Lean, mean Queens hire Ween

Queens of the Stone Age is one of the few hard rock acts that can defy conventionality by being themselves. By borrowing the spirit of great hard rock acts of the '70s but forging ahead with a distinctive sound, the band has put out one of the year's best albums so far.\nThey are the hard rock band not for the hard rock connoisseur but for the person who realizes it's hot in here so it's time to take off all your clothes. They're studious enough to write sturdy tunes, but dumb enough to realize this is fun.\nQOTSA is essentially a duo, with former Kyuss members Josh Homme on guitar and Nick Oliveri on bass and rotating members filling out the band. \nHiring Dave Grohl to play drums is good for all parties. Grohl gets to maintain his chops without the songwriting burden he faces in the Foo Fighters, while QOTSA gets the best session drummer you can find to broaden its sonic range. Those of you who remember Grohl pounding the drums in Nirvana will notice a more supple player who can swing as well as he can hammer. This is especially evident in the included bonus DVD that includes live performance footage and shows how the Queens made the album. \nSemi-permanent member Mark Lanegan, formerly of the Screaming Trees, co-wrote three tunes and adds his wonderfully whiskey-and-nicotine-drenched vocals to several songs. Dean Ween plays guitar on three songs, and A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin also guests.\nCombined, they create a sound you can feel in your bones and an ethos that Creed or Limp Bizkit couldn't approach if they turned their amps up to 12. In fact, the sound is sensuous and slithery, buried in rhythm and uplifted by Homme and Oliveri's vocals. As singers, they float but never growl.\n"No One Knows" starts off jaunty and then boogies. "God Is in the Radio" combines epic psychedelia with a vocal hook. "First It Giveth" soars. The anthem "Do It Again" has a huge riff and an even bigger chorus.\nWhat's particularly special is that the Queens can do all this and stay perfectly within their capabilities.