Villains (Queens of the Stone Age album)

Villains is the seventh studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age, released on August 25, 2017 through Matador. The album was announced on June 14, with a teaser trailer taking the form of a comedy skit featuring the band performing a polygraph test with Liam Lynch. The first single, "The Way You Used to Do", was released the following day along with the announcement of a world tour.[4][5] Villains is the first Queens of the Stone Age album to not feature any special guest musicians, the second to not feature Mark Lanegan, and the first to feature Jon Theodore as full time member of the band.[6]

Villains
Studio album by
Queens of the Stone Age
ReleasedAugust 25, 2017 (2017-08-25)
RecordedJanuary – March 2017
Genre
Length48:00
LabelMatador
Producer
Queens of the Stone Age chronology
...Like Cologne
(2013)		 Villains
(2017)
Alternative cover
Cover of limited edition release
Singles from Villains
  1. "The Way You Used to Do"
    Released: June 15, 2017
  2. "The Evil Has Landed"
    Released: August 10, 2017

The album received widely positive reviews and performed well commercially, topping Billboard's Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts. At the 2018 Grammy Awards ceremony, it was nominated for Best Rock Album, losing to The War on Drugs' A Deeper Understanding.[7]

Background and recording

Several of the songs from the album were previewed in some form prior to its release. The album's final track, "Villains of Circumstance", was first premiered by Homme in 2014 at an acoustic concert for James Lavelle's Meltdown Festival, while "The Evil Has Landed" was performed by the band during their first gig of 2017 on June 22 at The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, New York.[8] "The Evil Has Landed" was released as a single on August 10, 2017. In addition to this, several snippets of songs have been featured in teaser trailers released online in promotion of the album, including a short clip of the album's opening track, "Feet Don't Fail Me", as well as an a cappella from the intro to the same song.

The album has been described as "a little looser and more uptempo than their last release ...Like Clockwork and "more carefree".[9] Josh Homme cites his interest in dancing, working with Mark Ronson, and Ronson's collaboration with Bruno Mars "Uptown Funk" for the direction of the album.[9] Kory Grow of Rolling Stone notes, "While the guitars still have the limber crunch of Queens albums past, they're playing around easy-breezy disco beats and chilly synths on songs like "Feet Don't Fail Me" and "Un-Reborn Again.""[9] The song "Un-Reborn Again" was seen as a nod to T. Rex by critics, with the lyrics "Scaredy nose Jack/ Scaredy nose Jack/ Knowing nothing about nothing" echoing T. Rex's "Telegram Sam" with the lines "Golden Nose Slim/ Golden Nose Slim/ I knows where you’ve been",[10] a T. Rex influence that Homme mentioned during the promotion of the album.[9]

Artwork

The cover art for Villains was designed by graphic artist Boneface, who designed the artwork for Queens of the Stone Age's previous album, ...Like Clockwork.[11] It was the first time that the band had returned to an artist to request artwork on a subsequent album. In an interview with the Juxtapoz magazine, Boneface talked about returning to create a cover for the album and his working relationship with Josh Homme. In the article he stated that, "Returning was honestly a pretty daunting task. People seemed to like all the artwork I did for the last album, so I felt I had something to live up to. Also, the fact that QOTSA tend to use a different artist for each album cover made it kind of special that they decided to use me again. I think Josh likened our relationship to Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman in the initial rallying call. So after I’d decided to plunge back into the QOTSA jacuzzi, I started work the way I usually do, just trying to create something cool. I did a bunch of preliminary drawings before I’d heard any new songs or we’d even talk about the album, and one of those sketches actually ended up being the basis for the album cover."[12] Each band member was given their own artwork, with Homme's on the front cover, and the rest of the band members on the back. An alternate vinyl cover that was released exclusively through independent record stores had a light blue tint over the image, gave Josh Homme a bloody nose, and the devil behind Homme giving two middle fingers.

