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Songs for the Deaf

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Songs for the Deaf is a 2002 album by hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age and is notable for including Dave Grohl, well-known Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters guitarist and lead singer, as a guest drummer. Like their other albums, Songs for the Deaf has a large number of guest musicians, a signature of the band's releases. Following the breakthrough Rated R, this album is widely regarded as Queens of the Stone Age's magnum opus, achieving enormous success with critics[1], whilst earning the band's first gold record certification in the U.S., having sold 986,000 copies in the country as of June, 2007 according to Nielsen Soundscan.[2] Songs for the Deaf is considered a concept album, supposedly inspired by Josh Homme's tedious drive through the Southern Californian desert with only a few Spanish radio channels.

Overview and background

Dave Grohl and other contributors

This was the first and only Queens of the Stone Age album that featured Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame) on drums, who also toured with the band. He replaced the previous drummer, Gene Trautmann who started working on other projects. Grohl was a keen admirer of Queens of the Stone Age (The band opened for Foo Fighters on tour) and originally wanted to appear on Rated R.[3] He joined Queens of the Stone Age in October, 2001 when he received a phone call from Josh Homme with whom he had been friends with since 1992 when Josh was the guitarist for Kyuss. Grohl admitted that he hadn't drummed for a long time, and added that fronting a band was "tiring".[4] Dave Grohl put his band on temporary hiatus [5][6] (despite Foo Fighters having already recorded material) which delayed the release of their album, One By One to October 22, 2002[7], because of touring duties with Queens of the Stone Age.

Grohl's first performance with the band occurred at March 7, 2002 in The Troubadour, Los Angeles, and his last performance was at the Fuji Rock Festival on July 28, 2002. He returned to the Foo Fighters soon after. [8]

Grohl was initially replaced by Kelli Scott of Blinker the Star[8], but eventually former Danzig drummer, Joey Castillo was announced as his long-term replacement in August, 2002.[9]

Songs for the Deaf also included the first musical contribution to a Queens of the Stone Age album by multi-instrumentalists Natasha Shneider and Alain Johannes. In 2002 future contributor, Troy Van Leeuwen, would join the band as a touring member in support of Songs for the Deaf. Johannes later appeared more prominently on Lullabies to Paralyze (2005) and was a touring member along with Shneider in support of that album.

Jeordie White (of Marilyn Manson fame) reportedly auditioned for the band in 2002, but lost out to Van Leeuwen.[10] White, however, appeared on the album in a brief cameo role as a radio DJ.

Another change in personnel came with the arrival of producer Eric Valentine, who had previously worked on a pair of Dwarves album's with Oliveri.[11] Valentine was actually a requirement by Interscope and didn't do his job according to Homme, "He just recorded it actually, it says production, he was only there to record the beginning of it."[12]

Album production and release

In September, 2002 in an interview with Gallery of Sound, Josh Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album:

I've been thinking of this album since the first album, not necessarily the radio thing, but to me that isn't the full concept, the full concept is the diversity of it all, I think we're supposed to be pushing buttons over the three records. I've always looked at our first three records as a set: the first one was to distance ourselves from Kyuss, the second album fanned out the music into different areas and this one takes that out even a little further, I think.[13]

In the same month, Nick Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with HMV:

We're still doin' the same thing we always did, which is play music that we wanna hear but we can't buy it in the stores so we have to make it. We're not trying to cater to anybody - I wouldn't know how to do that because I've never sold records, you know what I mean? 'Let's write a single!' I don't know what that is - I've never had one.[14]

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Between them, Homme and Oliveri had different opinions on the usage of fake radio excerpts between tracks on the album, the former believing it gave the album "fluidity". According to Oliveri, they are a jibe at, "how a lot of stations play the same thing over and over. We don't get played on the radio, so I figure we should talk shit about them."[15]

Several songs that appeared on the album (in re-worked form) were previously recorded and released on the Desert Sessions, a side project of Josh Homme with various guest collaborators. "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" was the opening track of Volumes 5 & 6, with vocals originally performed by Mario Lalli instead of Oliveri and "Hangin' Tree" first appeared on Volumes 7 & 8.[16] Also, both "A Song for the Deaf" and "Go with the Flow" were previously performed as early as 2001 with the former having quite different lyrics and vocals completely by Mark Lanegan. [17]

The album was initially planned for release on August 13, 2002[18], but was eventually postponed for two weeks.[19]

Critical and commercial reception

Like its predecessor, Songs for the Deaf received very positive reviews, including a total score of 89 out of 100 on Metacritic as of June, 2007[1], making the album the 31st highest rated album on the site, and third highest rated from 2002. [20] Entertainment Weekly called it "The year's best hard-rock album", giving it an A.[21] Splendid said, "The bottom line is that QOTSA turns in another genre-demolishing, hard-as-titanium album in Songs for the Deaf. This is not your father's metal. It's better." Mojo listed the album as the year's third best, while Playlouder and Spin placed it at fourth. NME placed the album as the sixth best, with the three singles each making the magazine's Tracks of the Year list over the course of 2002/2003. [22] Kerrang! rated the album at number 1 on its "Best albums of 2002" list.

