Queens of the Stone Age

...Like Clockwork

 …Like Clockwork is one of the year’s finer rock albums — an exercise in songwriting, production, and musicianship.

This is tension, then more tension, then even more tension on the chorus until your subconscious has been thoroughly scrambled; only then does release come, usually in the form of a gnarled guitar solo.

There is something to be said of a band that can tap so many musical icons without ceding the spotlight or deviating from a plan of action: this is still a Queens of the Stone Age record (with friends).

By having faith that his songwriting ability would stand up to being thrust into unchartered musical territory, he’s overseen the making of a tight album that has a cohesiveness that belies how open it is to new – and genuinely exciting – ideas.

Now on the other side of forty, this is QOTSA as weary of mortality as they’ve ever been. They also sound as vital, forceful and rough around the edges as they have in over a decade

The real magic here is that, despite expanding their sonic remit further than ever, Queens Of The Stone Age are still the same peerless band, indebted only to themselves.

A mature, heart-on-sleeve epic, and an acute reminder that we’re still in the midst of a master.

With Mark Lanegan and even former bass player Nick Oliveri contributing as well, there's been much talk of a return to the Songs for the Deaf-era line-up and, some fans hoped, sound. That's not the case, but …Like Clockwork is definitely their best offering since that paranoid classic.

Make no mistakes, though: . . . Like Clockwork still runs on Homme's grizzled-dude-against-the-world intensity

I called them solid and dependable previously and that sense of solidness is the first thing that comes across on ...Like Clockwork. They are a Volvo of a band, reliable, they will not let you down.

...Like Clockwork, despite its troubled genesis and dark subject matter, sounds rejuvenated and triumphant.

...Like Clockwork simply foregrounds an aspect that’s been lingering in the Queens’ music since the beginning: beneath all that volcanic riffage, Homme has always been a sucker for a pretty pop song.

It's not entirely successful, but also it's far from a failure - and it's certainly a unique piece of art that shouldn't be dismissed after the first or second listen.

This is a record that feels more loose and laid-back, which is appropriate for a group that’s getting back together after a few years off.

...Like Clockwork is an irreverent turn for the ever-irreverent Queens, and I don't mind at all the ambitious, new, not-so-Queens ideas. But perhaps a little minimalism—not stretching so many of those ideas to close to or more than five minutes—would make this an infinitely more enjoyable ride. 

These minor virtues aside, …Like Clockwork is a droning, incoherent endeavor, and it simply doesn’t reward the attention it’s asking for.