Them Crooked Vultures don’t live up to the hype

By Jared Field
Western Herald

The names Josh Homme, John Paul Jones, and Dave Grohl shouldn’t be equivalent to anything other than an extraordinary musical collaboration, but apparently something went wrong.

On paper, a combination of the guys from Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, and Led Zeppelin seems like a no-brainer. It could be musical industry giant in the making – a monopoly. Even prior to their debut album’s release, their tour has spread rumors of the band putting on a high energy, amazing show.

But when the self-titled debut album was released on Nov. 17, anxious fans were left disappointed.

Musically, the album is technically sound and innovative. Dave Grohl sounds better than ever on drums, taking on wildly odd time shifts and carried by brain-busting fills. The mix of the drums puts listeners directly in a stadium, bringing out the inner John Bonham he may be trying too hard to reach.

John Paul Jones still remains Zeppelin-esque – smooth and groovy. As the master mind behind the musical innovation, it’s his veteran musicianship that makes the “Them Crooked Vultures” worth listening to.

The problem lies deeper (or closer if you’re watching the band live – however one wants to look at it). Lead singer and guitar player Josh Homme, though a great rock ‘n’ roll musician, just doesn’t come through.

Homme’s vocals are mixed incredibly low on almost every track, implying a lack of confidence and lyrical ingenuity. His guitar work is a sea sick atrocity of back and forth drop C chords, driving Queens of the Stone Age’s already dizzying “stoner-rock” off the edge.

In other words, the brilliance of the already initiated rock ‘n’ roll hall of fammers makes Them Crooked Vultures worth listening to – if listeners can get past the confusing elements.

Granted, there may be some negative media floating around about the album, but it has to be hard for a true musician listening to the album not to see some of the positive musical aspects. As previously mentioned, Dave Grohl and JPJ absolutely kill it. Homme’s sense of humor does show through, especially in the song entitled, “No one loves me and neither do I.”

There are also a solid few tracks such as “Elephant” and their radio single “New Fang,” which are much easier to listen to than the rest of the album.

If you’re thinking about purchasing the $15 CD or the $9.99 mp3 on iTunes to “support the band,” think again, and hope a friend already made that very mistake.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Dec 10 2009. Filed under A & E. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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