I had never even heard of the group until I read on a gaming site that their single was going to be released for download in Rock Band. I guess that's not too surprising, since I don't really read or follow music news. But I do try and follow news of the few bands I regularly seek out, so you'd think a band made up of Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) would have appeared on my radar at some point since their first appearance in June 2009.
The line-up alone was enough to sell me, though I did seek out some of their songs on YouTube. I ordered it through Amazon on Tuesday and got it last night.
It's a great album. With vocals and guitar hooks provided by Homme, it's going to remind you a lot of QOTSA (which certainly isn't a bad thing), but it's unique enough to lay claim to a separate identity. I'm not good at the whole "song by song" thing, but for what it's worth, here you go:
The first song, "No One Loves Me and Neither Do I," has a very QOTSA feel to it. But the next one, "Mind Eraser, No Chaser," has a running rhythm that will evoke a Foo Fighters chorus. The single, "New Fang," is just a plain old catchy rock song. "Dead End Friends" begins with an eerie tune that I think best fits the album art. "Elephants" has a great hook and quickly ramps up into a fast-paced rocker, but then slows down into the trudging beat we know from other QOTSA songs. I wish it had maintained the initial energy throughout, though it does kick up at the end again. "Scumbag Blues" reminded me more of an easy going Led Zeppelin song. "Bandoliers" is good, and I can't really think of a good way to describe it. Towards the end an extended guitar and organ duet kicks in. "Reptiles" is Zeppelin right from the get-go. Jones' bass has an instant presence, and Homme's guitars say the same thing. Good one. "Interlude with Ludes" is what you'd expect, and it's not my favorite. Spacey drugged out song. "Warsaw..." is a bluesy, slower, grungy march. "Caligulove" features more organ and has a good skippy beat. "Gunman" has a dance-song feel that reminded me of Muse's "Supermassive Black Hole" at first, but the chorus is eerie QOTSA. "Spinning in Daffodils" reminded me of early QOTSA.
I think if you're a fan of at least 2 out of 3 of the original bands, you'll really dig this.
3 comments:
Most convenient and synchronous review ever!
I had never heard of this supergroup until a few hours ago when I saw an ad for the album on the TV. Fortunately it didn't try any fancy business and got straight down to business:
Dave Grohl.
Josh Homme.
And John Paul Jones.
Are Them Crooked Vultures.
That was enough to sell me right there, as I love the Foo Fighters and even bought Songs for the Deaf immediately after hearing No One Knows for the first time. I didn't even know that Grohl was the drummer on that album until after I got it.
So I'm pretty sure I'll like this album, thanks for the review and bullet reviews of the tracks.
I played the heck out of the last FF album, which took a while to grow on me at first but then I realized the songs were running through my head anyway and proceeded to play the heck out of it for several months.
How funny. I thought you'd like this one, Nobody.
Heard this album last week. I really enjoyed it!
I really like "No one loves me and neither do I."
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