In Times New Roman...

I can’t stop listening to this album even after all this time - I started out rocking to Paper Machete because it’s an energetic track about the different hurdles in life and overcoming them. Next, however, I moved on to the thematically paired tracks of Made to Parade and Carnavoyeur, which I absolutely love; they talk about the soullessness of nine-to-five work and then the emptiness of reaching the top, respectively, which is relatable to a lot of people. I’ve recently been listening to Emotion Sickness and Straight Jacket Fitting, which are raw, emotional songs about heartbreak and hedonism, respectively. The whole album is gritty and sharp, and you can really vibe with the powerful emotions, vocals, and instruments - it’s a vicarious thrill ride that I can’t get off of.

I’ve always liked the band, but a lot of their songs sounded kind of similar on other albums. This album is a collection of very unique sounds. Homme is like Bowie reincarnated on several tracks.

Another great album! Buy this.

Queens of the Stone Age are my all-time favorite group. This album is like a love letter from Josh Homme to longtime fans. It’s rich, raw, and a complete revival of their sound compared to the album, Villains. Homme proves again that pain can lead to beauty. Of course, I don’t root for bad things to happen to Josh, but man, when he gets inspired, it’s magnificent. I’ve now seen them twice on this tour and it’s just phenomenal. The Queens are back, baby <3

In Times New Roman has a lot of good tracks. The one you maybe hear the most everywhere is Paper Machete. Personally my standouts are Obscenery, Made to Parade, and Emotion Sickness. While tracks like the ones I listed above seem like a natural progression to what QOTSA has been building, others come across as throwbacks to prior work. What the Peephole Say is reminiscent of Villain’s Head Like a Haunted House while Sicily sounds like a slept on track from Era Vulgaris or prior. What knocks this album down a point for me though I think is that familiarity. Whenever I listen to this album as a whole, I struggle to enjoy it. The tracks are good, but as an album they come across as forced together, almost like a “best of…” album. I feel that you could drop each track into one of QOTSA’s 7 previous albums and it would feel right at home. Overall I think the best way to enjoy In Times New Roman is to put these tracks into your own large QOTSA playlist and hit shuffle.

Incredible album, well mixed, catchy, evil and beautiful. One of the best rock albums of all time!

This bands first 4 or 5 albums are all toe tapping and catchy start to finish, but the last couple feel like lazy b sides that never should have seen the light of day..

This is the best album in there last four released.

Really enjoying this new album.

I remember the moment I fell in love with QOTSA, and it wasn’t when No One Knows catapulted them into the stratosphere of universal acclaim. In fact I wasn’t particularly fond of that song when it first dropped and was on radio repeat, I did however feel that this was a band I needed to do a deep dive on, as Josh’s lyrics, voice, as well as guitar playing, especially his guitar playing, were undeniably incendiary. So I bought a CD of Songs For The Deaf and it was the opening track, You Think I Ain’t Worth A Dollar But I Feel Like A Millionaire that left me in complete awe. I could go on and on about how much I LOVE their self titled album, Rated R, Songs For The Deaf, Lullabies to Paralyze, and Era Vulgaris but I’m not going to, there’s nothing I can say about those albums that you haven’t already heard or feel yourself, and the last thing you need is someone opining on tried and true brilliance, but In Times New Roman is new, and as the masses have come out to celebrate, praise and grovel at its release, I am well within my right to give it an objective thrashing. QOTSA were one of my favorite bands because they refused to placate the mob, you don’t like our desert rock sound, **** you, we play to loud, eat a bag of *****, too many vocalists on an album and not enough continuity, to bad, we’re not making music for you, we’re making music that we want to listen to…… My words not theirs but you get my meaning and Josh is on record saying that he makes the type of music that he wants to listen to, so none of what I said is a stretch. I’m all about bands evolving and shaking things up, but when you abandon your roots you alienate your OG fan base and make a mockery of everything you stood for when you first hit the scene. There is no desert groove in, In Times New Roman, there is no **** you attitude, there is no edge, it’s garbled and unfocused glam rock pretending to be edgy. Gone are the days of that subtle yet effortlessly cool, cohesive talent that cemented their first 5 albums into instant, timeless listening pleasures. Unfortunately, QOTSA appear to be more concerned with cheeky song names, hollow yet cleverly written lyrics, and a show-boating style of playing which only serves to convolute their song writing as a whole. ITNR as well as it’s predecessor, Villains, are shamelessly overproduced as well as being sonically flaccid. We miss you Nick! In conclusion, It’s just like diamonds in………. mediocrity, and as Sick Boy would say, “No, it’s not bad but it’s not great either is it, and in your heart you kind of know that although it sounds alright, it’s actually just ****.” Here’s hoping QOTSA find their fangs and regain their once, hard as nails edge.