Songs For The Deaf

Songs For The Deaf
Songs For The Deaf
	; Cover for the CD. Vinyl below.
Studio album by Queens of the Stone Age
Released	August 27 2002
Recorded	October 2001 - June 2002
Genre	Stoner Rock, Desert Rock, Hard Rock
Length	60:53
Label	Interscope
Producer	Josh Homme, Adam Kasper, Eric Valentine
Queens of the Stone Age chronology
Alternative Cover

Songs for the Deaf is the third studio album by the American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on 27 August 2002 by Interscope Records. It features Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters on drums,^[1] alongside other guest musicians, and was the last Queens album to feature bassist Nick Oliveri. Songs for the Deaf is a loose concept album, taking the listener on a drive through the California desert from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree, tuning into radio stations from towns along the way such as Banning and Chino Hills.^[2]

Songs for the Deaf received critical acclaim and would prove to be the band's most commercially successful release. Songs For The Deaf would earn the band their first gold certification in the United States with nearly a million copies sold. One million copies were also sold in Europe, earning a platinum certification from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in 2008.^[3]^[4] Three singles were released from the album: "No One Knows", "Go with the Flow", and "First It Giveth", the first two both receiving a Grammy nomination^[5]^[6] and nominations at the MTV Music Video Awards.^[7]^[8]

Background[]

Production[]

Recording for Songs for the Deaf began in March 2002 at three studios across California. Though the liner notes credit Homme and Eric Valentine with producing the majority of the album – including "No One Knows" – Homme credits Valentine with merely recording the beginning of the album for contractual reasons.^[9]

Several songs on the album were re-worked forms of tracks previously recorded and released in 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 Volume 5: Poetry for the Masses (SeaShedShitheadByTheSheSore), with vocals originally performed by Mario Lalli (Across The River, Yawning Man, Fatso Jetson, etc.) instead of Oliveri. "Hangin' Tree" first appeared on Volume 7 : Gypsy Marches. "Song for the Deaf" and "Go with the Flow" were previously performed as early as 2001 with the former having very different lyrics and vocals completely by Mark Lanegan. The main riff for "No One Knows" comes from another Desert Sessions track in "Cold Sore Superstars", which appeared on Volume 8: Can You See Under My Thumb? There You Are..^[10]^[11]^[12]

Grohl's drums were recorded in a small, "dead"-sounding isolation booth, to create a "tight, focused, punchy and kind of claustrophobic" sound. To allow for greater flexibility in positioning microphones, the cymbals were recorded separately. To achieve this, Grohl performed each song twice; for the initial pass without cymbals, he hit electronic cymbal pads, then repeated the performance with real cymbals but a dummy snare and padded toms, so only the cymbals made noise. The takes were then blended. Engineer Eric Valentine credited Grohl for his patience in the process, which he described as "very difficult".^[13]

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."^[14]

Contributors[]

Songs for the Deaf was the first 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 drummer Gene Trautmann, who started working on other projects. Grohl had admired Queens of the Stone Age since they opened for Foo Fighters, and had wanted to appear on their previous album Rated R.^[15] Guitarist Josh Homme, with whom he had been friends since 1992, while Homme was the guitarist for Kyuss, invited him to join in October 2000. Grohl admitted that he had not drummed for a long time and added that fronting a band was "tiring".^[16] Grohl put Foo Fighters on hiatus,^[17]^[18] and delayed their upcoming album One by One to October 2002 to tour for Songs For the Deaf.^[19] Grohl's first performance with the band was at 7 March 2002 at The Troubadour in Los Angeles, and his last was at the Fuji Rock Festival on 28 July 2002. He returned to Foo Fighters soon after, with Danzig drummer Joey Castillo announced as his replacement in August 2002.^[20]^[21]

Songs for the Deaf was the last appearance on a Queens of the Stone Age record by Brendon McNichol (lap steel), Gene Trautmann (drums), and bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri, the latter being fired following the tour. The album also included the first musical contribution to a Queens of the Stone Age album by multi-instrumentalists Natasha Shneider and Alain Johannes. Shneider and Johannes, alongside Songs for the Deaf touring recruits Castillo and Troy Van Leeuwen of Failure and A Perfect Circle would subsequently become full-time Queens of the Stone Age members and contribute to the follow-up album Lullabies to Paralyze, released in 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.^[22] Valentine was a requirement by Interscope and did not 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." Valentine did sessions with the band from August 2001 through January 2002, despite claiming they were unhappy with his work, the majority of the album recordings are from those sessions.^[23]

Rounding out the core recording lineup of Homme, Oliveri, and Grohl, was singer/songwriter Mark Lanegan, formerly of Screaming Trees, a band that Homme had toured with previously. Lanegan joined the band as a full-time member in 2001 after having guested on the band's previous album, Rated R, and provided additional songwriting and lyrics to the group, in addition to lead vocals on several songs. Lanegan would become a recurring guest for every record onward except for the 2017 album Villains.

