…Like Clockwork – Queens of the Stone Age ★★★★★

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2013	…Like Clockwork	Queens of the Stone Age	★★★★★	97	Rock	Alternative Rock

When it’s all said and done, I know Songs for the Deaf will go down as Queens of the Stone Age’s crowning achievement, a breakout album filled with edgy riffs, sometimes operatic vocals, and raw, hard rock energy with the polish of perfect alternative radio rock. Songs like “No One Knows” and “Go With The Flow” will forever be radio station and playlist mainstays and are rightfully ingrained in the genre’s history, both for their success as hits and the part they play in shaping parts of 2000s’ music. 

But … Like Clockwork is the band’s magnum opus. Where Songs for the Deaf sometimes feels long, … Like Clockwork is crisp and keeps moving. Where Songs for the Deaf has a few tracks that feel redundant and uses a similar sound pallet throughout, … Like Clockwork continuously evolves. 

It’s the best pure rock album of the 2010s, relying on electrifying guitar riffs, pounding drums, and memorable hooks supported by detailed harmonies. On the surface, every song is good, dramatic, raucous alt-rock fun, but the more you dive in the more you discover an entire underworld of intricate phrases, echoes, sound effects and personality. 

Haunting harmonies and whispers by guests like Trent Reznor, Elton John, Mark Lanegan and Alex Turner are scattered across the record, mixed in with the clanging of metal chains, the shattering of glass, the creaking of doors and boat hulls, and the buzzing of distant violins and cellos. Even the slightly weaker tracks—like “I Sat By The Ocean” and “Vampire of Time and Memory”—have undertones that flow with the rest of the album really well. Josh Homme’s stellar performance — which exudes a nonchalant, drunken confidence that’s equal parts cool, sexy and pathetic — binds it all together and keeps it all grounded. 

But what makes the record truly stand out from the rest of Queens of the Stone Age’s discography are the softer, poetic, piano ballads. “Kalopsia” and the title track capture moving artistry found in classic rock reminiscent of Zeppelin’s “No Quarter.” Even the quieter, more subtle verses on “If I Had A Tail,” with it’s “Give Me Shelter” styled guitar work and soft-to-loud sound structure show a level of craftsmanship that hadn’t been there before, allowing the epic moments elsewhere on the album, like “I Appear Missing,” and “My God Is The Sun” to  really shine to their fullest potential.