Review: Queens of the Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork
“an upbeat, time pattern-shifting eruption”
From the time I saw my first episode of Scooby Doo about ten years ago, I’ve always been a sucker for solving mysteries. So when I heard about the weird, cryptic letters that Queens of the Stone Age sent to magazines like Mojo and NME about their new release ...Like Clockwork, my five year-old self was reborn and ready to solve the puzzle. After about an hour of trying to decipher the clues, however, I became my 15-year-old lazy self again and gave up.
A few months after their obscure messages surfaced, QOTSA broke the silence by debuting ...Like Clockwork’s monstrous lead single “My God is the Sun.” It’s an upbeat, time pattern-shifting eruption of epic garage rock and a great follow-up from their previous full-length, Era Vulgaris (2007). My anticipation and excitement for the new album was massive.
When I finally listened to ...Like Clockwork, it turned out that my expectations had greatly exceeded the record’s quality. It was a really inconsistent, bumpy ride.
QOTSA is the alternative metal project of Palm Beach stoner Josh Homme. The band is famous for their heavy, in-your-face rock & roll, which has been the basis for classics like their breakthrough Rated R (2000) and their most successful release Songs for the Deaf (2002).
...Like Clockwork features drumming contributions from rock god Dave Grohl, and vocal spots from industrial rock mastermind Trent Reznor and even Sir Elton John. It definitely embraces the signature QOTSA sound, but is heavy with choirs and synthesizers.
Some tracks that I was disappointed by include “Kalopsia,” a dysfunctional rock ballad that sounds like Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” gone terribly wrong, and “Smooth Sailing,” which was a sad attempt at combining the heaviness and grittiness of Jack White with Linkin Park’s icky drum machine rock.
However, the album had its points of unsuckage, like with the bluesy, choral-filled “Fairweather Friends” and the chilled out, piano-heavy title track.
...Like Clockwork had its moments, but, overall, wasn’t all that thrilling. Even all the initial mystery couldn’t make up for this “eh” of an album.
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