This is part of a series in which two or more members of the Audioxide team listen to an album for the first time. Any moments of interest or insight are purely coincidental.

[“You Think I Ain’t Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire”]

André

Still one of my favourite album opener of all time.

That explosion still blows my mind.

Fred

‘Prepare to have your mind expanded, friend.’

André

I think a big part of why people find Nick Oliveri’s screaming tolerable is because it’s quite low in the mix.

And nicely mixed, furthermore.

I hear a lot of people say ‘I don’t like scream vocals in metal… except when QOTSA did it’

Fred

I think it’s because they treat it as part of something bigger

Rather than the main event

[“No-one Knows”]

André

That 1-2 combo is SO good

Not a huge surprise that this album has more songs from Songs for the Deaf than any other

Fred

Did any albums not make the cut at all?

André

Yeah. Lullabies to Paralyse

Which is some people’s favourite actually

Has some fab singles like Little Sister and Burn the Witch

Even a Villains song made it…

Fred

So what is this?

…Vulgar Songs for Villains (Rated R)

André

Hahaha

Yes

Grohl’s drumming still reigns supreme here, my goodness.

I will never get bored of No-one Knows.

Fred

Safe choice putting it second

Works well, would you believe

André

Incase you didn’t know – whatever place the songs are on this album, are the places the songs are from on that respective album

So, this next song, If Only, is the 3rd song from the debut album too

Pretty neat! Well done r/qotsa

Fred

Interesting!

[“If Only”]

André

Love that riff

Josh sounds so young!

Fred

The production bridges over pretty well

André

When Josh Homme speaks about ‘robot rock’, this is one of the tracks that always comes to mind

Fred

It’s just so cool

And not ironically cool

Looking at you, Villains

André

Driving with the roof down on a Summer’s day kinda cool

Fred

So did you vote in this?

André

I did

Fred

Any of your songs not make the cut?

André

Plenty

I CANNOT believe Song for the Dead didn’t make it

An utter travesty

Instead we have this…

[“If I Had a Tail”]

Fred

Ah I adore this song

1 2 3 4…

André

I dig it. It’s just no Song for the Dead is all

Sublime groove though, no doubt

Fred

This is the song I was thinking about when I said Homme could make a phone book sound groovy

André

Haha

I think in many ways Like Clockwork is Homme’s best work

Songs for the Deaf is my favourite but this album just really hit the spot

It almost felt like Queens of the Stone Age v2.0

Previous albums were good but not like this

Fred

You know when talented footballers reign in the flair to make the most of their potential?

That’s how I feel about the two

Songs for the Deaf is more exciting

But Clockwork is immaculate

André

If it had a stronger opening track, like SftD does, it would have been a near masterpiece

The only song that lets it down in my opinion

Fred

Ah, I like it

[“Better Living Through the Chemistry”]

André

I’m SO glad this song made it

One of the tunes that made me fall in love with the band as a teen

Riffs fucking everywhere

Plus BONGO’S

Fred

What else?

This playlist injects a good variety doesn’t it?

André

For sure

There’s even a piano ballad later on – gosh

But this is proper stoner rock

Love it

Fred

It’s like this song was custom made for people like you to nerd out

And me, to be fair

André

This had stiff competition too – My God is the Sun, The Sky is Fallin’, Burn the Witch

Fred

Yep, good company

Haha, even the L/R balance is all over the place

Love it

André

Haha yeah they branched out on Rated R

This was definitely the most drug-fuelled one

I mean the album starts off with Feel Good Hit of the Summer…

[“Un-Reborn Again”]

André

Ah, the best Villains song

Fred

We called it

André

We’re rarely wrong, Fred

This works so well after Chemistry

Fred

Such a funky song

This is the only one on the record where they got the production just right

André

Sounds fucking great doesn’t it

I associate the album with a distinct lack of low-end punch, but not this one

And those synths sound FAB

Fred

Serious crunch

André

It has a snarl

That all QOTSA music should do

Fred

But it also nails the kitsch tone

André

It does

I love Homme’s delivery too

Fred

It’s spot on

André

I haven’t gone back to Villains much, but I’m loving this!

Fred

This was why Villains was frustrating though. The rest of the album could have been like this but it sounded like it had been entombed in plastic

André

You’re right…

Ronson takes a good share of the blame, but not all of it

Fred

God the outro is so great

André

The strings are a nice touch

As is the sax!

Fred

‘Do dooooo’

André

Magnificent

[“Mexicola”]

André

Yay another riff-fest!

Cannot get enough of this song

Strange hearing his voice so low in the mix though

You can tell his confidence wasn’t high back then, as a singer

Fred

He sounds good

Not as refined maybe, but that’s part of the charm I suppose

André

Yeah I think so.

