Songs for the Deaf

Infobox Album
Name = Songs for the Deaf
Type = studio
Artist = Queens of the Stone Age


Released = August 27, 2002
Recorded = March 2002–June 2002 at The Site (San Rafael, California), Conway Studios and Barefoot (Hollywood, California)
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 59:19
Label = Interscope, Ipecac Recordings
Producer = Josh Homme, Adam Kasper, Eric Valentine
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:126fmpzj9fco link]
* "The Guardian" Rating|4|5 [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,778962,00.html 8/23/2002]
* "NME" (9/10) [http://www.nme.com/reviews/6631.htm link]
* Playlouder rating|4|5 [http://playlouder.com/dhtml/#/content/11456/songs-for-the-deaf 8/06/2002]
* Pitchfork Media (7.9/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21177-songs-for-the-deaf?artist_title=21177-songs-for-the-deaf 8/11/2002]
* "Q" rating|4|5 9/02, p.104
* "Rolling Stone" rating|3|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queensofthestoneage/albums/album/280407/review/6067680/songs_for_the_deaf 9/5/02]
* Stylus Magazine (B+) [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/queens-of-the-stone-age/songs-for-the-deaf.htm link]
* "Uncut" rating|5|5 9/02, p.104
Last album = "Rated R"
(2000)
This album = "Songs for the Deaf"
(2002)
Next album = "Stone Age Complication"
(2004)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternative cover
Type = studio


Lower caption = Cover of U.S. vinyl release

"Songs for the Deaf" is the third studio album by American hard rock band Queens of the Stone Age. Released in 2002, the album features Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl as a guest drummer. Like their other albums, "Songs for the Deaf" has a large number of guest musicians, a signature of the band's releases. Following the breakthrough "Rated R", this album is widely regarded as Queens of the Stone Age's magnum opus, garnering universal acclaim from critics,cite web
url = http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/queensofthestoneage/songsforthedeaf
title = Songs for the Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age
publisher = Metacritic
accessdate = 2008-07-10] whilst earning the band's first gold record certification in the U.S., having sold 986,000 copies in the country.cite web
url = http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2007-06/02/content_885807.htm
title = Queens of the Stone Age enter new "Era"
author = Jonathan Cohen
publisher = Billboard
date = 2007-06-02
accessdate = 2008-07-10] "Songs for the Deaf" is loosely considered as a concept album, taking the listener on a drive from Los Angeles to the Mojave Desert while tuning into radio stations from towns on the way such as Banning, California and Chino Hills, California.

Overview and background

Contributors

"Songs for the Deaf" was the first and only Queens of the Stone Age album that featured Dave Grohl, of Nirvana and Foo Fighters, on drums, who also toured with the band. He replaced the previous drummer, Gene Trautmann, who started working on other projects. Grohl had been a keen admirer of Queens of the Stone Age since the band opened for Foo Fighters on tour, and originally wanted to appear on "Rated R".cite web
url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/142917/20000921/foo_fighters.jhtml
title = Queens of the Stone Age Hook Up With Foo Fighters
author = Robert Mancini
publisher = MTV
date = 2000-09-21
accessdate = 2007-06-19] He joined Queens of the Stone Age in October 2001 when he received a phone call from Josh Homme, with whom he had been friends since 1992 when Homme was the guitarist for Kyuss. Grohl admitted that he had not drummed for a long time, and added that fronting a band was "tiring".cite web
url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1454981/20020604/queens_stone_age.jhtml
title = Queens of the Stone Age Flex Their Star Power
author = Jon Wiederhorn
publisher = MTV
date = 2002-06-04
accessdate = 2007-06-19] Grohl put Foo Fighters on temporary hiatus, [cite web
url = http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1453485/20020418/foo_fighters.jhtml
title = Grohl Puts Foos On Hold, Returns To Drumkit With Queens
author = Joe D'Angelo
publisher = MTV
date = 2002-04-18
accessdate = 2007-06-19] [cite web
url = http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12026142
title = Grohl Drums For Queens of the Stone Age, Foos Take A Break
author = Matt Ashare
publisher = Yahoo
date = 2002-04-19
accessdate = 2007-06-19] delaying their upcoming album, "One By One", to October 22, 2002, [cite web
url = http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12046145
title = Foo Fighters' New Release Set For October 22
author = Brett Anderson
publisher = Yahoo
date = 2002-07-10
accessdate = 2007-06-19] because of touring duties with Queens of the Stone Age in support of the album. Grohl's first performance with the band occurred at March 7, 2002 in The Troubadour, Los Angeles, and his last performance was at the Fuji Rock Festival on July 28, 2002. He returned to the Foo Fighters soon after, initially being replaced in Queens of the Stone Age by Kelli Scott of Blinker the Star before Danzig drummer Joey Castillo was eventually announced as his long-term replacement in August 2002.cite web
url = http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=5621
title = QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Announce Touring Drummer
publisher = Blabbermouth
date = 2002-08-24
accessdate = 2007-06-20] [cite web
url = http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=5736
title = Former DANZIG Drummer Lands In QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
publisher = Blabbermouth
date = 2002-08-29
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

