Queens Of The Stone Age – Songs For The Deaf

Has there been a more appetite-whetting lead off single this decade than No One Knows? Or in any other decade for that matter? Josh Homme desert blues had broken beyond California with the band’s second LP, 2000’s Rater R (more on that later) and 'No One Knows' – complete with Dave Grohl returning to a drum stool – raised the bar some more. Songs For The Deaf hangs together like a concept album, fleshed out with weird radio broadcasts that excuses fast gear-changes and actually makes sense of the album's gothic fixation and madcap eclecticism. (Padraic Halpin)