Oct. 2000 - Q: Queens of the Stone Age
by Paul Rees
Hugely influential on the fertile but perennially underground stoner rock scene, Palm Desert quartet Kyuss grafted Black Sabbath's primeval grind onto Pink Floyd's most grandiose moments over the course of four fine albums before splitting in 1995. Formed and fronted by ex-Kyuss guitarist Joshua Homme, and completed by that band's erstwhile bassist Nick Oliveri and drummer Alfredo Hernandez, Queens Of The Stone Age are equally uncompromising. Deriving maximum power from a sound stripped to its core elements (Homme's bone-hard riffs and mournful vocals and a juggernaut of a rhythm section), such hulking rockers as Regular John and How To Handle A Rope recall Kyuss at their best, while You Can't Quit Me Baby carries off a monumental assault on the blues.

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