I think the debut album was more about the riffs, the grooves and the attitude

Song-writing came with Rated R.

Think this stands up to something more modern like Un-Reborn Again?

Or does it sound dated to you?

I think it sounds of it’s time for sure, but still sounds great

Fred

I think there’s some yin and yang about it

Un-Reborn sounds great, but it’s so polished

[“3’s & 7’s”]

André

That wasn’t a particularly smooth transition on the production front

I didn’t vote for this, but it’s a great single

Fred

I actually thought the drop from Un-Reborn to Mexicola worked a treat

But yeah, the climb back up to this, not so much

André

I voted for In the Fade here

Which is a bit more laid-back, slower pace.

Which I think was necessary after Mexicola

But hey ho

This is still a TUNE

Fred

It is

I don’t think it works very well in the playlist

André

Agreed, probably the weakest spot

[“I Appear Missing”]

André

Ahhhh

Fred

Here we go

André

The behemoth

My god this song..

Is this the best thing Homme has written?

Sorry, that’s a bit disrespectful to the rest of QOTSA, I’m fairly sure they all write it

Fred

It’s out there now, Andre

I’ll edit out that other stuff because it was vulgar, but that stays

André

It’s ok reddit doesn’t have a history of witch-hunts….

*ahem*

The drums !!!

Jon Theodore you boss

Fred

This is a great song, but I’d say it hits harder in the context of the album

André

3’s & 7’s lessens its impact slightly

I think when it comes down to it, my favourite QOTSA song will always be between this and Song for the Dead.

Fred

Amazing to think of the evolution between those two songs

The distance the group has travelled musically

André

They don’t get enough credit in that regard

[“…Like Clockwork”]

André

This was the only sensible way to follow I Appear Missing, surely?

Well done r/qotsa

Fred

There are a couple of times where songs have to come in pairs

André

Millionaire – No-one Knows

Fred

Aye

André

And I Appear Missing – Clockwork

Fred

Aye aye

Funnily enough, I think I’ve enjoyed Un-Reborn Again the most so far

André

Who could’ve predicted that?

Fred

Homme entering Pink Floyd orbit right about now

André

I think this is their 2nd best closing track

I Think I Lost My Headache is my favourite

[“God is in the Radio”]

André

Oh that transition is glorious

Fred

Songs for the Deaf really has something special

This song feels unstoppable every time I hear it

André

It’s wonderful

I think the under-stated drum beat plays a massive part

Grohl thrashes his way through the rest of the record but here he really does let the guitars, and Mark Lanegan’s voice, do the talking

He’s enabling them

Fred

Honestly, I usually prefer that style of drumming

André

I think there’s a balance to these things

Love this breakdown

DYNAMICS people. So important

I’m not sure the end of this song is going to fade into Fun Machine all that elegantly…

[“The Fun Machine Took a Shit & Died”]

André

Yeah, no. Haha

Fred

This does not belong

André

Doesn’t quite follow God is in the Radio does it?

Fred

Nooooooooo

André

But I have a lot of time for it

Fred

Ok how about this

Remove 3s & 7s and Fun Machine from the playlist and they can be B-sides for whatever the lead singles are

Andre

Haha hell yeah

The first third of the playlist was ace

Almost the first half, in fact

Fred

Yeah, it’s almost uncannily good

André

But things are a little jarring after that

The last 2 songs are gonna work very well though, seeing as it’s the end of Songs for the Deaf haha

So this curated album starts and ends with two Songs for the Deaf tracks

Which speaks volumes

Fred

Indeed

André

I’m a little exhausted at this point, with Fun Machine

Fred

We are over an hour in now

André

True enough

Fred

Would be interested to hear r/qotsa put together a 40 minute album in whatever order they liked

Though the logistics of that would be horrible

[“Song for the Deaf”]

André

This is such an ominous song

I adore it

Fred

It probably gets harder to mesh the albums as they get further along because they’re working towards somewhere different

André

Absolutely.

Though Like Clockwork into God is in the Radio was a fantastic transition

Some things just click

Fred

‘Forrrr the deafffff’

André

‘ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa’

[“Mosquito Song”]

Fred

Lush

André

With this, Like Clockwork, Headache, and of course Long slow Goodbye from Paralyse, QotSA sure know how to end a record

This is particularly special, it feels spiritual

This has been very nice

Thanks again to r/qotsa

I think the first half was outstanding so bravo

Fred

Yeah, lovely

Exhausting too

André

Yeah, perhaps 14 songs is a bit much when it’s not paced accordingly

Fred

Now make a 40 minute one

I’ll wait

André

And I’ll vote