walking upstream…
Queens of the Stone Age
photo: diskodieter · cc by 4.0 ↗Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age formed in 1996 around guitarist Josh Homme, fresh from the breakup of the desert-rock band Kyuss, as a looser, groove-driven vehicle he described as a band that could 'play anything.' The self-titled 1998 debut traded Kyuss's sandblasted heaviness for hypnotic, repetitive riffing Homme has likened to a robot playing rock; 'Rated R' (2000) widened the palette, and 'Songs for the Deaf' (2002), with Dave Grohl on drums and Mark Lanegan sharing vocals, became their breakthrough. Across a rotating cast anchored by Homme, the band has moved from stoner-rock roots toward sleeker, boogie-inflected and often menacing hard rock, staying a fixture of arena stages into the 2010s and beyond.
the sound in question
2002
No One KnowsQueens of the Stone Age
walk the tributaries ↓
Kyuss1990s · Stoner rock / Desert rock / Stoner metal / Heavy metal
Queens of the Stone Age is the most direct descendant of Kyuss: Homme carried over the down-tuned, fuzz-heavy guitar tone and the hypnotic, riff-as-groove approach he'd developed in the desert, then loosened it and pared it into tighter songs. The earliest Queens material in particular reads as Kyuss stripped of its longest jams and shaped into concise, hook-bearing forms.
listen: upstream & here
1992
Green MachineKyuss
1998
Regular JohnQueens of the Stone Age
listen forSet Kyuss's 'Green Machine' against 'Regular John' — both ride a thick, distorted riff that locks into a rolling, mid-tempo groove and simply stays there, valuing weight and repetition over flash.
ZZ Top1970s · Blues rock / Southern rock / Boogie rock
Homme has repeatedly cited ZZ Top's early records as a model, saying he wanted the 2017 album 'Villains' to sound 'tight like an early ZZ Top record' and describing its lead single as a kind of robot boogie. The debt shows up in Queens' love of a lean, swinging, blues-derived shuffle played with mechanical precision.
listen: upstream & heresource: Guitar World ↗
1973
La GrangeZZ Top
2017
The Way You Used to DoQueens of the Stone Age
listen forPlay 'La Grange' next to 'The Way You Used to Do' — both strut on a stripped-down boogie shuffle, guitar and drums locking into a tight, hip-swinging groove rather than a crushing riff.
The Stooges1970s · Proto-punk / Garage rock / Hard rock
Homme has praised the Stooges' 'Raw Power' as one of the wildest records ever made and framed the original Queens concept as 'Can meets the Stooges meets Tom Waits.' Their proto-punk savagery — raw, trebly guitar and a sneering, confrontational drive — surfaces in Queens' nastier, faster material.
listen: upstream & here
1973
Search and DestroyThe Stooges
2007
3's & 7'sQueens of the Stone Age
listen forLine up 'Search and Destroy' with '3's & 7's' — both come out swinging on a jagged, overdriven guitar riff at a headlong tempo, menace delivered with a garage-rock snarl.