After the breakup of his previous band, Josh Homme formed Gamma Ray in 1996, and later changed the name to Queens of The Stone Age; said to be named so because “rock should be heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls.” The band released their self-titled album in 1998, which was mostly recorded by Homme himself, with the appearance Alfredo Hernandez on drums and Chris Goss on backing vocals. Shortly after it’s release, Homme’s former Kyuss band mate, bassist Nick Oliveri joined the band, shortly followed by guitarist Dave Catching, as well as drummer Joey Castillo.
With the help of various other artists, “Rated R” was released in 2000, garnering a lot more attention than their debut album. Frequent touring helped the band gain more support, but they were still able to get time in the studio and released “Songs For The Deaf.” The record was extremely well received and saw to the addition of guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen (previously a part of A Perfect Circle). The band was on a constant tour, and due to issues, Oliveri ended up leaving the band in 2004.
Due to a leak, their 2005 album “Lullabies to Paralyze” debuted on the Billboard charts at the Number 5 slot, making it their most successful album to date. Later that same year, the band released a live album from their performances in London, England. With a slate of guest appearances, the band’s album “Era Vulgaris” was completed and released in 2007, followed by a tour where bassist Michael Shuman and keyboardist Dean Fertita took over touring duties.
During the span of 2009-2010, the band took a hiatus for members to work on their solo projects. While other members joined other bands, Homme suffered an unfortunate near death experience during a knee surgery, forcing him into bed rest for three months. This caused a plunge into depression where Homme almost considered quitting music altogether; however, once he recovered, Queens of the Stone Age re-released their self-titled album and included a tour and a few large festivals, one of which was the last show with drummer Joey Castillo.
With the loss of Castillo and a new album in the works in 2012, Homme announced that Foo Fighter’s Dave Grohl was filling in on the recording sessions for the drum parts, and by summer of 2013 “…Like Clockwork” was released, first in the UK, followed by a US release with the debut reaching Number 1. Homme announced that at the end of their “…Like Clockwork” tour, the band will return to the studio at the end of 2014 to start recording their next album.
Last year I managed to see QOTSA a whopping five times in very different settings. The smallest show I saw was in Rough Trade (East London - maybe 150 people) and the biggest I saw was at Wembley Arene (13,000 people). I also travelled from London to Berlin to see the play in an outside castle named Zitadelle Spandau. Why did I bother going to all these shows? Quite simply there is no better live band then Queens of the Stone Age. Every show is subtly different, yet every show is always spectacular, QOTSA don't do "off" nights. It's rare to find a band that's so well refined on record but yet is able to take that and expand on it and actually be better live. Songs are often jammed live and broken down to their bare elements before coming back to the song with a truckload of added enthusiasm, always absolutely 100% note perfect and spot on. QOTSA aren't afraid to play songs they haven't played in years, however you will always hear the staple songs from Songs For The Deaf and Rated R as well, they aren't ashamed or bored of their back catalogue like so many bands.
Every member of QOTSA is exceptionally talented at their instruments, such as Dean Fertita, who's other band The Dead Weather happens to include Jack White, or Troy Van Leeuwen who used to play in A Perfect Circle, or newest addition Jon Theodore who used to play drums in The Mars Volta. QOTSA are practically a supergroup in their own right. Part of the reason why QOTSA always sound so good live is down to their soundman, Hutch. Josh hasn't played a show without him since he was 18 years old, no matter what band he's been in (Kyuss, Them Crooked Vultures etc). Hutch knows QOTSA's sound probably better than the band themselves and has even appeared in promo photos with them. In an interview with Hutch I recall him saying soundcheck is all well and good but he know that QOTSA always come bolting out of the gates a hundred times harder for the actual performance, so he has to adapt that into his day to day sound desk work. He is effectively a band member behind the sound desk, not something every band has. Queens of the Stone Age know their audience and Josh is never afraid to interact and really put on a show without acting and pretence. There is something very genuine and pure about QOTSA which is hard to find in music these days and if you have the opportunity you should definitely explore it because if you miss it, you will well and truly miss it.
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