keepers - 5
keeper avg .500
Based on the the performances of the last couple QOTSA albums I wasn't expecting much but a few listenable but instantly forgettable tracks, and maybe an epic riff-fest like "I Think I Lost My Headache". While the low expectations probably made the way that so many of the tracks grew all over me more gratifying than it could have been, it also helped that there is a complexity to the sound, production, and scope that hasn't been part of the QOTSA repertoire, even at their best on Songs For The Deaf. Maybe John Paul Jones slipped something into Homme's Wheaties while they were recording their Them Crooked Vultures release, as this album seems to take that albums' positive elements while ditching its shoddy lyrics. For example, like on TCV, all the guitars and vocals have different reverb, tone, and enhancements that contribute to a unique atmosphere for every song.
Not that everything goes off without a hitch. I can't think of any word for opening with the dirge "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" except 'baffling'; It's Soundgarden at their weirdest and muddiest. Single "I Sat By The Ocean" works as a melodic Houses Of The Holy rocker like Stone Temple Pilots cranked out on Purple, but still not strong enough to make it a keeper for me. "The Vampyre Of Time And Memory" is an amateur piano ballad (except for the synth homage to The Beatles "Because), while "Fairweather Friends" (featuring Elton John, Dave Grohl, and Mark Lanegan) is the worst kind of late-Foo Fighters arena-rock power ballad (that judging from setlists so far won't be coming to that arena soon).
But for every place-holder and head-scratcher there is a revelation. "My God Is The Sun"**** manages to create space in all the layers of riffs and percussion as it hurtles forward, while Homme cleverly inhabits his feline persona in "If I Had A Tail"**** as several guitars dance with bobbing interplay. "Smooth Sailing"**** seems like some TCV throw-away, until Homme hilarously crows "I'm burning bridges, I destroy the mirage, visions of collisions, Fuckin' bon voyage", and "Got my own theme music, It plays wherever I are".
But none of these gems hint at the dark glory of "I Appear Missing"*****, the epic and emotional product of a traumatic surgery that has been described in many reviews of this album. My own reference point is live versions of "No Quarter" re-written by Thom Yorke, but that probably won't make sense to many people. Speaking of ol' Lazy Eye, the closing title song**** can't help but resemble several Radiohead songs, though the performance is one of the best. Given the album's back story, the result of its creator's struggles couldn't really be more of the same riffs and wah pedal. Even though the result is uneven, it still has me re-thinking what Homme and this band are capable of.
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