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Amazon.co.uk Review
Lullabies to Paralyze is the first Queens of the Stone Age album released since the rather messy departure of co-conspirator Nick Oliveri, but this by no means sounds like a Josh Homme solo project. Granted, opening track "Lullaby" is a mellow ballad, but as it's sung by Mark Lanegan, it can hardly count as Homme's flirtation with self-indulgence. And besides, once "Medication" kicks in with the tell-tale chugga-chugga guitars that have marked every previous QOTSA release, it'd be impossible to mistake this album for anyone else. The loss of Oliveri is almost compensated for by the appearance of some top-flight guests: from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top (on the appropriately bluesy "Burn the Witch" and on the penultimate track) to Garbage's Shirley Manson and The Distillers' Brody Dalle. Best of all, though, is the accelerating riff of "Someone's in the Wolf", which is one of the most air-guitar-worthy songs of recent years. On the whole, Lullabies to Paralyze is never as good as Rated R or Songs for the Deaf, but few modern rock albums are. If the Queens of the Stone Age have one fault, it's that they've set their own standards too high. --Robert Burrow
Review
A lot has happened to Queens Of The Stone Age centrepoint Josh Homme since the band hurtled into the big time with the brutally brilliant Songs For The Deaf, and it's mostly been about ending. The Distillers' Brody Dalle has stopped being his squeeze, Nick Oliveri has stopped being his bassist and, briefly, his lungs stopped working properly.
Thankfully, none of this has stood in the way of QOTSA producing another belter of an album. Indeed, the quality of Lullabies To Paralyze is so high, you have to start to wonder if the band can actually put a musical foot wrong. Centring its artwork and its ideas on the fear of the unknown, of the fairytale forests and the wolves that will eat you as you sleep, it's dark in a truly Gothic way, but still buoyant enough to get you bouncing around the room.
It's long-time collaborator Mark Lanegan, not Homme, who sets the scene, turning all Nick Cave for the haunting of "This Lullaby".Soon enough, though, the album pitches into the familiar anthemic alt-rock that has already carved the band their place in history.
Picking highlights is like standing outside the witch's house in Hansel and Gretel and choosing which sweet to eat first; there's simply so much choice, yet you know that something lurks within. "In My Head" burns a catchy chorus into your skull, "Little Sister" plunges headlong into racing abandon, "Someone's In The Wolf" is an operatic epic of sublime proportions, and "Long Slow Goodbye" drifts endlessly on a desert road to sorrow.
As with QOTSA, you can't come into the presence of Lullabies To Paralyze expecting an easy ride, but be sure of one thing: if you dare to step into the darkness of the album's heart, you'll find plenty to reward you. --Chris Long
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The rush of lengthy reviews for this album are a little tiresome, as is the ridiculous snobery of the reviewer who assumes that a fellow reviewer hasn't listened to QOTSA albums before 'Songs for the Deaf'simply because he alludes to the absence of Dave Grohl- get over yourself man!! The politics aside, this album is a joy. Guitar heaven from start to finish; highlights are the lush 'I never came' which does not 'drag on' as stated by a previous reviewer, but highlights the versatility of Nick's voice, and in placing this track straight after the excellent lead single 'Little Sister' ensures maximum impact. Other high points include CD opener 'This Lullaby' and the fantastic 'Broken Box'. As a whole, the album flows beautifully, yet is more experimental than 'Rated R' and 'SFTD'. Personally speaking I would say 'Lullabies To Paralyze' is the most complete QOTSA album. Bring on Carling Leeds 2005....
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Initial signs for this album weren't promising. The sudden departure of Nick Olivieri marked the departure of the only constant member of Josh Homme's ever-changing QOTSA line-up, and Olivieri seemed as essential to the band as Homme himself. Things could've gone so easily awry for album number 4.
However Josh Homme's track record with other projects (notably Desert Sessions) should've been enough to confirm that he is more than capable of going it alone. Lullabies to Paralyze is a testament to this.
Impressively, the first two songs are knocked off within little more than 3 minutes. The gentle acoustics and tortured-larynx Mark Lanegan vocals of This Lullaby give way to the chugging, razor-sharp Medication, which sounds like a two-minute statement of intent.
