Queens Of The Stone Age Rated R

“I’ve got a secret/I cannot say/A modern movement to give it away.” Such are the opening lines of “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret,” the irresistible lead single from 2000’s Rated R. In a way, Queens of the Stone Age’s second album is a reflection of those words: Though Rated R exposed the band to a wider audience than the group’s 1998 debut, it was the last time they were a secret to just about anyone. Whereas ringleader Josh Homme recorded the band’s debut as a duo with drummer (and former Kyuss bandmate) Alfredo Hernández, Rated R ushers in a new era. The band is still technically a duo, but this time it’s Homme and bassist/vocalist Nick Oliveri, another former Kyuss bandmate. And it seems like Homme is setting up QOTSA as more of a collective. Rated R features tons of guest musicians, including former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, Masters of Reality vocalist/guitarist (and former Kyuss producer) Chris Goss, three drummers, and a laundry list of side players and backing vocalists. The resulting album expands QOTSA’s sonic palette considerably. You can hear it in the vibraphone on “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret” and “Better Living Through Chemistry”; on the Zeppelin-esque acoustic interlude “Lightning Song”; and on the delightfully strange acid trip of “Monsters in the Parasol,” which Homme originally recorded for his Desert Sessions project two years prior. Let’s not forget the gimme-drugs clarion call of “Feel Good Hit of the Summer,” which is basically a list of intoxicants repeated over an insistent unison of bass, piano, and distorted guitar—not to mention an unexpected backing vocal from Judas Priest singer Rob Halford. The biggest change on Rated R is in the lead vocals. While Homme still handles most of them, Oliveri sings several songs (including punk stompers “Quick and to the Pointless” and “Tension Head,” plus the deliriously melodic “Auto Pilot”) while Lanegan croons on the gorgeous, bass-tastic “In the Fade.” The album closes with “I Think I Lost My Headache,” a woozy ode to paranoia that probably has the most in common with Queens’ debut. Woozy is definitely a feeling that Homme specializes in: No musician on earth captures it better. But Rated R showed he was capable of much more.