‘Tension Head’: When Queens of the Stone Age channelled Iggy Pop
Virtually every rock and alternative artist who has established themselves over the past five decades owes a tremendous debt of gratitude to the sound and performance of Iggy Pop. From his early days with proto-punk heroes The Stooges to his extensive and varied solo career, the Michigan songwriter paved the way for so many groups, creating a distinctly rebellious sound complete with an endlessly energetic performance style. As such, countless artists have paid tribute to Pop over the years, including stoner rock legends Queens of the Stone Age.
Formed by Josh Homme back in 1996, Queens of the Stone Age have explored various avenues of inspiration over the decades, spanning desert rock to heavy metal. When you boil down the group to their finest essence, however, it is clear to see that Queens of the Stone Age operate with a staunchly punk manifesto. Characterised by their rebellious nature, DIY ethos, and various collaborations, Homme’s band certainly owe a lot to the punk attitude and style that was first pioneered by Pop all those years ago.
Iggy Pop himself has always been quick to downplay his role in the development of punk rock. After all, when The Stooges first came together, they did so in the spirit of the garage rock scene, which had taken over cities like Detroit during the mid-1960s. Nevertheless, the captivating sounds recorded by Pop’s band on records like Fun House or Raw Power were utterly essential in providing inspiration to the bands that would come to represent the forefront of the punk age years later. Without Pop or The Stooges, bands like The Ramones, New York Dolls, or even Buzzcocks would have never existed.
What’s more, the maturing of Pop’s solo career, with records like The Idiot and Lust For Life developing his inherent sound, meant that the songwriter enjoyed a maintained influence over punk and alternative rock. By the time Josh Homme came to form Queens of the Stone Age from the ashes of his previous outfit, Kyuss, the impact of Iggy Pop still loomed large over the landscape of American rock, and Queens of the Stone Age have always cited him as a colossal influence on their work.
Within the band’s discography, the 2000 track ‘Tension Head’ probably encapsulates the influence of Iggy Pop better than most. Appearing on the sophomore record Rated R, the song was originally penned by bassist Nick Oliveri during his time with the band Mondo Generator before being reworked for Queens. According to the songwriter, the song originally arose from his deep appreciation for Iggy Pop.
Speaking to Songfacts, Oliveri revealed, “A friend had an Iggy Pop-esque tune with piano – a kind of ‘Lust For Life’ tune I guess. I was living in San Francisco and I wrote the lyrics. I remember being hungover, ‘on the bathroom floor’ kind of thing, and I wrote them down.” Originally, the song was titled ‘13th Floor’, before being re-Christened ‘Tension Head’. “I didn’t think anything of it,” Oliveri continued, “but put it on this version we have somewhere out there that never came out – it’s a piano song. ‘The Passenger’ is what it sounds like to me.”
Emulating the sounds of Iggy Pop is not an easy task, given his position as a godfather of punk and alternative rock. As a result, ‘Tension Head’ came out sounding like something entirely different. “So those are the lyrics I came up with,” the songwriter shared, “what I thought my version of Iggy words would be, but it didn’t come out like Iggy Pop at all.”
In the years that followed the release of ‘Tension Head’, Queens of the Stone Age continued to espouse the genius of Iggy Pop. In fact, for Pop’s 2016 record Post Pop Depression, he recruited both Josh Homme and Dean Fertita to work on the album and subsequent tour. ‘Tension Head’ might not have come out sounding as similar to ‘The Passenger’ as Oliveri had hoped, but that certainly did not stop the band from retaining the influence of the former Stooges singer.
