Songs for the Deaf is a 2002 album by Queens of the Stone Age and is notable for including Dave Grohl as a guest drummer. Like their previous album, Mark Lanegan contributes vocals, as does bassist Nick Oliveri. This album's theme was supposedly inspired by Josh Homme's tedious drive through the desert with only a few Spanish channels. Also this album was nominated for Best Album of 2002 by the public of UK and also it reached #4 in the album charts.
I know there is a few reviews for this album, but I thought it was essential for me to do one and also I'm running out of ideas so please no flaming when it comes to comments.
The Band at this point:
Josh Homme - Guitar, Bass Guitar, Vocals
Nick Oliveri - Bass Guitar, Guitar, Vocals
Troy Van Leeuwen - Guitar, Backup Vocals
Mark Lanegan - Vocals, Backup Vocals
Dave Grohl - Drums & Percussion
--- The Review of Songs For The Deaf by Queens Of The Stone Age ---
"You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire" starts firstly with a catchy drum beat, which then a very rhythmic guitar sets us the tone and then in comes the explosion of the main body with Nick Oliveri screaming on top of his voice with so much angsty. The whole song has a logic of being catchy and having a very angst mood. This song can be resembled to Rated R's "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer". This overall is a very exploding opener and is a great song to listen to.
"No One Knows" is a song that we are familiar with, this is QOTSA's hit on this album and it is obvious why. The legendary main riff that is very jumpy and energetic and the anthemic chorus that is very catchy. The drums are also superb here, which is typical of Dave Grohl here. The overall music sets a very catchy style but also has a dark atmosphere to it. Overall, this song is stunning and it is blatently obvious why it was a smash hit.
"First It Giveth" is another released song off this album. It's thumping bass line and it's dark rhythm makes you cringe. The song consists of a very basic construction but it still gives that impact for you to listen. The song is great all throughout painting a atmospheric scene and shows the tone of the whole album, this song is also one of the mainstreams here on this album.
"A Song For The Dead" is another song that has an adrenealine rush to it and the drums represent this. The drum's peformanceon this song (especailly the intro and the outro) is just fasinating with it's co-ordination and skill used to creat such a mighty, complex start and finish. The vocals (headed by Mark Lanegan) is excellent as well giving that brooding effect on the song. The song has a complex construction which many fills and loads of effective riffs are put in unexpected places. I say that this song is one of the highlights on this album as it is very unique and the whole performance is amazing.
"The Sky Is Fallin'" sounds like a mesmirizing chanting and has psycologically breaking drums at the intro and then it transforms to some intense guitaring that really gives again that sinister style. The chorus is anthemic with some great vocal performance from Josh Homme. The song seems to be repetitive after a few minutes but overall the song is still a great performer that does keep you occupied.
"Six Shooter" is to me just an interlude/filler to the next track that really serves no purpose, this is also refered to the brief timing of 1:20. All it consists of is crazy vocals by Nick Oliveri and then it explodes into some manic shouting and wailing with some melodic lead guitaring that is accompanied with some frenzied drumming. Very brief but fun to listen to.
"Hangin' Tree" is another song vocalised by Mark Lanegan. His brooding voice has again that dark impact here. The bass line shows power here and the guitaring is based mostly on a screeching effect with some vibrato. The vocal performance is again exceptional from Mark abd the music is also great. It is overall a very decent song to listen to but it is one of these songs that is not up there with the likes of "No One Knows" (if you know what I mean).
"Go With The Flow" is another well recognised song from here that features with an excellent video that is one of the best made. This song seems to be more uplifting than the rest of the songs before withsome rapid piano and some great bass lines. The vocal performance from Josh is great and the music played ties together with the vocals gracefully. This song is one of the highlights of the album and also one of QOTSA's best songs.
"Gonna Leave You" still keeps the jumpy, uplifting style carried from "Go With The Flow". The music is very energetic on this song with some powerful guitar work, variating bass lines and and some important tempo on the drums. The vocals here are kept clean here so it doesn't create a dark effect over an uplifting song as it will not work properly. The song overall is enjoyable and truthful compared to the others.
"Do It Again" maintains the uplifting flow but this song reminds me of something done by The Arcade Fire. This song is mainly based around the guitar creating some classic desert riffs that have a jumpy tinge to it which works superbly. The vocal work is very balanced with still keeping itself clean abd it has a very catchy factor to it, as well as the song itself. This song maintains the excellence of the album thus far.
"God Is In The Radio" breaks down the uplifting factor to a more demanding style. The bass at the start makes the beat of the song, then the drums to add the extra boost and then the guitar to make the melodic tune, the tone they all use are low so the tone is dark. The vocals are so shaky but so slick and it really suits the song well. The chorus is just so catchy with some great vocals. The song has the same logic but it changes halfway to some epic soloing and then it goes to some fading of the music and coming back in with another great solo to finish off the song. The songs performance is anothe highlight of the album and the construction it has shown was just so slick and made it sound easy.
"Another Love Song" brings us back to the uplifting part of the album and welcomes us with some vibrato of the guitar and some basic drumming. The whole song is to me a filler as it just doesn't seem to be a striker against the stability of the others that really have something in them. The vocals are good and the music is also great, it's just that there isn't that "thing" that attracts you to constantly listen to it when approached.
"A Song For The Deaf" is the darkest on the album with some eerie bass work at the start and then it works to some mesmirizing music that is lead on the drums and the guitar gives that tense atmosphere that makes you cringe. The vocals are very brooding and are the best on the album, especailly on the chorus that is amazing as it really breaks down to a more serious matter. The logic throughout the whole song is consistantly amazing and never gets old everytime you listen to it. This is definitely the most engrossing song on this album and is my favourite song on the whole album with it's mind playing beats and some amazing guitar work.
"Mosquito Song" really breaks the tense feeling down to a more soft fresh air with some nice, swaying acoustic guitar. The vocals are very truthful and very relaxing for once and it sounds great. One part of this song says "Lullabies To Paralyze" and this was used for the title of the follow-up album, Josh Homme sayed it was the "perfect bridge" between the two albums. The overall song is fantastic with it's music and great vocals.
"Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" was originally written by The Kinks and is only avaliable on the Limited Edition album. This song is very energetic with some fast drumming and some jumping guitaring. The vocals are so slick and graceful which shows Josh's ability to sing. This song is very enjoyable as it is like the fastest song on the whole album and it really keeps your attention when you hear it.
--- The Overview ---
Ratings:
1. You Think I Ain't Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire - 4.5/5
2. No One Knows - 5/5
3. First It Giveth - 4.5/5
4. A Song For The Dead - 5/5
5. The Sky Is Fallin' - 4.25/5
6. Six Shooter - 3.5/5
7. Hangin' Tree - 3.75/5
8. Go With The Flow - 5/5
9. Gonna Leave You - 4/5
10. Do It Again - 4/5
11. God Is On The Radio - 5/5
12. Another Love Song - 3/5
13. A Song For The Deaf - 5/5
14. Mosquito Song (Bonus Track) - 4.5/5
15. Everybody's Gonna Be Happy (Bonus Track) - 4/5
Overall, this album is in it's own right, a classic stoner metal album and was IMO the best album of 2002. The album showed how talented this band is (especially Josh Homme) when it comes to jamming and putting pen on to paper. This album also shows how excellent Dave Grohl is on the drums and has never forgotten how to bang the living hell out of the drums. The album is very diverse with different riffs and suprises every corner on every song. This album should be owned by nearly every Rock fan in the world, it's that essential!!
Final Rating: 4.5/5