The album met with great success earning band's first gold certification in the U.S. on January 27, 2003 shifting over 500,000 copies (as of June, 2007 the total amount of sold copies is estimated at 986,000 according to Nielsen Soundscan[2]), and gold certification in UK on September 20, 2002 with sales exceeding 100,000 of units sold. [23]

The album received two Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy nominations for singles No One Knows (2003)[24], and Go with the Flow (2004).[25]

Track listing

  1. "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" (Homme, Lalli, Oliveri) – 3:12
    • Contains the hidden track "The Real Song for the Deaf" in the pregap of the track. This track is not available on all editions of the album, such as the LP versions.
  2. "No One Knows" (Homme, Lanegan, Oliveri) – 4:38
  3. "First It Giveth" (Homme, Oliveri) – 3:18
  4. "Song for the Dead" (Homme, Lanegan, Oliveri) – 5:52
  5. "The Sky Is Fallin'" (Homme, Oliveri) – 6:15
  6. "Six Shooter" (Homme, Oliveri) – 1:19
  7. "Hangin' Tree" (Homme, Lanegan, Johannes, Oliveri) – 3:06
  8. "Go with the Flow" (Homme, Oliveri) – 3:07
  9. "Gonna Leave You" (Homme, Oliveri) – 2:50
  10. "Do It Again" (Homme, Oliveri) – 4:04
  11. "God Is in the Radio" (Homme, Lanegan, Oliveri) – 6:04
  12. "Another Love Song" (Homme, Oliveri) – 3:15
  13. "Song for the Deaf" (Homme, Lanegan, Oliveri) – 6:42
    • Contains an incomplete version of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer", that features all of the lyrics replaced with rhythmic laughing, toward the end of the track, after about 30 seconds of silence.
  14. "Mosquito Song" (Homme, Melchiondo, Oliveri) – 5:37
    • Mentioned on the track listing, but labelled as a hidden track. The first 30 seconds of this track are silent.

The intro to the track "A Song for the Dead" is an homage to Black Flag; the drums in that segment are lifted directly from the Black Flag song "Slip It In."[26] The band's subsequent studio album, Lullabies to Paralyze, got its name from a line in "Mosquito Song".[27]

Variations

  1. "Everybody's Gonna Be Happy" (Davies) – 2:35
    • originally written and performed by The Kinks
  2. "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret"
  3. "Bloody Hammer" (Erickson)

The first two songs are available on the UK and Japanese version of the limited edition album only. The third song is only available on the U.S. double LP released by Ipecac Recordings.

  • A second version of "Gonna Leave You" dubbed "Te Voy a Dejar" was recorded with Nick Oliveri singing in Spanish, and is available as a B-side on the UK version of the "No One Knows" CD single.
  • A hidden track can be found on this CD by rewinding the first track. Starting at 0:00 on track one, rewind the track roughly 1:30 and listen. A voice says: "Huh? What?" and a pattern of bass kicks in. This is widely known as "The Real Song for the Deaf". This track, as well as being omitted from some pressings of the album (see track listing), is difficult to listen to on all but conventional CD players—most software CD players do not allow rewinding of this nature, and most MP3 "ripping" software will not include the data.
  • Initial pressings of the album came with a bonus DVD, which featured behind the scenes footage of the group recording album, live performances (many of which were taken from a live show at The Troubadour in March 2002), and interview footage.[28]

Artwork

The cover art for the U.S. double LP version of the album is quite different, featuring a red Q (with a sperm cell as the line in the Q) on a black background with no other text. It was released on red vinyl. The UK vinyl version cover is the same as the CD cover. The dashboard/interior with superimposed logos is that of a Fiat 124 Sport Spider, a 1960s-1980s mass market Italian sports car. The person on the album disc is musician Dave Catching, who performs on the album.

Music videos

Personnel

Band

Additional musicians

Future full time Queens of the Stone Age members, Alain Johannes and Natasha Shneider guest on this album with Johannes also co-writing the song "Hangin' Tree" with Homme.

  • Alain Johannes – e-bow, organ on "Another Love Song", piano on "Mosquito Song", flamenco guitar on "Mosquito Song" and "First It Giveth", theremin on "Six Shooter", lap steel guitar
  • Natasha Shneider – e-bow, organ on "Another Love Song", piano on "Mosquito Song", theremin on "Six Shooter"
  • Gene Trautmann – drums on "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" and "Go with the Flow"
  • Dean Ween – guitar on "Six Shooter", "Gonna Leave You", and "Mosquito Song"
  • Brendon McNichol – lap steel on "Go with the Flow"
  • Chris Goss – unknown contribution
  • Paz Lenchantin – strings on "Mosquito Song"
  • Anna Lenchantin – strings on "Mosquito Song"
  • Molly McGuire – accordion on "Mosquito Song"
  • John Gove – horns on "Mosquito Song"
  • Kevin Porter – horns on "Mosquito Song"
  • Brad Kintscher – horns on "Mosquito Song"

Radio DJs

The songs on Songs for the Deaf are often interluded by staged bits of radio chatter.

