How old is rock’n’roll now? If we use 1955 as a some kind of arbitrary ground zero, rock is now eligible for all kinds of senior’s discounts.

That’s a long time. And the older rock gets, the more difficult it becomes to stick out, to find distinctive approaches, and to be unique in a vast ocean of other acts. Hell, there are 60 million tracks available on the digital music services. How can you compete with that?

Let me ask you this: How many bands can you name from the last, say, 20 years that has a sound so distinctive that you know exactly who they are within just the first couple of seconds?

I have one: Queens of the Stone Age.

There’s something about what they do that sonically sets them apart from everyone else. But it’s more than just guitar sounds, arrangements and lyrics. The elements required to create this uniqueness are complex and varied–and, I think, worth of study.

In fact, you can separate the sounds of Queens from their history, which is also very, very complex. Let’s see if we can untangle everything.

Songs heard on this episode:

Queens of the Stone Age, The Way You Used to Do

Sons of Kyuss, Deadly Kiss

Kyuss, The Law

Kyuss One Inch Man

Gamma Ray, Born to Hula

Desert Sessions, Volume 1, Girl Boy Tom

Queens of the Stone Age, If Only Everything

Queens of the Stone Age, Regular John

Naturally, Eric Wilhite has this playlist for us.

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