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Rated R (album)

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Rated R is a 2000 album by Queens of the Stone Age, containing the first appearance of former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan, and the first significant appearance of Nick Oliveri, on a Queens of the Stone Age record. Oliveri appeared briefly on the band's previous album (Queens of the Stone Age) in a voice sample.

Ambiguity of title

There has been some confusion regarding the name of the album, since the CD inlay reads "Queens of the Stone Age Feel Good Hit of the Summer", the cassette version is labeled "RESTRICTED" and Allmusic refers to it as R . However, in several interviews, Homme has called the album Rated R, as does the band's official homepage. Rolling Stone also names the album Rated R. The front cover reads "R - restricted to everyone, everywhere, all the time" (where the "R" is replaced by the MPAA symbol for an R movie rating).

The album was originally to be called II, but was changed at the last minute. Promo and demo copies of the album are labelled Queens of the Stone Age II.

Musical style

Rated R found the band experimenting with a more relaxed and eclectic sound, that was less riff-oriented than the self-titled "Queens of the Stone Age".

Critical reception

Rated R received many accolades and favourable reviews. It was Metal Hammer and also NMEs album of the year in 2000. Rated R was certified silver in the UK on February 16, 2001 with sales excessing 97,000 copies.

Track listing

  1. "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" (Homme/Oliveri) – 2:43
  2. "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" (Homme/Oliveri) – 3:36
  3. "Leg of Lamb" (Homme/Oliveri) – 2:48
  4. "Auto Pilot" (Oliveri/Homme) – 4:01
  5. "Better Living Through Chemistry" (Homme/Oliveri) – 5:49
  6. "Monsters in the Parasol" (Homme/Lalli) – 3:27
  7. "Quick and to the Pointless" (Oliveri/Homme) – 1:42
  8. "In the Fade" (Homme/Lanegan) – 4:25

    • Includes hidden track "Feel Good Hit of the Summer (Reprise)" on U.S. copies but separated into its own track in all other printings across the world. Nevertheless, the track is not listed on these editions, so the following songs have wrong track numbers, e.g. "Tension Head" listed as track 9 but would be track 10 on the disc.
  9. "Tension Head" (Oliveri/Homme) – 2:52
  10. "Lightning Song" (Catching) – 2:07
  11. "I Think I Lost My Headache" (Homme/Oliveri) – 8:40

The track "Ode to Clarissa" is included in the Japanese version, the Rated X vinyl, and the Canadian version labeled + (8:40).

The special edition of the album included a bonus disc with the video to "Feel Good Hit of the Summer" along with the tracks "Who'll Be the Next in Line" (a Kinks cover), "You're So Vague" (a spoof of Carly Simon's hit "You're So Vain") and "Never Say Never" (a Romeo Void cover). The bonus disc is entitled Rated U.

  • The track "Autopilot" from was later rerecorded on Nick Oliveri's 2004 Solo effort entitled Demolition Day.

  • Track 6 is a new recording of "Monsters in the Parasol" from The Desert Sessions Volumes 3 & 4.

  • Track 9 is a new recording of "Tension Head" previously entitled "13th Floor" from Mondo Generator's album Cocaine Rodeo.

Rated X

The Vinyl edition of the album is called Rated X and includes different art work. Homme himself was unhappy with the final artwork for Rated X. At the insistence of the record company, he had to remove hand drawn images of penises he had originally intended to include. The inner gatefold does include pornographic images, hence the "X" in the title. The cover art for Rated X is similar to the art for Rated R, only with a red background instead of blue, an "X" rating symbol instead of an "R", and without the "restricted" caption. Rated X features bonus track "Ode to Clarissa" as track 12.

Personnel

  • Josh Homme – vocals, guitar, percussion (tracks 3, 8), drums (track 4), piano (track 10), backing vocals (track 4), producer, mixing, concept
  • Nick Oliveri – bass, percussion (track 8), guitar (track 4), vocals (tracks 4, 7, 9), backing vocals (tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 11), concept, art conception
  • Nick Lucero – drums (tracks 2, 3, 5, 8, 11), percussion (track 3)
  • Gene Trautmann – drums (tracks 1, 6, 7, 9)
  • Chris Goss – bass (track 4), percussion (track 1), backing vocals (tracks 4, 5, 6), producer, grand piano (track 1), noise piano (track 2)
  • Dave Catching – electric piano (tracks 1, 2, 8), piano (track 5), B3 (track 4), guitar (tracks 6, 7), 12-string guitar (track 10), lap steel (tracks 1, 11)
  • Mark Lanegan – vocals (track 8), backing vocals (tracks 4, 11)
  • Barrett Martin – percussion (tracks 5, 10), steel drum (track 11), vibes (tracks 2, 5)
  • Mike Johnson – backing vocals (track 3)
  • Rob Halford – backing vocals (track 1)
  • Nick Eldorado – backing vocals (tracks 1, 7)
  • Scott Mayo – horn (track 11), baritone sax (track 2)
  • Fernando Pullum – horn (tracks 7, 11)
  • Wendy Ray Moan – backing vocals (tracks 1, 7)
  • Peter Stahl – backing vocals (track 2)
  • Reggie Young – horn (track 11)
  • Bradley Cook – engineer
  • Martin Schmelzle – engineer, sequencing, assembly
  • Trina Shoemaker – engineer, mixing
  • Dan Druff – guitar technician
  • Marek – noise (track 8), mixing
  • Robert Brunner – pre-production assistant
  • Francesca Restrepo – art direction

Charts

Album

Year Chart Peak
2000 US Top Heatseekers 16
UK Albums Chart 54
German Album Chart 72
Norwegian Album Chart 35

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak
2000 "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" US Mainstream Rock 21
US Modern Rock 36
UK Singles Chart 31

References



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Last updated on Monday July 21, 2008 at 05:50:27 PDT (GMT -0700)
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