The following track is arguably the album's highlight. Everybody Knows That You're Insane starts up as a wailing rock dirge, before a neat shift in tempo takes you into the simple and insanely catchy chorus. Tangled Up In Plaid and Burn The Witch are also superb, both stomp-along anthems of the highest order, before the album's most accessible poppy moment, In Your Head (which also appeared in the Desert Sessions).
Little Sister is fine, if somewhat underwhelming as a lead-off single, whilst I Never Came portrays a subtlety previously unregistered in QOTSA's past works. But it's the next two tracks, Someone's In The Wolf and The Blood Is Love that provide the album's backbone. Both lengthy, brooding, power-chord heavy anthems, they sit perfectly alongside one another. Both recall QOTSA's ability to find a great riff, and then completely bludgeon you with it.
The next three tracks show a dramatic shift in mood, and are amongst the sleaziest things QOTSA have done. The fuzzed out Skin On Skin is a lust fuelled romp, "I hate to see you leave, but I like to watch you go" being one of its more subtle lyrics. Broken Box is like Skin On Skin's angry hangover, whilst You Got A Killer Scene slows things down, but is no less sexy.
That leaves Long Slow Goodbye to tie things up. It's a fitting end, beautiful, but forlorn, and complete with trumpet dirge. Oh, and as ever, the bonus tracks are worthwhile additions as well, Like A Drug portraying Homme's songwriting range in the same way The Mosquito Song did on Songs For The Deaf.
To say that Olivieri isn't missed from proceedings would be a little naïve. Ultimately the album lacks a moment as unhinged as, say, Millionaire. But without Nick, Josh Homme has been able to seize the reins fully, and as a result this is QOTSA's most diverse work to date. To say it's better or worse than anything else they've done is like comparing coffee with tea: it's purely a matter of taste. But whether you regard QOTSA as a band or a Josh Homme side-project, the QOTSA name remains a stamp of quality.
However Josh Homme's track record with other projects (notably Desert Sessions) should've been enough to confirm that he is more than capable of going it alone. Lullabies to Paralyze is a testament to this.
Impressively, the first two songs are knocked off within little more than 3 minutes. The gentle acoustics and tortured-larynx Mark Lanegan vocals of This Lullaby give way to the chugging, razor-sharp Medication, which sounds like a two-minute statement of intent.
The following track is arguably the album's highlight. Everybody Knows That You're Insane starts up as a wailing rock dirge, before a neat shift in tempo takes you into the simple and insanely catchy chorus. Tangled Up In Plaid and Burn The Witch are also superb, both stomp-along anthems of the highest order, before the album's most accessible poppy moment, In Your Head (which also appeared in the Desert Sessions).
Little Sister is fine, if somewhat underwhelming as a lead-off single, whilst I Never Came portrays a subtlety previously unregistered in QOTSA's past works. But it's the next two tracks, Someone's In The Wolf and The Blood Is Love that provide the album's backbone. Both lengthy, brooding, power-chord heavy anthems, they sit perfectly alongside one another. Both recall QOTSA's ability to find a great riff, and then completely bludgeon you with it.
The next three tracks show a dramatic shift in mood, and are amongst the sleaziest things QOTSA have done. The fuzzed out Skin On Skin is a lust fuelled romp, "I hate to see you leave, but I like to watch you go" being one of its more subtle lyrics. Broken Box is like Skin On Skin's angry hangover, whilst You Got A Killer Scene slows things down, but is no less sexy.
That leaves Long Slow Goodbye to tie things up. It's a fitting end, beautiful, but forlorn, and complete with trumpet dirge. Oh, and as ever, the bonus tracks are worthwhile additions as well, Like A Drug portraying Homme's songwriting range in the same way The Mosquito Song did on Songs For The Deaf.
To say that Olivieri isn't missed from proceedings would be a little naïve. Ultimately the album lacks a moment as unhinged as, say, Millionaire. But without Nick, Josh Homme has been able to seize the reins fully, and as a result this is QOTSA's most diverse work to date. To say it's better or worse than anything else they've done is like comparing coffee with tea: it's purely a matter of taste. But whether you regard QOTSA as a band or a Josh Homme side-project, the QOTSA name remains a stamp of quality.
