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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Latin for "common era," Era Vulgaris holds a pair of common threads with the four Queens of the Stone Age records that preceded it. One, it crosses colossal guitar chords with the most volatile of hard rock melodies. And second, it's as loud as loud gets, thanks to Josh Homme, the impatient instigator behind the ever-evolving cast of personalities that make up the band. Detonation comes with track one, as the jagged riffs of "Turning on the Screw" lead the listener into "Sick, Sick, Sick," where Julian Casablancas spews his vocals beneath a wall of multi-guitar catcalls. Although the head Stroke will likely garner the most attention, perpetual Queener Mark Lanegan's velvety pipes earmark two of Era's most booming selections: the funky "Make It Wit Chu" (complete with Temptations-like backing vocals) and the heart-racing three minutes of "River in the Road." Add the garage rock of Homme's "3's & 7's" and "Suture up Your Future," easy pickings for most likely crossover hit, and Era Vulgaris-- hypnotically and explosively common--holds its own with any in the QoTSA discography. --Scott Holter
Review
This album is one of BBC 6 Music's albums of the day, this week.
Era Vulgaris translates as 'Common Age'; it's Queens Of The Stone Age's shorthand for the debased age in which we live and is their fifth studio album; a follow up to the criminally underrated Lullaby's To Paralyze (2005). Instantly it has less of the studio lustre of the previous two efforts. In fact it sounds more like it was recorded with instruments rescued by an old red Ford-V8 pick-up from a seedy mosquito-infested swamp.
The heavy, hooky, guitars and insistent drums are ever present but they sit deeper within a new found layer of electrical fuzz and wigged-out effects. Also they've forgone the driving 'follow me!' drum sound that Dave Grohl's one album stint lent their sound.
Although 'The Grohl-effect' helped launched them into the popular Rock consciousness, they've veered away from the more regimented hard metal direction (explored on 2002's more radio-friendly Songs For The Deaf) in favour of a slightly more diverse and tastier sound. No offence DG.
Era Vulgaris sounds unexpectedly off-beat, even for QOTSA. The opening track ''Turning The Screw'' (and ''Make it Wit Ch''u, and ''I'm Designer'') feature unexpectedly Pop-y vocals and harmonies over sparse drums, tambourine, cosmic keys, jangling and jagged guitars and a convincing lair of general background cacophony. Lead singer and writer Josh Homme mixes pagan austerity and intrigue. ''Into The Hollow'' (and to a lesser extent ''Suture Up Your Future'' are like parodies of flower power-era idealism, topped with tambourines and crashing cymbals and a chaser of slide guitar. But whatever they do is ever so slightly off-message, off-kilter; sometimes uncomfortably so on first acquaintance.
What goes in is only whatever sounds spot-on at that moment, that's what makes this a great dirty rock 'n' roll album. It manages to sound completely thrown together, made up on the spot, yet completely right. It's a fabulously addictive and effortlessly executed conceit. Like someone throwing some eggs, sugar, jam and flour up in the air and it landing right side up as the perfect raspberry Twinky. From Hell. --Eamonn Stack
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Da best eazy listenin' album in da world. Not..",
By
This review is from: Era Vulgaris (Audio CD)
It's a bit of a funny one, this... Almost a statement of intent rather than just another album:
As has already been stated numerous times, this is certainly one album that takes a bit of getting used to. If you're just discovering QOTSA this probably isn't a great starting point and even if you're already a bit of a fan it probably won't grab you straight away. For one thing, you'll have to get your head around the way it's been mixed - On first listen certain high frequencies you'd expect to hear in a music recording simply aren't there, meaning that the album sits in a slightly uncomfortable, not-quite-low-fi sounding grey area... And if you're anything like me (ie. already concerned that you listen to far too much loud music) it might cause you to panic temporarily in the belief that you've gone fifty per cent deaf overnight. Repeated listens however, will reveal that the album is actually quite cleverly mixed and although it may not sound particularly conventional, somehow it helps the album to feel that little bit more twisted and awkward and a bit, well, seedy really. Once you've gotten used to the mix you then have to contend with the hugely raw, angular nature of the songs. Genuine use of melody is pretty sparse but therein lies the secret of this album - The more you listen to it, the more little hooks and catchy lyrics start to leap out at you seemingly from nowhere, and that's when the cleverness of it all dawns on you. It's almost as if the songs in their entirety aren't really the focal point of the album at all but are merely Generation Game style conveyor belts laiden with lots of cool stuff and the occaisional grand prize; a means of keeping everything moving along until you see something you really like. This is a daring album in the sense that it will cause even the biggest of QOTSA fans to abandon their preconceptions of where the band is (or isn't) headed, and to once again face the music with a completely open mind, and in that sense it's actually quite refreshing.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Am i listening to the same album????,
By Gigs (Christchurch, Dorset United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Era Vulgaris (Audio CD)
Seriously, i cant believe anyone would give this album such a low score. I can only assume these people heard "No-one Knows", and thought all QOTSA was from the same mould. This is, in my opinion, the best and most consistent QOTSA album. Every tune has the weird, grungey, dirty feel which i so love about there music. It is almost unclassifiable, and all the better for it. This is'nt Bon Jovi, this is a challenging ride which is a very rewarding experience. Listen to it a few times and the subtle groove which cuts through the entire album comes to the fore. Stand out tracks are "Sick, sick, sick" and "Make it Witchu", but every track is a gem. Buy it and make your own mind up.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not brilliant,
By
This review is from: Era Vulgaris (Audio CD)
People keep saying that this one will grow on you after a few listens but its still not doing anything for me. Im sure everyone has their own reasons for loving this band and hears different things that appeal to them. For me this is completely lacking in the depth, atmosphere and drama of their previous releases. All their albums are different and tend to have a distinctive vibe that runs all the way through - with Era I can certainly hear what Homme et al were trying with this when he said about it having a kind of trashy LA Hollywood feel. They seem to have captured the vibe but its let down by an almost complete lack of memorable tunes / hooks this time around. The jams are all pretty repetetive and indistinctive. I generally feel its a lower standard of songwriting. Queens have always had melodies / riffs that bend my ear in unexpected ways and for me, they're just not present on Era. I also felt that the kind of robotic, electronic-y production didn't sit well with a lot of the tunes. Whilst that was clearly a deliberate artistic choice by the band, i really wasn't feeling it - didn't sound like a rock band playing as a band to me. Just generally a bit disappointed really. Never mind, im sure they can write another brilliant album in time! Anyway, by the look of the other mainly positive reviews here plenty of people are getting their kicks out of it, so its cool.
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