Queens of the Stone Age

God. Where do I even begin with my favorite band (presumably) of all time?

One particular day in March 2022, I was sitting in my fourth period graphic design class. Our lovely teacher had YouTube Music on in the background. Suddenly, "Go with the Flow" came on. A pulse-pounding guitar riff with incredible drum work, an unabiding piano key, and an overall feeling of nomadicity were all gracing my ears, accompanied by the most unique music video I had ever seen. What?! Up until that point, I had thought of music as a "novelty" of sorts. After hearing that song, however, I felt myself suddenly understand an aspect of music that had, for whatever reason, not dawned on me previously.

Crazily enough, though, for how much I enjoyed "Go with the Flow", that was all I listened to from Queens for around another year. I continued jamming to the song during that time, but I didn't even consider checking out the rest of their discography until June 2023. One night, I sat down and decided to listen to everything they'd done, in chronological order, including their most recent album, In Times New Roman..., which had released about a week prior.

At first, I thought Queens were simply a very talented band. I greatly enjoyed Songs for the Deaf, and I appreciated most of the albums that preceded and proceeded it, especially Era Vulgaris. However, over the course of the coming weeks, I kept listening to their work over... and over... and over... and over again, and to say my mind was "slowly but surely blown" would be a gross understatement. I found myself feeling invigorated whenever I'd listen to a Queens song. I distinctly remember a road trip to New Jersey where I listened to "Millionaire". The intro seemed to align perfectly with my car ride, and when I left a gas station as the drums started up and the buildup peaked, I was grinning ear-to-ear.

Over time, Queens have altered the very way in which I perceive songwriting, composition, and even life in and of itself. That's ranged from small things, such as them being the reason I began collecting vinyl...

...to larger factors, such as them being one of my primary motivators for getting back into playing piano and picking up guitar, them being the soundtrack to many late nights, and everything in-between.

Something I've always been absolutely fascinated with about Queens' discography in particular is how varied it is while also feeling incredibly coherent. For instance, take these two drastically different songs: "First It Giveth" from Songs for the Deaf and the title track from ...Like Clockwork. The former is a fast-paced, adventurous rock ballad about the dangers of drugs, while the latter is a thoughtful, piano-driven rumination on how others' actions can be in accordance with our own. They possess completely different styles and intentions, but they're both unmistakably by Queens. Josh Homme's versatile vocal range binds the band's discography across time, while its once continuously shifting lineup of incredibly talented guitarists, bassists, keyboardists, and drummers helped establish multiple new directions for the band.

In other words: hot damn, do I love Queens. Songs for the Deaf truly hits just as hard as it did when I heard it in full for the first time. There's not a single song on that album I don't absolutely love. Era Vulgaris is so incredibly unique to the point where I don't think I've truly ever heard an album that I can say is similar to it. That goes for every Queens album, honestly. They stand out. They're fantastic at being themselves. As for inspiration, like I've said, Queens helped kick me back into learning piano after I'd spent about three years on-and-off with it. The first song I dedicated myself to learning on guitar? "Go with the Flow". Who's one of my primary vocal influences? Josh Homme.

I could potentially fill an entire hard drive with reasons why I love Queens so much. All I've written here doesn't quite do it justice. In any case, I'm beyond excited for their ninth LP... or, I will be whenever they get around to actually recording it. I hope Josh is doing well.