"Songs for the Deaf" marks the last appearances on a Queens of the Stone Age record of former members Brendon McNichol (lap steel) and Gene Trautmann (drums). The album also included the first musical contribution to a Queens of the Stone Age album by multi-instrumentalists Natasha Shneider and Alain Johannes (who co-wrote the track "Hangin' Tree" with Homme). Jeordie White (of Marilyn Manson fame) reportedly auditioned for the band in 2002, but lost out to Troy Van Leeuwen, [cite web
url = http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?Mode=Archive&Date=6/18/2002
title = TWIGGY RAMIREZ Auditions For QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE
publisher = Blabbermouth
date = 2002-06-18
accessdate = 2007-06-19] who joined the band as a touring member in support of "Songs for the Deaf"'. White did appear on the album, however, making a brief cameo appearance as a radio DJ. Shneider, Johannes and Van Leeuwen would subsequently become full time Queens of the Stone Age members and contribute to the follow-up album "Lullabies to Paralyze" (2005).

Another change in personnel came with the arrival of producer Eric Valentine, who had previously worked on a pair of Dwarves albums with Oliveri. [cite web
url = http://www.kindamuzik.net/interview/queens-of-the-stone-age/queens-of-the-stone-age
title = Kinda Muzik interview
author = Martijn ter Haar
publisher = Kinda Muzik
date = 2002-10-19
accessdate = 2007-06-21] Valentine was actually a requirement by Interscope and didn't do his job according to Homme, who commented that " [Valentine] just recorded it actually, it says production, he was only there to record the beginning of it." [cite web
url = http://thefade.net/oldsite/transcripts/0208xxjoshinterview.html
title = Interview with Nick Anderson
author = Nick Anderson
publisher = thefade.net
date = 2002-8
accessdate = 2007-06-21]

multi-listen item|filename=Queens of the Stone Age - First it Giveth.ogg
title="First It Giveth"|description=The opening of the third single from "Songs for the Deaf".|format=Ogg

Production and release

In September 2002, Josh Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album:cquote|I've been thinking of this album since the first album, not necessarily the radio thing, but to me that isn't the full concept, the full concept is the diversity of it all, I think we're supposed to be pushing buttons over the three records. I've always looked at our first three records as a set: the first one was to distance ourselves from Kyuss, the second album fanned out the music into different areas and this one takes that out even a little further, I think. [cite web
url = http://www.thefade.net/oldsite/articles/gos0209xx.html
title = Gallery of Sound: The Modern Stone Age Family
author = Albert Mudrian
publisher = thefade.net
date = 2002-08
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

In the same month, Nick Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with retail company HMV:

cquote|We're still doin' the same thing we always did, which is play music that we wanna hear but we can't buy it in the stores so we have to make it. We're not trying to cater to anybody—I wouldn't know how to do that because I've never sold records, you know what I mean? 'Let's write a single!' I don't know what that is—I've never had one. [cite web
url = http://www.thefade.net/oldsite/articles/hmv0209xx.html
title = HMV: Killer Queens
author = Barry Walsh
publisher = thefade.net
date = 2002-08
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

Between them, Homme and Oliveri had different opinions on the usage of fake radio excerpts between tracks on the album, the former believing it gave the album "fluidity". According to Oliveri, they are a jibe at, "how a lot of stations play the same thing over and over. We don't get played on the radio, so I figure we should talk shit about them." [cite web
url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/queensofthestoneage/articles/story/5933801/qotsa_enjoying_life_with_dave
title = QOTSA Enjoying Life With Dave
publisher = Rolling Stone
date = 2002-05-03
accessdate = 2007-06-21]