Producers

Recording personnel

  • Mixing – Adam Kasper at Conway Recording Studio
  • Recording – Alain Johannes ("Everybody's Gonna Be Happy") at Sound City Recording Studio, Van Nuys, CA.
  • Mastering – Brian Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood CA.
  • Guitar technician – Dan Druff
  • Sound technician – Hutch
  • Pre-production – Bob Brunner "Mates"

Charts

Album

Chart Peak position
Billboard 200 17
Billboard Top Internet Albums 17
Australian ARIA Albums Charts 7
Belgian Albums Chart 15
Canadian Albums Chart 18
Denmark Albums Chart 33
Dutch Albums Chart 40
Finnish Albums Chart 33
French Albums Chart 32
German Albums Chart 9
Irish Albums Chart 32
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart 40
Norwegian Albums Chart 28
Swedish Albums Chart 58
UK Album Chart 4

Singles

Year Single US
Mainstream Rock 		US
Modern Rock 		US
Hot 100 		UK
Singles Chart
2002 "No One Knows" 5 1 51 15
2003 "Go with the Flow" 24 7 — 21
2003 "First It Giveth" — — — 33

References

  1. ^ a b "Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  2. ^ a b Jonathan Cohen (2005-06-02). "Queens of the Stone Age Enter New 'Era'". AOL. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Robert Mancini (2000-09-21). "Queens of the Stone Age Hook Up With Foo Fighters". MTV. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Jon Wiederhorn (2002-06-04). "Queens of the Stone Age Flex Their Star Power". MTV. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Joe D'Angelo (2002-04-18). "Grohl Puts Foos On Hold, Returns To Drumkit With Queens". MTV. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Matt Ashare (2002-04-19). "Grohl Drums For Queens of the Stone Age, Foos Take A Break". Yahoo. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Brett Anderson (2002-07-10). "Foo Fighters' New Release Set For October 22". Yahoo. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b "QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Announce Touring Drummer". Blabbermouth. 2002-08-24. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Former DANZIG Drummer Lands In QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE". Blabbermouth. 2002-08-29. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "TWIGGY RAMIREZ Auditions For QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE". Blabbermouth. 2002-06-18. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Martijn ter Haar (2002-10-19). "Kinda Muzik interview". Kinda Muzik. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
  12. ^ Nick Anderson (2002-8). "Interview with Nick Anderson". thefade.net. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Albert Mudrian (2002-08). "Gallery of Sound: The Modern Stone Age Family". thefade.net. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ Barry Walsh (2002-08). "HMV: Killer Queens". thefade.net. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "QOTSA Enjoying Life With Dave". Rolling Stone. 2002-05-03. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Ipecac Recordings: Desert Sessions". Ipecac Recordings. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  17. ^ "Queens perform "A Song for the Deaf" at the Bizzare Festival". Youtube. 2001. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Finalize Release Date, Track Listing For "Songs for the Deaf"". Blabbermouth. 2002-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Push Back Album Release Date". Blabbermouth. 2002-06-25. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Best of 2002: The 30 best reviewed albums of the year". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  21. ^ "Entertainment Weekly review of Songs for the Deaf". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  22. ^ "NME Albums of the Year". NME. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  23. ^ "QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE , SONGS FOR THE DEAF , Gold , Fri Sep 20 2002". British Phonographic Industry. 2002-09-20. Retrieved 2007-06-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "45th Grammy Awards". Rockonthenet. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  25. ^ "46th Grammy Awards". Rockonthenet. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  26. ^ Foo Archive article
  27. ^ "Queens of the Stone Age Interview". Vertigo. Retrieved 2005-05-18. I also like that the title bridges this record and the last record in that it's a lyric from "Mosquito Song". (Homme)
  28. ^ "For The Record: Quick News On Jay-Z, Janet Jackson, Cam'ron, Brandy, QOTSA, Ludacris, Björk, Pavement & More". MTV.com. 2002-08-01. Retrieved 2007-06-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ a b Robert Mancini (2003-07-24). "Missy, Justin, Johnny Cash, 50 And Eminem Top VMA Nominees List". MTV. Retrieved 2007-06-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Ali Tezel. "Queens of The Stone Age "Go with the Flow" - interview with Chris Harding". CGsociety. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  31. ^ "MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS HISTORY: BEST SPECIAL EFFECTS". Rockonthenet. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
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