Man it’s been a while since some new QotSA music and honestly I really missed these guys. Albums like „Songs for the Deaf“ and my personal favorite album of theirs „…Like Clockwork“ really solidified themselves as one of my personal favorites rock albums basically ever. So when the first single to this album „Emotion Sickness“ came out I was through the roof with excitement to how it would sound and I gotta say, at first I was honestly kinda disappointed with it. Don’t get me wrong, the song isn’t bad but I just found it a bit… Forgetable? I don’t know something just wasn’t working for me with it and that’s honestly been my first experience with this entire album. I think that what’s at fault mostly is that I was expecting another „…Like Clockwork“ which this album is very much not, it has it’s own identity and even though I don’t really enjoy this album as much as that one, with time I still found a great deal of stuff that’s worth coming back to on here.
Let’s start at the beginning. The opening track „Obscenery“ is one I actually enjoy quite a bit, lyrically it’s very existential, hollow and kinda empty which is a running theme throughout this entire album. The random orchestral switch in the middle of the track is well kinda out of nowhere but somehow works really well, the chorus is really memorable and I really like the guitars on this track in particular, they are really dark and twisted and really sound like something straight out of „…Like Clockwork“. Overall a great opener and tone-setter, I really like this one. The next song and the last released single to this album „Paper Machete“ is a really straight-to-the-point rock jam that kinda comes and goes but in a good way, I can see why it was released as a single, the main guitar riff is really catchy and it just sounds like your typical QotSA single. The solo was a nice touch though and I’m especially fond of like the last 30 seconds of this song, the synths or whatever they are, even though they appear for a really short period of time sound super cool, I really wish there was more done with them on this song, I would even go as far as to say they should have been the centrepiece of the song but I digress, still a really good tune. Next is the slower „Negative Space“ on which I once again have to praise the guitar work, especially on the chorus part, QotSA always had really pleasant guitars and this album only proves that more. Besides that I also really enjoy the nihilistic lyrics, they have been really resonating with me with lines „There’s gotta be someway back to earth“ and „stare into oblivion, oh, it hurts“, just some good stuff. I’m not as crazy about the verses though, they are maybe a bit too slow for my liking, even though the bass here is kinda neat. Next is the song „Time & Place“ that has a really nice little guitar lick always in the chorus and some cool guitar effects and little solos here and there, but the core song is kinda all over the place even though I think there is a really good song hiding in there. Really the thing that remains consistenly excellent throughout this entire album really are the lyrics, they are once again just really great here, I only wish they were sung more in a way that I could understand them without having to read them along, but I guess that’s also part of the beautiful messiness of this album. After that is the song „Made to Parade“ which is the second longest song on here and definetly the slowest one. I like some of the guitar parts in the background, like they way they are all layered on top of each other actually really comes together by the end of the song, but I just think it’s such a drag for it to get there and i’m not even like that crazy about it, this one’s probably the one I would skip the most on like a casual listen, even though it’s by no means bad. However next is one if not my personal favorite song from this album „Carnavoyeur“ – I just think everything about this song works. It’s once again really slow but it has those chunky bassy guitars that I absolutely love from QotSA a nice atmospheric synthy (if that’s even a word) intro and a memorable chorus that leads into a really catchy main melody that is just the cherry on top. Plus yeah, once again lyrics just only add onto the already miserable atmosphere, on this one especially as it deals with many themes and especially the theme of mortality and how futile everything at the end of the day kinda is. And if all that wasn’t enough just the drums getting louder at like the last 5 seconds of the songs are just a super neat nice little touch at the end. „What The Peephole Say“ is another really solid song, I really like the energy of this one, it’s kinda bouncy and honestly just super fun. The „Tonight is the night“ chant repeated all over again in the second half of the song is another really catchy moment. Guitars once again top notch, just a really good song, not much else to say about it. The song after that „Sicily“ is another one of my personal favorites, it’s one of the longer and slower songs on here but I just absolutely LOVE the main synth or guitar or whatever it is line on this, I seriously can’t get enough of it, it’s super dark and haunting, feels like you’re arriving at some sort of twisted circus or something. There really isn’t all that much to the song other than that but this one melody repeated throughout the entire song is just that good in my eyes. And now we arrive to the dreaded „Emotion Sickness“ and I have to say… Yeah it grew on me. I think it definetly works much better in the context of this album, it fits very much right in and makes a lot of sense as the second to last song on here. Now I would honestly maybe even call it one of my favorites on here. I still have my little nit-picks with it, but it’s mostly just that I was expecting something else than what I got, even though what I got is still really really good. And we arrive at the end with the 9-minute closer „Straight Jacket Fitting“ and yeah this is a really long but very rewarding song. It just keeps on going and going and feels like the „I Appear Missing“ of this album, the writing, the atmosphere, Josh Homme’s vocals, everything just comes together beautifully on here, about as good of an album closer as you can get.
So there you have it, I think this album overall is really solid even though it took me a couple of listens to really appriciate it for what it is. There are moments where this album kinda drags and moments where it feels like it doesn’t know what it really wants but at the same time the core ideas are usually really good and the sharp lyricism is what carries heavily in those few weak moments. Not their best but far from their worst, a really solid release overall.
-favorite songs: Obscenery, Paper Machete, Negative Space, Carnavoyeur, What The Peephole Say, Sicily, Emotion Sickness, Straight Jacket Fitting
-least favorite songs: Made to Parade
Decent 7/10