Songs for the Deaf

Queens' loyal subjects will forever refer to this record as the last speed freak shriek of Nick Oliveri, that bald bassist dude with the sick, brah goatee. (The band's tower of power frontman, Josh Homme, fired his childhood friend/former Kyuss bandmate due to some drastic behavioral differences.) Oliveri's occasional big bully outburst (namely the sloppy thrash-punk of "Six Shooter") isn't the appeal of Queens' breakthrough album, though. That distinction goes to the locomotive beats of Dave Grohl — a guest drummer stolen for a session from the Foo Fighters — and Homme's riff-centric, desert storm songwriting. Seriously now, no matter how heavy things get, huge hooks remain the roots of each and every stoner pop song. That includes the spine-snapping immediacy of "No One Knows," the pendulum groove of "The Sky Is Fallin'," and the gun turret drum fills, catastrophic chords and banshee wails of "Song For the Dead." Oh yeah, a typically moody/melancholy Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) also stops by for a few songs to sing with the soupy thickness of an S.O.S. smoke signal, while guitar god Dean Ween of, well, Ween, fills in whatever white space Homme hasn't already bludgeoned and bloodied. All and all, modern rock's rarely this revitalizing, so enjoy it while your speakers last.