It may come as a surprise to many but the best album that scored a perfect rating with a 10/10 – CLASSIC STATUS (only one to this year so far) is Queens Of The Stone Age’s In Times New Roman.
Josh Homme and band achieved this status with their gritty, raucous instrumentals met with deep and passionate lyrics detailing the snapshots in time of Homme’s personal life challenges. It is a truly authentic record and every song on this album is highly thought-out, well-played material that is catchy, melodic and introspective.
From the opener “Obscenery”, which is heavy on clever word play with lines like:
“I’m making music for all stereotypes
Modern love, unsentimental, consequences, schmonsequences
I can hum it if you like”
Giving all listeners a taste of QOTSA realness.
To the aggressively playful (maybe bitter) “Paper Machete”
And the emotionally reeling/appealing “Made to Parade” and “Carnavoyeur.” Were left to
ponder many our life decisions. Hommes has so eloquently stated in interviews “why are you here? Because you are so you better get started.”
We can’t pick a favorite on this record. We have listened over and over to each track and love them all equally. That is why this album gets our very rare (and first of 2023) CLASSIC rating with a perfect 10/10.
Hardcore fans and new fans will be equally pleased with this stunning piece of work Josh and the band have put out. Check out the album below: