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Queens Of The Stone Age – …Like Clockwork

I guess I should get in on this 2013 Music Rundown, since I’m plenty guilty of not getting around to reviewing a lot of my favorite albums of 2013.

I never reviewed this particular album because for one, I didn’t check it out until a few months after it came out, and even then it took a little while to grow on me.  Which seems a bit odd, since I can’t think of a lot of hard rock albums that I’d describe as “growers”, but I’d say this latest offering from Queens Of The Stone Age falls into that category.  This is probably due to the lurching, slow-burning quality of a lot of these songs, which is somewhat of a contrast to the straight-forward pop-metal that these guys are known for.  Which would also explain why this album has been slightly disappointing for fans who were looking for a return to QOTSA’s earsplitting glory days of Songs For The Deaf.  But as a newcomer to this band, …Like Clockwork strikes me as a perfectly logical step in Josh Homme’s quest for maximum heaviness.  Plus, Dave Grohl plays drums on most of the album.  How is that not awesome?