On SONGS FOR THE DEAF, Queens of the Stone Age became a rock supergroup, consisting of vocalist/guitarist Joshua Homme (Kyuss), vocalist/bassist Nick Oliveri (Dwarves), vocalist Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees), and drummer Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters). This lineup effectively blew other heavy-rock acts out of the water, and seriously raised the band’s profile. By the time of 2005’s LULLABIES TO PARALYZE, however, Oliveri had acrimoniously departed the group, while Grohl and Lanegan had returned to their own projects, leaving Homme as the sole member.

Admirably, Homme plows ahead on LULLABIES TO PARALYZE with the assistance of multi-instrumentalists Troy Van Leeuwen and Alain Johannes and drummer Joey Castillo. Lanegan returns as a guest on the haunting opener, “This Lullaby,” and his gravelly vocals provide a fitting link between the old and new QOTSA incarnations. Homme wastes no time getting to his intense brand of riff-heavy rock with the amped-up one-two punch of “Medication” and “Everybody Knows That You Are Insane.” Elsewhere Homme conjures up moody, mid-tempo songs, most notably “Burn the Witch,” a lumbering tune that features Lanegan and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. While it would be nearly impossible to top SONGS FOR THE DEAF, Homme sticks to his strengths on LULLABIES, and the result is another fierce rock record.

Tracklisting
1. This Lullaby
2. Medication
3. Everybody Knows That You’re Insane
4. Tangled Up In Plaid
5. Burn The Witch
6. In My Head
7. Little Sister
8. I Never Came
9. Someone’s In The Wolf
10. Skin On Skin
11. Broken Box
12. You Got A Killer Scene There, Man
13. Long Slow Goodbye

Professional Reviews
Spin (p.99) – “[A]n eclectic, rippin’ record….The sexy glam stomps, clipped speed-riffs, and sludgy space-jams are still in effect and plenty hot.” – Grade: B

Entertainment Weekly (No. 812, p.70) – “[H]ammer of the Gods-heavy, this is an album many hard-rock fans would willingly risk deafness to hear cranked up loud…” – Grade: B

Uncut (p.98) – 4 stars out of 5 – “[F]resh, strange and exciting.”

Alternative Press (p.130) – 5 out of 5 – “Led by Josh Homme, possessor of the classiest falsetto and most distinct guitar tone in rock, the Queens have done it again…”

Magnet (p.53) – Ranked #9 in Magnet’s “The 20 Best Albums Of 2005″ – “The piston-precise rhythms and bull-god guitars power everything from witchy metal stomps…to scorned-dude sex laments…”

Mojo (Publisher) (p.86) – 4 stars out of 5 – “[I]t’s intimate, multi-layered and uplifting. The sound of one of rock’s most insidious songwriters drawing breath.”

Facing the third album blues, the Arctic Monkeys turned to Josh Homme, the Queens of the Stone Age mastermind renowned for his collaborations but untested as a producer. On first glance, it’s a peculiar pair – the sons of Paul Weller meet the heavy desert king – but this isn’t a team of equals, it’s a big brother helping his little brothers get out there and make something weird. Homme doesn’t imprint his own style on the Monkeys but encourages them to follow their strange instincts. Wading into the murky waters of HUMBUG it becomes clear that the common ground between the Arctic Monkeys and Mr Homme is the actual act of making music, the pleasure of not knowing what comes next when an entire band is drifting around the unknown.

Since so much of HUMBUG is about its process, it’s not always immediately accessible or pleasurable to an outside listener, nor is it quite the thickly colored freakout Homme’s presence suggests. The Arctic Monkeys still favor angular riffs and clenched rhythms, constructing tightly framed vignettes not widescreen epics, but they’re working with a darker palette and creating vaguely abstract compositions, sensibilities that extend to Alex Turner’s words too, as he trades keen detail for vivid scrawled impressions. Every element of the album reflects a band testing its limits, seeing where they could go next.

Whatever this band is doing seems to be working out alright for them, with adoring fans and a world tour, what’s more to want for the Arctic Monkeys?

Professional Reviews
Billboard – “The Monkeys still favor angular riffs and clenched rhythms, constructing tightly framed vignettes not widescreen epics, but they’re working with a darker palette and creating vaguely abstract compositions…”

Pitchfork (Website) – “It’s their loosest record yet by far….The guitars in particular have a snapping, reverberant desert/surf tone that fuels the band’s descent into night.”

Record Collector (magazine) (p.80) – 3 stars out of 5 — “Turner can floor with his wordplay….Plus the chops, particularly of drummer Matt Helders, who does well not to buckle under Homme’s glare, are, frankly, amazing throughout.”