Queens Of The Stone Age - Lullabies To Paralyze
Posted 19th Dec 2005 in Album Reviews, Queens Of The Stone Age by Clickmusic | Polydor | 
Just how do you follow up on not one, two but three of the most proficient, rip-roaring stoner rock from one of the decade's most revered bands? And to really push for a difficult reply back, how in the living fuck do you do so without founder and integral member Nick Oliveri?Here's what you do. You get your mates to come together, hole up in a studio, produce an album that's progressive yet very much accessible, whilst making up for the aforementioned absentees. It really is that simple for Josh Homme. And why not? Why not indeed. Queens Of The Stone Age return with 'Lullabies To Paralyze' , which is, by admission, on first listen missing that little something. But substituting for Oliveri (there we said it again) are mates more than willing to help out in the shape of Mark Lanegan and A Perfect Circle's Troy Van Leeuwen with special guest appearances from Homme's current beau Brody Dalle and Garbage's Shirley Manson. It's times like this that people need to pull together like one big happy family. Cute. Opener 'Lullaby' sees Lanegan take vocals to a setting of the finger-plucked guitar playing in a campfire in the dead of the night which wraps up at around a minute. Just there for a novelty purpose? Not this intro. This sets the theme to the whole album about wolves lurking between the trees in the forest and moreso, a fairy tale. Clearly this is a departure from the, Nevada desert/rattle-snake settings of 'Rated R' and 'Songs For The Deaf'.
But don't worry folks. Sludging and stoner rock proceedings begin with 'Medication'. Pretty much the same QOTSA we know and air guitar in front of the mirror to. And you know who you are. 'Everybody Knows That You're Insane' is almost a distant relative to the drug-addled 'Feel Good Hit Of The Summer' in that they share an urgency with no real purpose and is very familiar Stone Age territory. Sexy and seductive are exactly what the first single from the album is in the form of 'Little Sister'. 'Burn The Witch' is concrete proof that gone are the vacuous, ramblings of illegal substances and in its place a procession of burning stakes, in yet another sombre, slow number. 'You Got A Killer Scene There, Man' features first ladies of rock, Brody Dalle and Shirley Manson with a blues-esque nod and equipped with solos en masse. 'Lullabies To Paralyze' might not well be what we, and even their label thought they'd come up with. But are the Queens any bit of a lesser outfit without Nick Oliveri? Not on your life.
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