Rockin' Lullabies from the Stone Age

The new album from Queens of the Stone Age, Lullabies to Paralyze, serves as a sorely needed shot of adrenaline for modern rock. Reminiscent of rock ‘n roll at its heyday, the songs possess a hard edge that sounds like they're layered in grime and day-old beer.

The record moves quickly from a murmur to a bang as the opener “This Lullaby,” aptly lulls the listener with its softly strummed melody. The next track “Medication” explodes the album into high gear with a gritty guitar line and echoing drum beat. This frenetic pace propels the first half of the album with outros and intros that spill into one another while still miraculously retaining a distinctive character to their respective melodies.

This album also proves once again why Josh Homme is considered one of today's best guitarists. The riffs flow flawlessly into one another and never appear to be rushed—no matter how hectic the rhythm. A guest appearance from ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons on “Burn the Witch” only augments this quality by setting up a contrast: Gibbon's nimble fingering of the guitar against Homme's strummed stacatto melodies. And when this guitar-work is layered in with the rest of the instruments the songs take on a crunchy, textured sound heavily laced with static and amp squeals.

QOTSA is at its finest with quick tempo catchy songs like these and the positively infectious first single “Little Sister.” So when they abandon this formula a little over halfway into the album everything seems to grind to a halt. The long and meandering “Someone's In the Wolf” and “Blood is Love,” though excellently executed songs in and of themselves, just don't fit in with the pace of the first half of the album. With the exception of the engrossing “Broken Box,” complete with its own “Do-do-do” chorus, during the rest of the album, QOTSA can't seem to get back in step.

Overall, Lullabies to Paralyze seems to be missing some of the fire of QOTSA's previous release Songs for the Deaf. This is probably due to the absence of Dave Grohl on drums and Nick Oliveri on the bass, who previously collaborated to form an intensity that is almost unmatched. But that doesn't mean that the drive of QOTSA is completely extinguished. With Lullabies to Paralyze, they have produced one of the best rock releases this year replete with a dark strength that spills out of Homme's lolling growl.