The one musician Josh Homme called the love of his life: “The most loving”
Josh Homme never wanted to treat music as anything less than magical.
He always had the chance to be his true self whenever he had his guitar strapped on, and even if everyone didn’t love the music he made with Queens of the Stone Age, he was at least able to make the kind of tunes that he felt reflected what he wanted to say every single time he made a new record. But the art behind any great QOTSA album came less from what Homme did directly and what he got out of the rest of his bandmates.
The whole point behind the band was to keep this revolving door of musicians every single time they played, and the thrill was not knowing who was going to be on the record. They might have a more stable lineup these days, but the lion’s share of their best albums are usually the ones that have everyone that you can think of in the mix, whether that’s the odd legend coming in like Elton John or getting someone like Alex Turner in the mix to play a handful of tunes.
But one of Homme’s greatest superpowers was to use every musician to their fullest extent. Nick Oliveri and Mark Lanegan were always going to have a welcome invite to every record that he made, but there were even more ways for him to have fun working with some of the more obscure friends in his phone. He and Trent Reznor were made for each other in many respects, and hearing his contributions on Era Vulgaris was everything that he could have hoped for.
He didn’t care if it sold or not half the time, but nothing that came out around the 2000s starring Dave Grohl was ever going to be terrible. Grohl was quickly becoming one of the biggest stars in the world, and even if Homme knew he was already a fan, the shot in the arm that he brought to Songs for the Deaf was everything that they needed when putting together the ultimate desert playlist.
There was so much more territory explored with someone like Grohl, and it’s not like the drummer didn’t get put through his paces as well. There were countless songs where he changes up the beat and even plays in odd time signatures, but everything seems to work out fine every single time they start grooving on a song like ‘Song for the Dead’ or ‘Hanging Tree’.
And while Grohl would eventually go back to Foo Fighters, Homme still considered him one of the best friends that he’s ever had, saying, “Dave’s been the other love of my life. I know everyone’s like, ‘Dave’s your buddy!’ And I agree. But it’s in our dark moments that he and I have gotten close. You don’t have a real relationship with somebody unless you can tell them to shut up at some point. And we have shut each other up in the most loving ways.”
That kind of bromance wasn’t lost on Grohl, either. Even though the Foos did hit a rough spot when Taylor Hawkins started thinking that he was prioritising Queens over his main band, Grohl would have done anything he could to keep both of them going, especially since he had such a blast when working with some of the greatest musicians that he ever worked with on that one record.
There were a lot more opportunities to explore new things on that album, but despite Grohl coming back to his old band, there’s going to be some DNA in every piece of QOTSA’s discography, whether the rest of the world likes it or not. And for any drummer looking to take over Grohl’s throne, best of luck trying to work your way through a song like ‘No One Knows’ without getting a real workout.
