2008 Woodie Awards
Alt-rockers live up to hype on latest effort
By Sean Lohrer
Issue date: 4/1/05 Section: Entertainment
When Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme started recording the follow-up to their critically acclaimed third album, Songs for the Deaf, he must have felt a little pressure. Most critics and fans questioned Homme for firing longtime friend, collaborator, bassist and key QOTSA member Nick Oliveri right before he decided to record the new album. Homme not only had to write an album just as good as Songs for the Deaf, but better. Lullabies to Paralyze was his very bold yet extremely creative answer to anyone that has ever questioned him musically.
My personal favorite track, "Burn the Witch," is about putting the blame on someone else in order to avoid getting caught. Homme sings with so much honesty and conviction that he makes telling a lie in order to avoid trouble seem like the right thing to do when he says "Bite your tongue, swear to keep/keep your mouth shut/make up something/make up something good/holding hands/skipping like a stone/burn the witch/burn to ash and bone." While the track is good on its own, the inclusion of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on lead guitar and backing vocals makes it even more unique and captivating.
"You Got a Killer Scene There, Man" is a song that derives from the rest of the album, but seems to complete it at the same time. The blues-based track features not only Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, but Homme's girlfriend and Distillers front woman Brody Dalle on backing vocals.
It has been long documented that Homme has been a drug addict ever since his days with the Seattle band Kyuss, and the album's second track, "Medication," is about how drugs have evolved to the point that it has become the normal thing to do. This song was probably written for the people who used stereotype Homme as being a loser for doing drugs but then wound up doing drugs themselves. This is indicated as he says "Medication for us all/you think you know me, well you're wrong/doesn't matter/all of us cast-asides became what has become."
My personal favorite track, "Burn the Witch," is about putting the blame on someone else in order to avoid getting caught. Homme sings with so much honesty and conviction that he makes telling a lie in order to avoid trouble seem like the right thing to do when he says "Bite your tongue, swear to keep/keep your mouth shut/make up something/make up something good/holding hands/skipping like a stone/burn the witch/burn to ash and bone." While the track is good on its own, the inclusion of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on lead guitar and backing vocals makes it even more unique and captivating.
"You Got a Killer Scene There, Man" is a song that derives from the rest of the album, but seems to complete it at the same time. The blues-based track features not only Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson, but Homme's girlfriend and Distillers front woman Brody Dalle on backing vocals.
It has been long documented that Homme has been a drug addict ever since his days with the Seattle band Kyuss, and the album's second track, "Medication," is about how drugs have evolved to the point that it has become the normal thing to do. This song was probably written for the people who used stereotype Homme as being a loser for doing drugs but then wound up doing drugs themselves. This is indicated as he says "Medication for us all/you think you know me, well you're wrong/doesn't matter/all of us cast-asides became what has become."
