New album: Like Clockwork
Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
Label: Matador
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
The new Queens of the Stone Age album — like most of the group’s albums — is an approximation of what the Foo Fighters would sound like if they were a King Crimson cover band.
Speaking of Foo Fighters, head Foo Dave Grohl drums on a few “Like Clockwork” tracks, marking his second appearance on a QOTSA album. Like the Foo Fighters, QOTSA doesn’t necessarily form a band, but rather a tight knit unit put together to foster the vision of band leader Josh Homme.
Whether it’s a choice or just a case of having a different skill set, Homme doesn’t load his songs with pop hooks the way Grohl would. The strength of this material comes largely from a musical standpoint, as the riffs and angular chord progressions are intriguingly pummeling. As a vocalist, Homme will never be confused with the tattooed dude from Maroon 5, but he does possess a menacing quality that serves the material well.
The first half of the record is executed with spirit, but nothing really catches fire until the midway point. “Kalopsia” — a lilting piano number that borrows the boing-boing bass sound from Berlin’s “Take My Breath Away” — is an anomaly in the QOTSA songbook, yet it’s one of the best things Homme has ever recorded. Album closer “Like Clockwork” is a sad piano ballad in the great Neil Young tradition which shows Homme isn’t afraid of a solid melody.
As for the rawk tunes, “Fairweather Friends” (featuring former Screaming Tree Mark Lanegan), along with “I Appear Missing” and “Smooth Sailing,” match up perfectly with QOTSA songs of yore. There is an Adrian Belew-like quirkiness sprinkled throughout, but that quirkiness is delivered with psychedelic sledgehammers.
After a sluggish start, “Like Clockwork” proves itself to be a solid album. These songs won’t bring legions of new followers in, but they will keep the faithful happy.
Classic album: Wanted: One Soul Singer
Artist: Johnnie Taylor
Label: Stax
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
Embraced by the welcoming arms of the legendary southern soul powerhouse Stax Records, Johnnie Taylor turned in a classic LP with “Wanted: One Soul Singer.”
Never as celebrated as Stax stalwarts Sam and Dave or Otis Redding, Taylor nevertheless earned a loyal following that sustained his recording/performing career until his death in 2000. “Soul Singer” was his Stax debut, but his gospel-infused vocals meshed with house band Booker T. & the M.G.’s like sugar and tea.
Isaac Hayes and Dave Porter — the team that wrote “Soul Man” for Sam and Dave — contributed to five songs on “Soul Singer,” most notably the strutting regional hit “Toe Hold.” In a genius move, lyrics were added to the Herbie Hancock instrumental “Watermelon Man,” thus giving the song a new life and Taylor a concert favorite for decades to come.
None of the songs on “Soul Singer” blazed to the top of the national charts, but authentic R&B aficionados regard “Soul Singer” tracks such as “Sixteen Tons” and “Blues in the Night” as genre defining classics. The thick Hammond organ work on “Sixteen Tons” — mixed with Taylor’s gritty vocals — eventually influenced major rock bands, such as the Allman Brothers, Deep Purple and Steppenwolf. For proof, just listen to Deep Purple’s “Hush” or the Allman Brothers’ “Black Hearted Woman.”
There are many great albums in the Johnnie Taylor catalog, but “Wanted: One Soul Singer” was the first.
Jon Dawson’s album reviews appear every Thursday in The Free Press. Contact Jon at 252-559-1092 or jon.dawson@kinston.com. Purchase books, music and Deep Purple 8-tracks at jondawson.com.