early sabbath. This is the song that helps you realize that this isn't just a reunion album but a real record with things to say and real metal to blast out. "Loner" is a straight forward doom sounding, old school sabbath song, nothing new and I like it that way. "Zeitgeist" is more of a trippy song going back to the psychedelic era. "Age of Reason" really kicks it into a groove that drives through the whole song. "Live Forever" is another song that shows Tony and Geezer really just blasting it out together like they have been doing all their lives, because they have. "Damaged Soul" is an old school blues metal song. The whole album has a blues feel to it like their first record, but this song brings out the blues a lot more. It has a killer guitar solo in the middle of the song. "Dear Father" takes you on a journey through different rhythms and buildups throughout the seven minutes. The song has a lot of change ups and it's nice to have some songs that don't groove the whole time. "Methademic" brings the dark evil sounding ballad up for some fresh air, just kidding. It starts slow before exploding into one of the heaviest songs on the album. "Peace of Mind" slows down the pace without cranking down the volume. It feels like a Black Sabbath death march song, because that's really what it is. The albums closer "Pariah" is one of the most versatile songs on the album. There are some moments where it is quiet like a ballad and others where it explodes into some of best riffs on the album.
                                                            Black Sabbath-Zeitgeist

     Black Sabbath's 13 has a lot of things to overcome to even exist, getting all the band, or at least most of it together for the first time in 30+ years. Also it is a reunion album, and reunion albums are often plagued with bands fading and not living up to the past records and only disappointing fans after the long wait. The album suffered from all of the bad things happening to it during the writing process. I mean come on, Tony wrote the album while going through cancer treatment! They channel all the pain and write through it with their music. Then there is Rick Rubin, I said earlier he should be praised for guiding the band's sound, but he should also be criticized for the way he mixed the album itself. The sound sometimes becomes crushed by distortion, a similar problem that happened when he produced Metallica's Death Magnetic. It does occasionally bring the sound of the songs down a little. All that being said this album really pulls through and delivers one hell of an album. After all these years they've still got it, standing the test of time the way the best metal does. It's not as good as the classic stuff, but is it really fair to expect it to be?
Recommended Songs: God Is Dead, Zeitgeist, Damaged Soul, and Methademic

4/5 Stars