Reception

Commercial performance

In the Billboard charting week of September 3, 2017, Villains was the No. 3 album on the Billboard 200 upon its first week of release, selling 73,000 equivalent units, and 69,000 in traditional album sales. It was also the best selling album of the week, starting at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart.[13]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.6/10[14]
Metacritic81/100[15]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[16]
The A.V. ClubB[17]
The Guardian[18]
The Independent[19]
Mojo[20]
NME[21]
Pitchfork6.9/10[2]
Q[22]
Rolling Stone[23]
Uncut8/10[24]

Villains has received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 81 based on 30 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'.[15]

Giving the album four out of five, AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that "At this stage, Queens of the Stone Age don't have many new tricks in their bag, but their consummate skill -- accentuated by the fact that this is the first QOTSA album that features just the band alone, not even augmented by Mark Lanegan -- means they know when to ratchet up the tempo, when to slide into a mechanical grind, and when to sharpen hooks so they puncture cleanly. All that makes Villains a dark joy, a record that offers visceral pleasure in its winking menace."[16] In his review for Rolling Stone, Will Hermes wrote, "Queens of the Stone Age always sounded like the best glam-band name ever, and while Josh Homme's free-ranging heavy rock hypnotists were never quite that, they come as close as ever on Villains."[23]

In a more reserved review for Pitchfork, contributor Zoe Camp concluded that, "Villains isn’t always so smooth and several sections fall flat, like the staccato-spiked funk that surfaces midway through “The Evil Has Landed” or the melodically static refrains on “Fortress.” Nevertheless, the stalled moments don't detract from the fun of the ride. Queens’ final destination is what matters—and a beeline into the unknown sure beats another go at the merry-go-round. Villains reaffirms what makes this band so special to begin with: their willingness to blow up the status quo as established by their riff-rock brethren, and even themselves."[2]

Amongst the most critical reviews was an article by Will Butler for Under the Radar. In the review, Butler claimed "It'll be of concern to Queens purists that Villains pulls from sounds that expired a decade ago and beyond. Dwelling on better times of a bygone era is a fundamental pillar of escapism, but it's disconcerting when one of the most uncompromising, forward-thinking bands in the rock pantheon leans so heavily on what worked in the past that they forget that the onus is on them to innovate."[25]

Accolades
Publication Accolade Year Rank Ref.
Classic Rock Classic Rock Magazine's 50 Albums of 2017
2017
1
[26]
Mojo Mojo's Top 50 Albums of 2017
2017
3
[27]
NME NME's Albums of the Year 2017
2017
35
[28]
Rolling Stone 50 Best Albums of 2017
2017
8
[29]
Rough Trade Albums of the Year
2017
21
[30]
Entertainment Weekly The 25 Best Albums of 2017
2017
25
[31]
Rolling Stone Readers' Poll: 10 Best Albums of 2017
2017
9
[32]

Track listing

All music is composed by Queens of the Stone Age. All lyrics written by Josh Homme.

No.TitleLength
1."Feet Don't Fail Me"5:41
2."The Way You Used to Do"4:34
3."Domesticated Animals"5:20
4."Fortress"5:27
5."Head Like a Haunted House"3:21
6."Un-Reborn Again"6:40
7."Hideaway"4:18
8."The Evil Has Landed"6:30
9."Villains of Circumstance"6:09
Total length:48:00

