Songs for the Deaf

Songs for the Deaf is the third studio album by Queens of the Stone Age. Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band. The album was released on August 27, 2002. It was released by Interscope Records. It was the last Queens of the Stone Age album that had Nick Oliveri playing the bass guitar. Many other musicians are on the album, such as drummer Dave Grohl .

Songs for the Deaf
Studio album by
ReleasedAugust 27, 2002 (2002-08-27)
RecordedOctober 2001 – June 2002
Studio
Genre
Length60:53
LabelInterscope
Producer
Singles from Songs for the Deaf
  1. "No One Knows"
    Released: November 26, 2002
  2. "Go with the Flow"
    Released: April 7, 2003
  3. "First It Giveth"
    Released: August 18, 2003

Songs for the Deaf is a concept album. The songs on the album are made to sound similar to listening to radio stations. Some songs on the album are separated by radio sounds. This was done so it sounds like music being played while driving. The album is about driving from Los Angeles to Joshua Tree and listening to the radio.[5] All of the music is rock music that the band made.

Many critics liked the album. The album was certified gold by the RIAA.[6] It was the band's first album to be certified gold. The album had three singles. These were "No One Knows", "First It Giveth", and "Go with the Flow".

Production

 
Josh Homme playing music from the album in 2003.

Before the album was made, Gene Trautmann left the band. He left because he wanted to make other music. Dave Grohl from Nirvana and Foo Fighters joined the band to play the drums. Grohl joined because he liked the band's music.[7] Queens of the Stone Age had played music with Foo Fighters at many concerts before he joined the band.[8] Grohl also worked with the band's guitar player, Josh Homme, in Kyuss.

Mark Lanegan, the singer for Screaming Trees, joined the band in 2001. Lanegan helped write songs for one of the band's earlier albums. He wrote lyrics and sang for Songs for the Deaf. The members of the band were Homme, Grohl, Lanegan, and Nick Oliveri. Oliveri played the bass guitar.

Many songs on the album were remade versions of songs made in the Desert Sessions. The Desert Sessions was a music project that Homme made with many other musicians. "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire" was a song made by them. It was sang by Mario Lalli.[9] On the album, it is sang by Oliveri. "Hanging Tree", "Song for the Deaf", and "Go With the Flow" were also made in the Desert Sessions.[10] The main guitar part in "No One Knows" was also in a Desert Sessions song.[11]

For the album, Grohl played the drums in a small room. This was done so there was not as much echo. It also made the drums sound different. The sound of the cymbals was recorded at a different time. The band took the recordings from the drums and cymbals and put them together for the album.[12]

Release

 
Joey Castillo (left) playing with Queens of the Stone Age.

The band planned to release the album on August 13, 2002.[13] However, they did not release it until 2 weeks after.[14] Grohl made Foo Fighters take a break from making music, so he could go on a concert tour with Queens of the Stone Age.[15] Grohl also delayed Foo Fighters' album, One by One. It was released in October 2002.[16] He started playing at concerts with the band in March 2002. He stopped in July 2002. Grohl went back to Foo Fighters. Joey Castillo, the drummer for Danzig, replaced him for the rest of the concerts.[17]

Songs for the Deaf was the band's first very popular album. When it was released, it was number 17 on the Billboard 200, an American music chart.[18] Many critics have said that the album is the band's best album.[19][20] Entertainment Weekly called it "the year's best hard-rock album". Many magazines rated it as one of the top ten albums made in 2002, such as Mojo, Kludge, NME and Kerrang!.[21][22][23] Kerrang! said it was the best album made in 2002.[24] In October 2001, Dave Grohl said Songs for the Deaf was his favorite album to play drums for.[25]

The album was nominated for two Grammy Awards. These were for two songs on the album: "Go With the Flow" and "No One Knows".[26] It was given a gold certification by the RIAA. This was the band's first gold certification. As of 2007, the album has sold over one million copies.[6]

Track listing

All tracks written by Joshua Homme and Nick Oliveri, except where noted. Lead vocals by Homme, except where noted.

No. TitleLead vocals Length
1. "You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire"  Nick Oliveri[9] 3:12
2. "No One Knows"    4:38
3. "First It Giveth"    3:18
4. "Song for the Dead"  Lanegan 5:52
5. "The Sky Is Fallin
  1. REDIRECT Template:Single+space"  
  6:15
6. "Six Shooter"  Oliveri 1:19
7. "Hangin' Tree"  Lanegan 3:06
8. "Go with the Flow"    3:07
9. "Gonna Leave You"  Oliveri 2:50
10. "Do It Again"    4:04
11. "God Is in the Radio"  Lanegan 6:04
12. "Another Love Song"  Oliveri 3:16
13. "Song for the Deaf" (Has a version of "Feel Good Hit of the Summer". This version has all lyrics replaced with laughter.)Homme, Lanegan 6:42
14. "Mosquito Song" (hidden track)  5:37
Total length:
60:53

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Songs for the Deaf
Chart (2002) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[27] 7
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[28] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[29] 9
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[30] 32
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[31] 33
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 17
European Top 100 Albums (Music & Media)[33] 6
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[34] 11
French Albums (SNEP)[35] 32
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[36] 9
Irish Albums (IRMA)[37] 32
Italian Albums (FIMI)[38] 23
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[39] 13
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[40] 2
Scottish Albums (OCC)[41] 4
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[42] 18
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[43] 20
UK Albums (OCC)[44] 4
US Billboard 200[45] 17

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for Songs for the Deaf
Chart (2002) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] 72
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[47] 43
Canadian Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[48] 135
Canadian Alternative Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[49] 43
Canadian Metal Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[50] 22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[51] 93
UK Albums (OCC)[52] 92
Chart (2003) Position
UK Albums (OCC)[53] 178
US Billboard 200[54] 120

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak Ref.
2002 "No One Knows" US Mainstream Rock Tracks 5 [55]
US Modern Rock Tracks 1 [55]
US Billboard Hot 100 51 [55]
Dutch Singles Chart 39 [56]
UK Singles Chart 15 [57]
2003 "Go with the Flow" US Mainstream Rock Tracks 24 [55]
US Modern Rock Tracks 7 [55]
US Billboard Hot 100 116 [55]
Australian Singles Chart 39 [58]
Irish Singles Chart 26 [59]
Dutch Singles Chart 50 [56]
UK Singles Chart 21 [57]
"First It Giveth" UK Singles Chart 33 [57]

References

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  3. Marchese, David (August 27, 2012). "Gone With the Flow: QOTSA's 'Songs for the Deaf' Turns 10". Spin. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
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  5. Albert Mudrian (August 2002). "Gallery of Sound: The Modern Stone Age Family". thefade.net. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
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