First a Hater, Now an Avid Fan

I’ll admit it. I’m a music snob and an extremely harsh critic. 

As a musician who knows what he likes, I judge new music with some very high standards. I wish I could turn that part of my brain off, and just enjoy music for what it is, without analyzing each instrument, guitar tone, song composition and choices in solos.

That’s probably why I initially dismissed Queens of the Stone Age. A quick judgment of them on the surface led me to think it was just all power chords (the easiest guitar chords you can play) and no depth.

A former co-worker used to play a lot of QOTSA for me when we’d drive to lunch, but it still didn’t reel me in. I thought "these guys are OK at best."

It took seeing Them Crooked Vultures to get me into QOTSA. If you’re not familiar with the group, TCV consists of Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters/Nirvana on drums, John Paul Jones from Led Zeppelin on bass and Josh Homme from QOTSA on guitar and vocals.

I jumped at the opportunity to see this all-star band in October 2009 before I had heard a single note of their music. After seeing them perform at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., I was floored. They have to be, by far, one of the tightest rock bands that has ever performed. The songs were heavy, bluesy and a little weird and I loved it. After that show, I figured there was probably something to this Josh Homme guy, seeing as how he played some stellar lead guitar and owned the vocals. 

I worked my way backwards through their catalog, listening to the most recent album first because friends told me the newer stuff was a little more eclectic. Listening to them with a new appreciation for their front man, I was sucked right in.

Here’s what I decided: the music is fantastically raw and driving, and often reminds me of a darker, more musical punk rock. While many of the songs are based on grooves that sound simple at first, the band writes extremely well crafted songs that marry daring chord combinations with hooky melodies, often in different timings. The more I listen to them, the more the guitar playing impresses me. It’s bluesy, but weird and dark, and doesn’t really sound like anything else I’ve ever heard. This band is definitely musically sophisticated.

If you don’t believe that I’ve come around, tonight I’ll be driving to and from Philadelphia to see them.

My appreciation for QOTSA has taught me to not have such a harsh ear, something I’m still working on. Less can be more, and bands don’t need to be extremely complex and technical to be the best. QOTSA has taught me that a band that rules its musical realm, no matter what it sounds like, can be enjoyed for what they do.