With an album opener like Turning on the Screw that sounded exactly like King Crimson's Red played uninterestingly by one of those indie-rock bands, I kind of saw what was in store. Era Vulgaris, by the way, is Queens of the Stone Age's fifth and the latest studio album.



The guitars are dirtier and heavier this time than on the previous album Lullabies to Paralyze and there are a lot of interesting contrapuntal elements going on with and between the two guitars and the bass. The jammy riffs are generally good too. That ends the good part about this album. The bad part is, song after song, the grooves and the melodies are all lite, safe and clearly appealing only for fans of present day bland alt/lo-fi/indie/club younameit rock that's in vogue. In fact QOTSA at the moment are sort of RHCP of dirty rock, as watered down as them yet at the peak of its popularity. OK, I'm exaggerating here because these guys are at least trying a lot of ideas, but just not making them memorable.

My favourite song of the album is Make It Wit Chu which is the least QOTSA sounding and also happens to be a rerecorded version of an older song.

The album does have its moments even otherwise but nothing more. I wanted to like it and I think this has even turned out better than the previous album but I kind of lost interest by the time I sat through this for the fifth time or so. Doubt if it's going to get played anymore especially considering all the really special releases that seem to be coming out every other week this year.

For the people who're still interested, this album also includes guest appearances by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Mark Lannegan.



Year of Release: 2007
Label: Interscope Records