Maps of Music

Villains (2017)

Where the lyrics of Villains take you, and where it was really made.

Villains gave Queens of the Stone Age their first UK number-one album, and it was made with no special guest musicians on the record.

Key places

Recorded at United Recording Studios, Los Angeles (2017)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — Engineering credits for the album point to United Recording Studios in Los Angeles. The marker sits at the city centre. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Villains: seventh studio album by American rock band Queens of the Stone Age
• Produced by Mark Ronson; released 25 August 2017 through Matador Records
• Second installment in the band's first trilogy of Matador albums, following ...Like Clockwork (2013)
• First Queens of the Stone Age album with no special guest musicians
• Second album without Mark Lanegan
• First album with drummer Jon Theodore as a full-time member

Background

• Announced 14 June 2017 with a teaser trailer in the form of a comedy skit: the band performs a polygraph test with Liam Lynch
• First single 'The Way You Used to Do' released the following day, alongside a world tour announcement
• Several songs were previewed before release
• 'Villains of Circumstance' was first premiered by Josh Homme in 2014 at an acoustic concert for James Lavelle's Meltdown Festival
• 'The Evil Has Landed' was performed at The Rapids Theatre in Niagara Falls, New York, on 22 June 2017
• 'The Evil Has Landed' released as a single on 10 August 2017
• Homme cites his interest in dancing, working with Mark Ronson, and Ronson's collaboration with Bruno Mars on 'Uptown Funk' as influences on the album's direction

Recording

• Engineered at United Recording Studios in Los Angeles, according to the Discogs release notes

Cover

• Cover art designed by graphic artist Boneface, who also designed the artwork for ...Like Clockwork
• First time the band returned to an artist to request artwork for a subsequent album
• Each band member has their own artwork: Homme on the front cover, the others on the back
• Alternate vinyl cover sold exclusively through independent record stores: light blue tint, a bloody nose on Homme, and a devil behind him giving two middle fingers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Queens of the Stone Age is an American rock band formed in Palm Desert, California, in 1996 by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme.
• The band was founded shortly after the dissolution of Homme's previous band Kyuss.
• Its self-titled debut album was released in 1998.

Members

• Josh Homme is the only constant member through multiple line-up changes.
• The line-up since 2013 consists of Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen, Michael Shuman, Dean Fertita, and Jon Theodore.
• Former members include Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, Joey Castillo, and Natasha Shneider.

Career

• Rated R (2000) was the band's major label debut with Interscope Records and was critically and commercially successful.
• Songs for the Deaf (2002) featured Dave Grohl on drums and was certified gold in 2003.
• ...Like Clockwork (2013) became the band's first album to top the Billboard 200 chart.
• The band has been nominated for 9 Grammy Awards.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Villains received widespread acclaim from music critics
• Metacritic: average score 81 from 30 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'
• AllMusic gave four out of five; editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the album a dark joy with visceral pleasure in its winking menace
• Rolling Stone: Will Hermes wrote that the band's free-ranging heavy rock comes as close as ever to the best glam-band name ever
• Pitchfork: Zoe Camp gave a more reserved review, noting that several sections fall flat, such as the staccato-spiked funk in the middle of 'The Evil Has Landed' and the melodically static refrains on 'Fortress'
• Under the Radar: Will Butler, among the most critical reviews, said the album pulls from sounds that expired a decade ago and beyond

Records

• UK Albums Chart: number one, the band's first UK number-one album
• US Billboard 200: number three in its first week of release
• First week: 73,000 equivalent units, including 69,000 in traditional album sales
• Best-selling album of the week on the Top Album Sales chart
• Topped Billboard's Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts
• 2018 Grammy Awards: nominated for Best Rock Album, losing to The War on Drugs' A Deeper Understanding

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Un-Reborn Again was seen as a nod to T. Rex by critics, an influence Homme mentioned while promoting the album
• Boneface said Josh Homme had likened their working relationship to Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman in the initial rallying call
• Boneface made many preliminary drawings before hearing any new songs, and one sketch became the basis for the album cover
• Copies ordered directly from Matador Records came with an exclusive sticker sheet featuring artwork by Boneface
• The independent record store exclusive alternate cover added a light blue tint, a bloody nose on Homme, and a devil giving two middle fingers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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