Queens of the Stone Age formed under the premise that a rotating cast of musicians would collaborate with singer/guitarist Josh Homme on the group's recordings. However, after the tour supporting 2002's commercial breakthrough album "Songs for the Deaf," it seemed that Homme finally was ready to settle on a stable lineup. Homme hired drummer Joey Castillo and guitarist Troy van Leeuwen as fulltime QOTSA members, joining longtime Homme cohort and bassist Nick Oliveri to create what appeared to be a permanent band.
However, Homme, in a surprising move, fired Oliveri, whom he known since childhood, last spring because of the bassist's increasingly Motley Crue-esque behavior.
Homme, van Leeuwen and frequent QOTSA collaborator Alain Johannes shared bass and guitar duties on their most recent release, "Lullabies to Paralyze," and while the songs don't outright suffer from Oliveri's absence, his melodic fills and fuzzed-out bass throb could certainly have added to the record.
QOTSA's circus-music-from-hell sound is still recognizable, although the hardest rocking songs on "Lullabies" lack the full-throttle roar of the heavier tunes on "Songs for the Deaf."
This might also owe to Oliveri's oustre, as the bassist's one-minute death metal blasts on that record, while tongue-in-cheek, provided a nice counterbalance to Homme's more lushly orchestrated psychedelic explorations.
With Homme alone at the helm, "Lullabies" leans more toward that experimental material.
The production is less bombastic and earth-shaking than "Songs for the Deaf" and is more reminiscent of the dry, tight sound of QOTSA's first two records.
"Tangled Up in Plaid" is one of the new album's strongest tracks, and one of the few that let Homme's harmony-friendly croon shine through the mix without loads of effects. "Someone's in the Wolf" opens with a jarring hard rock stomp, but, at over seven minutes, begins to lose its sense of purpose.
QOTSA is clearly Homme's show to run, but fortunately for listeners, he has enough ideas to make "Lullabies" a very good album. It does make one wonder if Oliveri's presence, however, could have made it an incredible album.
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