Average Rating: 
Rating: - The best alternative album of 2001.
Born from the ashes of the stoner rock band Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age does share some similarities to Kyuss--the long jams and the guitar-driven sound. Yet Songs For The Deaf does not fall under the rubrick of stoner rock. It's more like alternative rock, in the tradition of Soundgarden's Superunknown or possibly Stone Temple Pilots' Purple. It also recalls Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience to some extent. Songs For The Deaf is quite diverse, from the screaming speed metal of You Ain't Worth A Dollar.., followed by slightly skewered pop songs like No One Knows and Go With The Flow, and the downright ominous God Is In The Radio and Song For The Deaf. It even goes into orchestration (Mosquito Song). The lyrics are dark and intelligent. And man, does it rock. Homme and Oliveri's amazing guitarwork and vocals are accompanied by Dave Grohl's heroic drumming--he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Keith Moon and John Bonham. The fact that he decided to go back on the kit in Songs For The Deaf is reason enough to buy this album right NOW. The long jams never bog down this record--just imagine taking an awesome solo, and extending it a few minutes. By the end of the song your neck will be sore and you will be reeling from all the notes forced into your brain. But you'll want to hear it all again. Songs For The Deaf is not perfect--Six Shooter is pointless, Hangin' Tree is boring, and Another Love Song is a bit too poppy for my tastes. The fake DJ interludes, while amusing the first few listens, can become annoying. But if you're tired of all the nu-metal junk flooding the airwaves, buy your copy of Songs For The Deaf and crank the volume knob up high. I can't wait to hear Rated R.
Rating: - Bye bye stoner rock
It's a very good album, but not a great album. I read an interview of the band and their focus was to incorporate those catchy pop hooks that many of us are afraid to admit we like, without making it too mainstream. They definitely accomplished this; you'll be humming some of these tunes for days. Their music can be more precisely described as modern rock, since the stoner elements are reduced. Yet their sound remains heavy enough and most of the songs in the album are good. It's not their best album so far, but it will satisfy the fanbase and the quality remains good enough to outrank most bands around nowadays. The album starts off great: the first track is mostly like the old days, and the second track is the well-known radio tune. But my favorite is the third track, "First it Giveth". Excellent song. There are other notables scattered throughout, but overall the album wears a tad thin toward the end. You get a lot of bang for the buck though: 51 minutes of pure rock. Thumbs up.
Rating: - A review with thought, enjoy it then get this album!
Their latest effort is actually the first album I've had the pleasure of listening to by this band. Although the fake "DJ" interludes range from humorous to tiresome, the album stays steadily in the grunge rock groove. I must admit, one of the main reasons I like this album so much is that it seems to me very Soundgarden-esque. That being said, I'll try to describe the sound and feel of the album. The pounding guitars throughout the album make sure your brain knows this is definitley a rock album. They ooze grunge throughout this record by combining those pounding guitars with a nice rhythm at times. Another thing I like about this album is that the bass guitar is allowed to do it's job of building the foundation for the sound. As for the drums, you may expect having Dave Grohl on board would give you some exceptionally strong feeling of "wow", but they do seem to under-emphasize this particular instrument (despite other comments of 'over-mixed drums). I'd say that the vocalist (Josh Homme) shines on 'Songs For The Deaf' I especially found interesting the use of mis-matched tempo between the vocals and the guitars. One one hand you have this driving guitar beat and on the other, a drawn out, slow-paced vocal track. It's quite effective at strengthening the overall impact of the songs that utilize this technique. If I had to name a downside to this album, I'd mention that while they have a great sound, it doesn't seem very diverse. All of the songs (with 1 or 2 exceptions) feel similar, like a magnet to your ears and a weight on your head (and that's a good thing). Some of the songs seem to make use of similar riffs, albeit implementing them in different ways. A few notable songs:
'No One Knows' is a very catchy song, yet carries a bit of weight to it.
'Six Shooter' seems to be just a tyrade of nothingness, which seems to be that one 'stand out' song on the album which everyone wonders how it got there.
'God is in the Radio' Another heavy song with a bouncy, melodic beat. Good lyrics in this song "God is naked through the stereo". I could see this being a radio song.
'A Song for the Deaf' A good title track, placed near the end (track 13) serves to anchor this album as firmly as it was planted in track 1. Some usage of noise and more whining guitars show a glimmer of diversity not found in most of the other songs.
'Mosquito Song' (tr 14) An acoustically played song as good and deep as any on this album. Some Zeppelin-ish rolling guitar flicks combined with a synthesized wind instrument kind of thing allows the listener to "listen to the leaves" in this great song.
'Everybodys Gonna Be Happy' (tr 15) This, is without a doubt, the most unique song on the album. It's got a peppy title, which transfers into the lyrics and tone of the song. Complete with hands clapping to the beat, this song could have come from the 60's hippy era, or from a band like Iron Butterfly. I would surely recommend this album to any fan of the grunge side of the alternative genre, or rock period. And, as a fluke, the radio hit does actually give you a good idea of what to expect on the album, since most of it stays in the same spectrum of sound.
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