Marketing and Artwork[]

In September 2002, Homme explained the band's goals with the release of the album: "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."^[24]

In the same month, Oliveri explained the band's aims in an interview with retail company HMV: "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."^[25]

The album was initially planned for release on 13 August 2002,^[26] but was postponed for two weeks.^[27]

The cover art for the US double LP version of the album is different from the CD version, featuring a red Q (with a sperm cell as the line in the Q and an egg cell as the circle) on a black background with no other text. It was released on red vinyl. The UK vinyl version cover is the same as the CD cover. The dashboard/interior with superimposed logos is that of a Fiat 124 Sport Spider, a 1960s–1980s mass market Italian sports car. The person on the album disc is musician Dave Catching, who performs on the album.^[28]

Both the CD and LP cover have a Parental Advisory seal on most copies, due to the word "fuck" appearing in the title track "Song for the Deaf" and "Six Shooter", as well as for the violent lyrics of the latter track.

There were also three different album covers that were made for the CD version of Songs for the Deaf. All of the interior artwork for each of the three versions is the same, but there were covers printed in magenta, orange and red, the latter color being the most common variation.

Singles and Song Notes[]

No One Knows would be the first single and second track from their third album, Songs for the Deaf, and was released on 26 November 2002.^[29] "No One Knows" was a chart success, becoming the band's only single to top the US Alternative charts,^[30] along with the UK Rock and Metal Charts.^[31] Along with charting in several countries,^[32]^[33]^[34] "No One Knows" would be awarded a Platinum certification in the United Kingdom with over 600,000 units sold.^[35]

Go With The Flow would be the album's second single, released on 7 April 2003. At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, it won Best Special Effects and was nominated for Best Art Direction and Breakthrough Video.^[36] The video—rendered in black, white, and red—features the band performing at the back of a Chevrolet pickup truck driving through a desert highway. The video also has sexual themes such as a metaphor of two cars colliding with each other, symbolizing intercourse, and an image of a bident (like the one on the cover of the album) showing some erotic attributes. It would peak at #7 on the Billboard charts^[37] and #3 on the UK Rock and Metal Charts,^[38] ultimately going Silver in the latter country with over 200,000 copies sold.^[39]

First It Giveth would be the final single for the album, released on 18 August 2003 and peaking at #33 on the UK Charts.^[40]

"The Real Song for the Deaf", which is essentially Track 0, is located in the pregap of Track 1 as a hidden track. The hidden track can be found by rewinding the first track to roughly -1:33. A voice comes on and says: "Huh? What?" and a pattern of low-frequency bass plays and modulates for the rest of the song. This track, as well as being omitted from some pressings of the album, is difficult to listen to on all but conventional CD players. Most software CD players do not allow rewinding of this nature, and most MP3 "ripping" software will not include the data.

The track was included, unhidden, on the album's cassette tape release, playing before "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire". On most digital distribution platforms, this track is included as part of the entire album. In the US, Spotify and the iTunes Store include it as a separate track. On the UK iTunes Store, it is included as part of "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire". It is however omitted from the 2019 vinyl reissues.

The intro to track #4, "Song for the Dead", is an homage to Black Flag; the drum rhythm that takes off after the intro solo is lifted directly from the Black Flag song "Slip It In".^[41]

Following a period of silence after the end of track #13, "Song for the Deaf" a short hidden outtake of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer", from the band's previous album Rated R is played with all vocals replaced with deranged laughter. The song was similarly reprised on Rated R following the track "In the Fade" on that album.

Unlike most edited versions, the edited version of Songs for the Deaf uses loud "bleeps" to censor lyrics, as if it were a live radio broadcast, as opposed to quietly muting the audio track. This sound is used to mask all instances of the words "fuck" and "kill". For the case of "Six Shooter", the lyrics are heard as "[BEEP] this road! And [BEEP] you too! I'll [BEEP]ing [BEEP] your best friend! What you [BEEP]ing going to do!", as opposed to hearing the words "fuck" and "kill".^[42]

A second version of "Gonna Leave You" dubbed "Te Voy a Dejar" was recorded with Nick Oliveri singing in Spanish, and is available as a B-side on the UK version of the "No One Knows" CD single.