Key moments: Everybody Knows That You're Insane, Tangled Up In Plaid, Someone's In The Wolf, Long Slow Goodbye
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Over the last ten years The Queens of the Stone Age have consistently offered the perfect blend of talent and originality. With each new album, a new mesh of fragmented perverse thoughts have been combined with mold-breaking visions of song structure. In each of these albums artist line-ups have changed, but the core structure, Nick Oliveri and Josh Holmes, has remained constant. And with Nick's forced departure from the band, cynics have predicted the downfall of one of the modern great rock bands. However, Josh's perservering genious in Lullabies to Paralyze has proven the resilience of Queens.
Their fourth and newest album, Lullabies to Paralyze, contains more simple, less guitar heavy songs. The first single, Little Sister, represents the change in direction of the band. In it a repititious riff is combined with a cowbell, which can best be described as a metronome. The song ends with a radio unfriendly, wonderfully perverse minute long guitar solo.
Everybody Know's Your Insane is the only noticable departure from this catalyst, containing a soft and screechy one minute entrance. It then hurls into a pounding chorus, leading into two minutes of fast paced, guitar driven bliss.
While many claim this simplicity to be the demise of the band, it is in fact the repositioning of a band never meant for mainstream America. Every album they made, including Lullabies to Paralyze, has contained a coherence of darkness that, if noticed by TRL motivated listeners, would only last briefly.
The popularity of Lullabies to Paralyze will most likely reflect this unpopularity, especially since their next single appears to be Someone's in the Wolf. This seven minute song is the darkest on the album, containing hounding vocals and a twisted ringing guitar melody. A sixty second preview of the video can be seen at www.qotsa.com. The video contains knives, wolves, and a defenseless woman. Need I say more?
And to Kyuss fans who need Queens to be heavier, Nick may still have a future with Josh and the band. The legendary duo have agreed to work with each other on Nick's new Mondo Generator album, and express a desire to work together on other future projects.
Expect to see more from Queens of the Stone Age, just not on MTV.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Freakin' AWESOME
This is a spectacular album. Granted, it's not quite as good as 'Songs For The Deaf' (although it does benefit from not having all that fake 'radio' noise between tracks). Read more
Published 4 months ago by John " Deadpool" Page
Double vinyl
I'm not going to drag on about the music, we've all heard it. This a review of the vinyl re-issue, it's all very good, just be aware that the vinyl may be black like I received not... Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. Everatt
Case broken but cd OK
Item arrived later that predicted and cd case was broken inspite of being rapped in original plastic. The cd itself was OK.
Published 14 months ago by Bailaraq
super!
Qotsa are amazing and this album is great! Every single cent spent on this is more than 100% worth it!
Published 24 months ago by C. Vitadello
another great album from QOSTA
another great album from QOSTA, first I did not thinkit was as good as songs for the deaf but it has grown on me
Published on 10 Oct 2009 by Freddie McRoss
QOSA - Lullabies to Paralyze
Not fantastic. Bit slow & not heavy enough really. Clue's in the name really I guess!!! Poor choice....
Published on 30 July 2009 by L. Boukhemkhem
Best QOTSA Album...
I only realised that this is my favourite Queens of the Stone Age album when I made a compilation album and realised it was getting a bit heavy on Lullabies to Paralyze... Read more
Published on 26 July 2009 by Gareth Entwisle
The best record I have ever heard
Alright? I've said it. This is the best record I've ever heard, which, by definition, means I think it's better than the majestic Songs For The Deaf. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2007 by Wattsenhausen
rockin
this is rock genius. it has everything you'd expect from QOTSA and more. Gotta love little sister for it's awesome foot tapping groove, and skin on skin, one of their filthiest... Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2007 by J. Connor
Josh continues to push rock and roll boundaries
As a hardcore Queens fan, I feel duty bound to defend this album, which received less favourable reviews than Songs for the Deaf or Rated R. Read more
Published on 22 April 2007 by N. J. Mason
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