Several songs that appeared on the album (in re-worked form) were previously recorded and released on the Desert Sessions, a side project of Josh Homme with various guest collaborators. "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" was the opening track of "Volumes 5 & 6", with vocals originally performed by Mario Lalli instead of Oliveri and "Hangin' Tree" first appeared on Volumes 7 & 8.cite web
url = http://www.ipecac.com/bio.php?id=23
title = Ipecac Recordings: Desert Sessions
publisher = Ipecac Recordings
accessdate = 2007-06-19] Also, both "A Song for the Deaf" and "Go with the Flow" were previously performed as early as 2001 with the former having quite different lyrics and vocals completely by Mark Lanegan. [cite web
url = http://youtube.com/watch?v=uBk49JXDQHE
title = Queens perform "A Song for the Dead" at the Bizzare Festival.
publisher = YouTube
date = 2001
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

The album was initially planned for release on August 13, 2002, [cite web
url = http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=4021
title = QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Finalize Release Date, Track Listing For "Songs for the Deaf"
publisher = Blabbermouth
date = 2002-06-09
accessdate = 2007-06-20] but was eventually postponed for two weeks. [cite web
url = http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=4359
title = QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Push Back Album Release Date
publisher = Blabbermouth
date = 2002-06-25
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

Release and reception

Songs for the Deaf was the band's breakout album. Upon its release in August 2002, Songs for the Deaf peaked at number seventeen on the Billboard 200 album chart. The album granted Queens of the Stone Age international recognition.

The album would be released worldwide in late August, 2002. The album would peak at the top twenty on most of the charts it appeared on. Songs for the Deaf would continue the trend of higher charting albums after its release. Songs for the Deaf reached the top ten in the Norway, United Kingdom, Belgia and Australia, it was a moderate top twenty success in United States, Finland, Italy, and Sweden and the album reached the top thirty in Ireland, France and Denmark.

Like its predecessor, "Songs for the Deaf" received very positive reviews, aggregated as a total score of 89 out of 100 ("universal acclaim") on Metacritic, making the album the third highest rated on the site from 2002. [cite web
url = http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2002.shtml
title = Best of 2002: The 30 best reviewed albums of the year
publisher = Metacritic
accessdate = 2007-06-18] "Entertainment Weekly" called it "The year's best hard-rock album", giving it an A. [cite journal
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,345717,00.html
title = Entertainment Weekly review of Songs for the Deaf
journal = Entertainment Weekly
accessdate = 2007-06-19] "Splendid" said, "The bottom line is that QOTSA turns in another genre-demolishing, hard-as-titanium album in "Songs for the Deaf". This is not your father's metal. It's better." "Mojo" listed the album as the year's third best, while Playlouder and "Spin" placed it at fourth. "NME" placed the album as the sixth best, with the three singles each making the magazine's "Tracks of the Year" list over the course of 2002/2003. [cite web
url = http://www.nme.com/reviews/albums/oftheyear
title = NME Albums of the Year
publisher = NME
accessdate = 2007-06-19] "Kerrang!" rated the album at number 1 on its "Best albums of 2002" list. [cite web
url = http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/kerrang.html#2002
title = Kerrang! End of year lists
publisher = Kerrang!
accessdate = 2008-07-10]

The album met with great success earning band's first gold certification in the U.S. on January 27, 2003 shifting over 500,000 copies (as of June 2007 the total amount of sold copies is estimated at 986,000 according to Nielsen Soundscan),, platinum certification in UK on September 20, 2002 with sales exceeding 100,000 of units sold. [cite web
url = http://www.bpi.co.uk/platinum/platinumright.asp?rq=search_plat&r_id=30372
title = QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE , SONGS FOR THE DEAF , Gold , Fri Sep 20 2002
publisher = British Phonographic Industry
date = 2002-09-20
accessdate = 2007-06-11 ] and platinum status in Canada.cite web
url=http://www.cria.ca/cert_db_search.php
title=CRIA Certifications
publisher=Canadian Recording Industry Association
accessdate=2008-06-24 ]

The album received two Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy nominations for singles "No One Knows" (2003), [cite web
url = http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2003/grammys.htm
title = 45th Grammy Awards
publisher = Rockonthenet
accessdate = 2007-06-20] and "Go with the Flow" (2004). [cite web
url = http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2004/grammys.htm
title = 46th Grammy Awards
publisher = Rockonthenet
accessdate = 2007-06-20]

Accolades

The information regarding accolades attributed to "Songs for the Deaf" is adapted from AcclaimedMusic.net. [cite web | url=http://www.acclaimedmusic.net/Current/Queens%20of%20the%20Stone%20Age.htm|title=Songs for the Deaf's accolades|accessdate=2007-11-04|publisher=Acclaimed Music]

References

External links

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