Initial pressings of the album came with a bonus DVD, which featured behind the scenes footage of the group recording album, live performances (many of which were taken from the Troubadour live show), and interview footage.^[43]

A limited tour edition of the album was released on 2 June 2003, with a second disc of five songs recorded live at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels.^[44]

The band's subsequent studio album, Lullabies to Paralyze, got its name from a line in "Mosquito Song".^[45]

Release and Charts[]

Songs for the Deaf was Queens of the Stone Age's breakout album and garnered the band international recognition. Upon its worldwide release in late August 2002, the album peaked at number 17 on the Billboard 200 album chart.^[46] Along with the United States, Songs For The Deaf would chart in sixteen countries:

Australian Albums (ARIA) 7^[47]
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 19^[48]
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 9^[49]
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) 32^[50]
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 33^[51]
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 17^[52]
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) 11^[53]
French Albums (SNEP) 32^[54]
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 9^[55]
Irish Albums (IRMA) 32^[56]
Italian Albums (FIMI) 23^[57]
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 13^[58]
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) 2^[59]
Scottish Albums (OCC) 4^[60]
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) 18^[61]
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) 20^[62]
UK Albums (OCC) 4^[63]

Songs For The Deaf would also leave a mark on several year-end charts and also chart in 2003 once "Go With The Flow" would begin charting as it's own single:

Australian Albums (ARIA) 72^[64]
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 43^[65]
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 93^[66]
UK Albums (OCC) 92^[67]
UK Albums (OCC; 2003) 178^[68]
US Billboard 200 (2003) 120^[69]

Reception and Accolades[]

Songs for the Deaf received critical acclaim and is often cited as the band's greatest album to date.^[70] On Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 from aggregated critic reviews, Songs for the Deaf is assigned a score of 89, indicating "universal acclaim", making the album the third highest-rated on the site from 2002.^[71] Josh Tyrangiel of Entertainment Weekly called it "the year's best hard-rock album", giving it an A.^[72] 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."^[73] Mojo listed the album as the year's third best.^[74] Kludge ranked it at number six on their list of best albums of 2002.^[75] 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.^[76] Both Stonerrock.com and Kerrang! rated the album at number 1 on its "Best albums of 2002" list.^[77]^[78] Music critic Steven Hyden called the album the greatest hard-rock record of the 21st century.^[79] In October 2001, while the album was being recorded, Dave Grohl stated that Songs for the Deaf was his favorite album that he had ever played drums on.^[80]

Other notable critics that would speak positively of Songs For The Deaf would be among the likes of AllMusic (5/5),^[81] Blender (4/5),^[82] The Guardian (4/5),^[83] Pitchfork (7.9/10),^[84] the Los Angeles Times (Three Stars),^[85] NME (9/10),^[86] Q Magazine (4/5), Rolling Stone (3/5)^[87] and Uncut Magazine (5/5).

The album met with great success earning the band's first gold certification in the US on 27 January 2003, shifting over 500,000 copies, as well as platinum certification in the UK on 20 September 2002, with sales exceeding 100,000 of units sold.^[88] Songs For The Deaf would also achieve platinum status in Canada.^[89] As of June 2007 the total amount of sold copies in the US is estimated at 1,186,000 according to Nielsen Soundscan and thus eligible for Platinum status.^[90]

The album received two Best Hard Rock Performance Grammy nominations for singles "No One Knows" (2002),^[91] and "Go with the Flow" (2003).^[92]

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of its "Hottest 100" poll, Australian radio station Triple J ran a "Hottest 100 of the last 20 years" poll in June 2013. Songs that were released between 1994 and 2013 were eligible for the poll and "No One Knows" was voted into eleventh position.^[93]^[94]

Songs For The Deaf would attain the following accolades, among others:

Rock Hard - The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time (#380)
Pitchfork - The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s (#134)^[95]
HARP - 50 Most Essential Albums Since 2001 (#48)^[96]
SPIN - The Top 40 Albums of 2002 (#34)^[97]
VPRO - 299 Nominations of The Best Album of All Time (#33)^[98]
Uncut - Uncut's Albums of The Decade (#28)^[99]
The Daily Orange - The Top 25 Albums of 2002 (#17)^[100]
Dagsavisen - The 21 Best Albums of The 21st Century (#16)^[101]
NME - The 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade (#15) ^[102]
Digital Dream Door - The 100 Greatest Albums of 2002 (#12)^[103]
No Rip Cord - The Top 50 Albums of 2002 (#11)^[104]
Decibel Magazine - The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of The Decade (#7)^[105]
Kludge - The Best Albums of 2002 (#6)^[106]
NME - The Best Albums of 2002 (#6)^[107]
Mojo Magazine - The Top Albums of 2002 (#3)^[108]
Kerrang! - The Best Albums of 2002 (#1)^[109]
Stonerrock.com - The Top 22 Albums of 2002 (#1)^[110]
Loudwire - The Top 10 Albums of 2002 (#1)^[111]
Metal Hammer / Louder Sound - The 10 Best Metal Albums of 2002^[112]

Tracklist[]

All songs written by Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri except where noted.