The Foo Fighters took a break in 2001. Their new album, to come later as One By One, was not going well. The band were infighting, and the album was put on hold. Around that time, Josh Homme hooked up with his old buddy Dave Grohl and invited him to play on the new Queens of the Stone Age album. Dave was growing wearing of frontman duties in his own band and was happy to just be a drummer again for a little while.
The resultant QOTSA album, Songs for the Deaf, was a smash hit. Dave Grohl’s presence brought them a higher profile than before, but it was also just a flat-out kick ass record.
One of our store managers, Joe “Big Nose” was a Queens of the Stone Age fan going back to Kyuss. Though I was not there personally when this happened, Joe likely had an internal meltdown when a customer asked:
“Hey, do you have that new side project of Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters?”
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – “First It Giveth” (2002 single)
I’m on record for being a huge fan of Songs For the Deaf. Uncle Meat and I disagree on this issue, as he considers Songs For the Deaf as being the beginning of a downturn. I see it as some kind of peak, on an equal plane with Rated R. “First It Giveth” is undoubtedly one of the highlights from Songs. It has a brutally heavy groove on the choruses, coupled with haunted, frantic verses. Dave Grohl’s best work is to be found on Songs For the Deaf. That is my belief. I consider “First It Giveth” to be among the evidence to this.
Track 2 is the groovy spy drama rock of “The Most Exalted Potentate of Love”. This is apparently a Cramps cover. Wikipedia says The Cramps are “psychobilly”. Having heard this song, sure, I’ll go with that. It’s pretty cool, that’s for sure.
I’ve never hidden my dislike for remixes. 9 times out of 10, the album versions are superior. I do think a remix has some merit when it completely transforms a song into something new. This remix of “Song For the Deaf” does that. Unfortunately I don’t think it’s an improvement in any way. The original song is a relentless beast. Waves of guitar wash over Grohl’s stumbling drum rolls, while Josh Homme sings hypnotically. This remix strips away most (if not all?) of the original instrumentation, isolating Homme’s vocal tracks. Then it adds electronic beats, piano, guitar squeals and effects. It’s…interesting? I’m at a loss for words. I don’t like remixes OK?
I have said in the past that I think remixers should come up with better, more original titles for their remixes. At least whoever mixed this (the credits don’t say) came up with an original title: “The Blind Can Goes Get Fucked Remix” [sic].
Although the technology is kinda dated, there’s also a music video for your computer. This is for the main track, “First It Giveth”. This is a cool performance video made up of tour and backstage footage.
Two out of three good tracks? Pretty easy to rate this one.
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