Queens of the Stone Age - Villains - The Something Awful Forums

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Queens of the Stone Age - Villains

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

Thanks for making this thread - I'm psyched for this album. ...Like Clockwork is a really solid record. Josh Homme's ouvre is generally so consistently good that I find it pretty difficult to rank it in the previous albums... Self Titled and Songs for the Deaf are probably still my favorites, ultimately. Songs for the Deaf, specifically, is the album that got me into heavy music in high school. Fifteen years ago!

Here's a cool live version of "Vampyre Of Time And Memory", which I think actually prefer to the studio version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3gDC-HxYZI

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 14:24

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 03:01

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

Not a bad song, I wish the guitars were a little heavier instead of the tinny lo-fi thing, but I don't dislike it.

Album isn't coming out until August 25 - later than I'd anticipated. I suppose they'll drop another single before the release?

Edit: After listening a couple more times, I think I actually quite like the song, but I'm still not thrilled with the production.

Seaniqua fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Jun 15, 2017

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 17:07

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

GonSmithe posted:

It says right in that link that they've heard the album and that is the poppiest song on it.

I didn't see that! That's encouraging. It's going to suck to wait over two more months for this album.

# ¿ Jun 15, 2017 19:50

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

For anyone who hasn't just pirated it, The Evil Has Landed is available now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exa0CzlCb3Y

# ¿ Aug 10, 2017 18:31

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

Every Queens album has taken me a while to really appreciate, with the exception of SFTD which I enjoyed straight out of the gate. Lullabies only became one of my favorites in the last year or so. I listened to the self-titled off and on for a couple years before I decided I liked it just as much as SFTD, if not more.

...Like Clockwork took me a while to appreciate. It's still my least favorite Queens album, but I don't think it's bad. I just think that Homme tries hard to grow and make each album different, but my tastes just haven't grown in the same direction. That's my first impression of Villains, as well. There's an obvious amount of craftsmanship in every song. It's pretty unpredictable, and I don't think it's particularly derivative of past Queens work. I think that's a great achievement.

That said, my first impression of this album is that I wouldn't be listening to it if it weren't a Queens album. I'm going to give it its due and listen the poo poo out of it, that's just my first impression. Regardless of whether I like it, I think it's a pretty unique accomplishment that they are still willing and able to create something that sounds fresh, this late in their career.

# ¿ Aug 25, 2017 13:49

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

I haven't made it all the way through in one sitting yet, but I've listened to every song several times, and I think I'm about halfway through deciding what I think about it. Like every QOTSA album, I think it's pretty demanding at first, especially for people who prefer specific parts of their discography (guilty as charged).

I struggled with the production at first, but I actually think it's mostly great. It's ballsy because all the instruments are really exposed. Every instrument seems to fit into its own frequency band and nothing is overpowered in the mix. It's not what I prefer, because I like guitars to be loud, but I can appreciate the choice. I think the only thing I'd change is that the drums should be louder, and equalized with a bit more high end. And I suppose I might bring the vocals down a little. The bass sounds loving incredible, honestly, it's so good.

I had a bunch of other poo poo typed out but honestly I'm trying not to overthink the album at this point. It won't be my favorite QOTSA album, but I also don't think it will be my least favorite.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2017 23:01

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# ¿ May 8, 2024 03:01

Seaniqua: Mar 12, 2004; "We'll see how the first year goes. But people better get us now, because we're going to keep getting better and better."

Ok here's my overly- :words:

thoughts on the album:

I think the production is exceptional. It took me a while to get to that point, but I'm there now. The instruments fit nicely into their own frequency bands and every instrument is placed thoughtfully in the mix. It exposes the instruments in a really ballsy way. Distortion is used as a tool to color the guitar tone instead of just making the guitars sound aggressive for the sake of it (although, admittedly, I actually like it when QOTSA uses distortion to make poo poo loud and aggressive). If I were to change anything about the production, I'd give the drums and guitar a bit more high end, bring the vocals down a touch, and bring the drums up a bit. This is an expertly recorded and produced album.

The songwriting, as a whole, is also impeccable. With a couple exceptions, the songs all have extremely thoughtful composition that doesn't linger on anything too long, unless the song calls for it. This album might actually have the best songwriting, as a whole, of any of their previous efforts.

I do think that this record suffers a bit from relying too much on synthesizers to make songs sound more interesting, and I don't think it works. QOTSA have had this issue, in my opinion, since Era Vulgaris. Don't get me wrong, they have also used synthesizers extremely effectively since then, including on this album, but sometimes I don't think it really lends all that much, sonically, to a song.

A primary example is in the beginning of "Feet Don't Fail Me". When the intro riff gets going at :47, it's being played with a retro synth sound. To my ears, it sticks out as unnecessary. That said, that song also uses synths really effectively with the repeating ascending line that returns throughout the tune. "Fortress" is also guilty of this - there's a synth that doubles the vocal line in the chorus. There are a handful of other examples. I compare this to a guitar player adding more and more effects to try to make a boring lead line more interesting. Sometimes it's better to just cut the line, or rewrite it.

There are several songs or parts of songs that sound like they're trying to force homages to older styles of music. Nothing wrong with it inherently, I suppose, it's just not something that really appeals to me. I think "The Way You Used To Do" and "Head Like A Haunted House" are the worst examples of this, and they already sound pretty dated. This is a tricky complaint because, in a vacuum, I don't think it makes the songs sound bad, it maybe just sounds a little lazy. I especially like the riffs and energy on "Head Like a Haunted House", it just sorta sounds like something I've already heard.

Due to its consistency, absurdly competent songwriting, and a few very standout tracks, I think this is probably one of the best albums they've written, it's stylistically just not totally my cup of tea. It's a very, very good album that I will continue to listen to for a month or so, then I'll probably put it away. Pretty much the same treatment I gave "...Like Clockwork". Another album with exceptional songwriting, but stylistically just not really my thing.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2017 04:24

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No Music Discussion > Queens of the Stone Age - Villains