Recorded at Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, California between December 1999 & February 2000.

Composers: Josh Homme; Nick Oliveri.

Personnel: Nick Oliveri (vocals, percussion, background vocals); Mark Lanegan (vocals, background vocals); Dave Catching (12-string guitar, lap steel guitar, electric piano); Scott Mayo (baritone saxophone, horns); Fernando Pullum (horns); Chris Goss (grand piano, percussion, background vocals); Barrett Martin (steel drum, percussion); Nick Eldorado, Rob Halford, Peter Stahl (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Josh Homme; Marek; Trina Shoemaker.

Recording information: Sound City Studios, Van Nuys, CA (12/1999-02/2000).

The second Queens of the Stone Age album, R (as in the movie rating; its title was changed from II at the last minute before release), makes its stoner rock affiliations clear right from the opening track. The lyrics of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" consist entirely of a one-line list of recreational drugs that Josh Homme rattles off over and over, a gag that gets pretty tiresome by the end of the song (and certainly doesn't need the reprise that follows "In the Fade"). Fortunately, the rest of the material is up to snuff. R is mellower, trippier, and more arranged than its predecessor, making its point through warm fuzz-guitar tones, ethereal harmonies, vibraphones, horns, and even the odd steel drum. That might alienate listeners who have come to expect a crunchier guitar attack, but even though it's not really aggro, R is still far heavier than the garage punk and grunge that inform much of the record. It's still got the vaunted Arizona-desert vibes of Kyuss, but it evokes a more relaxed, spacious, twilight feel, as opposed to a high-noon meltdown. Mark Lanegan and Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees both appear on multiple tracks, and their band's psychedelic grunge -- in its warmer, less noisy moments -- is actually not a bad point of comparison. Longtime Kyuss fans might be disappointed at the relative lack of heaviness, but R's direction was hinted at on the first QOTSA album, and Homme's experimentation really opens up the band's sound, pointing to exciting new directions for heavy guitar rock in the new millennium. ~ Steve Huey

Josh Homme's creation Queens Of The Stone Age, although they remain close to their rock roots, are a complex amalgam of atmosphere and textures. RATED R is a retro-sounding album, recorded on two 16-track machines by producer Chris Goss (Masters Of Reality) and GRAMMY award winning engineer Trinia Shoemaker.

The band's name pokes fun at the homophobic rednecks that Homme says used to attend Kyuss (his former band) shows. Some of the album's highlights are "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret," "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" and "Better Living Through Chemistry." Former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan has some sublime moments on a few tracks, including "In the Fade." RATED R is a unique, eclectic album.