Qeens of the stone age

Qeens of the stone age

Amazon They've delighted many, the harsh truth about Josh Homme's amorphous crew is that they haven't produced much to rival the ubiquitous thump of Feel Good Hit of the Summer or No One Knows in over a decade. Fortunately, Like Clockwork feels like a return to the smart but incisive grooves and melodies that made those songs such enduring anthems. As ever, there are innumerable guest appearances here, not least the return of Dave Grohl's thunderous drumming and Elton John's joyous piano on Fairweather Friends. But the album is dominated by Homme's razor-sharp songwriting, which ranges from the robotic pulse of If I Had a Tail to the succinct thud ofMy God Is the Sun and the wickedly infectious Smooth Sailing. The title track is best of all: a disarmingly fragile ballad that erupts noisily but artfully halfway through, it suggests that Homme may at last be making music with no hint of a sardonic raised eyebrow.gThe Tube