Personnel

Charts

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[70] Silver 60,000
United States — 130,000 [71]^
Summaries
Worldwide — 400,000[72]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Fowler, Luke (August 29, 2017). "Review: Queens of the Stone Age, Villains". Pretty Much Amazing. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  2. Camp, Zoe (August 28, 2017). "Queens of the Stone Age: Villains". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
  3. Marcham, Rory (August 22, 2017). "Queens Of The Stone Age - Villains". Clash. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  4. Blais-Billie, Braudie. "Queens of the Stone Age Announce New Album Villains, Preview New Song: Watch". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 14, 2017.
  5. Blistein, Jon. "Queens of the Stone Age Preview New LP, Tour With Gritty 'The Way You Used to Do'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved June 15, 2017.
  6. "Josh Homme explains why there are no special guests on new Queens Of The Stone Age album 'Villains'". NME. June 17, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  7. Blais-Billie, Braudie (January 28, 2018). "Grammys 2018: The War on Drugs Win Best Rock Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  8. May, Emma. "Listen to Queens of the Stone Age Play New Song 'The Evil Has Landed'". Spin. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  9. Grow, Kory. "Inside Queens of the Stone Age's Dark, Danceable New LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  10. Hazra, Indrajit (September 27, 2017). "Dancing Queens (of the Stone Age)". economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved July 1, 2017.
  11. "boneface (@b0neface) • Instagram photos and videos". www.instagram.com. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  12. "Queens of the Stone Age: Josh Homme and Boneface on the Art Behind "Villains"". Juxtapoz Magazine. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  13. Caulfield, Keith (September 3, 2017). "Lil Uzi Vert's 'Luv Is Rage 2' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  14. "Villains by Queens Of The Stone Age reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  15. "Reviews and Tracks for Villains by Queens of the Stone Age". Metacritic. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  16. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Villains – Queens of the Stone Age". AllMusic. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  17. Cosores, Philip (August 24, 2017). "Queens Of The Stone Age cut loose on Villains". The A.V. Club. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  18. Hann, Michael (August 24, 2017). "Queens of the Stone Age: Villains review – Josh Homme's desert vikings beef up their myth". The Guardian. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  19. Gill, Andy (August 24, 2017). "Album reviews: Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains, The War On Drugs – A Deeper Understanding, and more". The Independent. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  20. Cameron, Keith (September 2017). "Uptown punk". Mojo (286): 84.
  21. Cooper, Leonie (August 24, 2017). "Queens Of The Stone Age – 'Villains' Review". NME. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  22. Everley, Dave (September 2017). "Dancing Queens". Q (376): 114.
  23. Hermes, Will (August 25, 2017). "Review: Queens of the Stone Age Get Glammy, Groove-Centric With Mark Ronson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  24. Bonner, Michael (August 21, 2017). "Queens Of The Stone Age – Villains". Uncut. Archived from the original on September 23, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  25. Butler, Will. "Queens of the Stone Age: Villains (Matador) Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  26. "Classic Rock Magazine's 50 Albums of 2017". Classic Rock. December 13, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
  27. "Mojo's Top 50 Albums of 2017". Mojo. November 16, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  28. "NME's Albums of the Year 2017". NME. November 23, 2017. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
  29. "50 Best Albums of 2017". Rolling Stone. November 27, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  30. "Albums of the Year". Rough Trade. November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  31. Entertainment Weekly. December 6, 2017 http://ew.com/music/best-albums-of-2017/the-best-albums-of-2017. Retrieved December 6, 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  32. Rolling Stone. December 6, 2017 https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/10-best-albums-of-2017-readers-poll-w513196/queens-of-the-stone-age-villains-w513198. Retrieved December 6, 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. Villains (liner notes). Queens of the Stone Age. Matador Records. 2017.
  34. "Queens Of The Stone Age Return As Rock's Favorite Villains". Tuned Up. Retrieved March 28, 2018.
  35. "Australiancharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  36. "Austriancharts.at – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  37. "Ultratop.be – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  38. "Ultratop.be – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  39. "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  40. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 201738 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved September 25, 2017.
  41. "Danishcharts.dk – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  42. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  43. "Queens of the Stone Age: Villains" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  44. "Lescharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  45. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  46. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2017. 36. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
  47. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Queens of the Stone Age". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  48. "Italiancharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  49. "Charts.nz – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  50. "Norwegiancharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  51. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  52. "Portuguesecharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  53. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  54. "Top 100 Albumes — Semana 35: del 25.08.2017 al 31.08.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  55. "Swedishcharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  56. "Swisscharts.com – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  57. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  58. "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  59. "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  60. "Queens of the Stone Age Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  61. "ARIA End of Year Albums 2017". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  62. "Ö3 Austria Top 40 – Album-Charts 2017". oe3.orf.at. Archived from the original on June 21, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  63. "Jaaroverzichten Albums 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  64. "Rapports Annuels Albums 2017". Ultratop. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  65. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2017". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  66. "Top Selling Albums of 2017". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved December 22, 2017.
  67. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2017 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  68. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
  69. "Jaaroverzichten 2018". Ultratop. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  70. "British album certifications – Queens of the Stone Age – Villains". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 21, 2017. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Villains in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  71. "Metal By Numbers 2/28: The charts will find youMetal Insider". February 28, 2018. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  72. "Los lanzamientos de álbumes de más éxito global 2017". Anuarios SGAE. p. 27. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.