...Like Clockwork, by Queens of the Stone Age

“Healing, like fire from a gun/ Kneeling, my God in the sun,” wails Josh Homme on “My God Is the Sun,” the first single from Queens of the Stone Age’s new album. The song sounds like a call to arms; a battle cry for all of the lost stoners of the world.

Joined once again by Dave Grohl on drums and percussion, Queens are in top form after their last album, while commendable, floundered. Full of their signature heavy-metal sludge, …Like Clockwork showcases Queens’s strengths at creating brilliant, heavy, and creepy stoner rock (“Keep Your Eyes Peeled” and “If I Had A Tail” are highlights).

The album also features guests Trent Reznor, founding bassist Nick Olivery, Mark Lanegan, and (most odd, yet fitting) Elton John on the ballad “Fairweather Friends.”

The album has no duds, proving what their fans have known all along, that they are truly Queens of the Stone Age…or any age for that matter.

• Album: ...Like Clockwork
• Artist: Queens of the Stone Age
• Label: Matador Records
• Songs: (1) Keep Your Eyes Peeled (2) I Sat by the Ocean (3) The Vampyre of Time and Memory (4) If I Had a Tail (5) My God Is the Sun (6) Kalopsia (7) Fairweather Friends (8) Smooth Sailing (9) I Appear Missing (10) ...Like Clockwork