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Zero 7
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Era Vulgaris
EMAILPRINTby Queens Of The Stone Age
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 33 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 104 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Interscope
Release Date: 12 June 2007
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Alternative, Rock
Summary
Josh Homme's fifth QOTSA disc includes guest appearances by The Strokes' Julian Casablancas and returnee Mark Lanegan. Oddly, however, the disc does not include its title track collaboration with Trent Reznor, which was released separately.
Also By This Artist: Lullabies To Paralyze Songs For The Deaf
Also On Metacritic
MUSIC: Eagles Of Death Metal: Death By Sexy Eagles Of Death Metal: Peace Love Death Metal Mondo Generator: A Drug Problem That Never Existed
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Uncut
They continue to find some clever ways to do a pretty dumb thing. [Jul 2007, p.112]
All Music Guide
It's exhilarating, the best rock & roll record yet released in 2007.
Read Full Review >Spin
It sounds awesome. [Jul 2007, p.102]
Filter
It's still rebellion without destination. [#25, p.89]
Prefix Magazine
You can hear the band rediscovering its footing as one of the strangest, funniest, and best acts of the decade.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Era sounds like an effort to pull away from commercial radio and actually cultivate a smaller, indie-er fan base.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Josh Homme wants Era Vulgaris to be your summer bonfire record. And with a restored aura of cockiness and predictably massive arsenal of riffage, he’s once again fulfilled his goal.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
Though QOTSA always seem to be on bland-rock stations, this is as different from the mainstream as you can imagine, and not in a bad way.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
Spiky and cool where 'Songs For The Deaf' was smooth and tanned, tense and alien where that record was baked and ready to party, 'Era Vulgaris' is a record that feels like rust and stings like battery acid.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Slick, sly, hard-hitting, and intelligent, Era Vulgaris is the rare big record with staying power.
Read Full Review >The New York Times
On this album he decisively shakes off the enervation and jokey detachment that made the Queens’ last few albums sound like in-jokes. This time Mr. Homme hones his songs.
Read Full Review >Alternative Press
Homme's modern macabre lyricism and experimental, melodic prowess... make this a more complete album that Lullabies. [Jul 2007, p.176]
Drowned In Sound
The Queens’ music has always been a kind of battleground for the proverbial devil and angel on Homme’s shoulders – with the devil winning, of course – and that continues to be the case here, with Homme’s bewitching falsetto croon acting as the spirit to the band’s tattooed, hairy flesh, and bruising, cactus-dry workouts giving way to lush, psychedelic oases of darkly reflective sound.
Read Full Review >Hot Press
If Lullabies To Paralyze was a strange forest fairytale dusted with desert blues courtesy of Billy Gibbons, Era Vulgaris finds the band holed up in an abandoned funkhouse in the centre of a shady copse, waiting for some strange sexually-contracted fever to pass.
Read Full Review >Observer Music Monthly
Homme's ever-catchy formula remains, but the mood is uneasy and brooding, with tracks such as 'Sick, Sick, Sick' revealing a venomous new band that's finally learned to separate business and pleasure.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
Era Vulgaris is Homme's fifth Queens album, and like the others, it's intricately crafted, meticulously polished and ruthlessly efficient in its pursuit of depraved rock thrills.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
"Era Vulgaris" ain't vulgar at all — in fact it's musicianly as heck.
Read Full Review >Lost At Sea
So when Era Vulgaris comes as a bit of a disappointment, well, that's all relative, since it still rocks mightily.
Read Full Review >Dot Music
Not content with making a diverse, punchy record brimming with those trademark riffs, Homme has written lyrics that make you think.
Read Full Review >Hartford Courant
"Era Vulgaris" is dense and loud, and though there are hooks beneath the grimy surface, they're not always immediately apparent. Yet with enough patience, you'll find these tunes burrowing in a little deeper each time through the record.
Read Full Review >musicOMH.com
The Queens treading water is still better than watching so many others horribly drowning.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
While Era Vulgaris is not cohesive in tone (Could it be a reflection of today’s fragmented, compartmentalized world that pulls in all directions?) and doesn’t fire consistently on all cylinders, the album is still chock-a-block with complex instrumental arrangements, stop-and- start rhythms, gracefully refined harmonies, cranked-up choruses, and pointed commentary on the modern world.
Read Full Review >Billboard
QOTSA envelops many of the songs in a fog of menacing guitar squall that focuses as much on atmospherics as hooks. [16 Jun 2007]
Boston Globe
Somehow, it all works together, from the psychedelic guitar warble to the bits of prog to the almost country-style harmonies.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Era Vulgaris gets better with each listen, and that’s mostly due to the fact that the melodies take time to sink in.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle
This time around things are more industrial and complex but every bit as sleazy and intoxicating.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
It's not so much that the songs themselves are weak, just that many of the choices made in them are.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
In isolation you can imagine any of these songs may have appeared over the last 10 years giving a warm comforting feel, but listened in its entirety the effect is strangely soporific, a steady morphine drip running from start to end.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
All the beefy guitar playing in the world can't change the reality that there isn't a single song here that you'll remember, or what to return to, two summers hence. [15 Jun 2007, p.78]
Under The Radar
At best, the songs give you a brief QOTSA kick, and at worst, the album sounds like warmed up Eagles. [Summer 2007, p.84]
Blender
A downer. [Jul 2007, p.116]
The Guardian
There has always been a slightly tricksy, proggy side to Queens of the Stone Age, but here the more episodic songs such as Run Pig Run lurch distractingly rather than flow. The result is more of a trudge than Queens of the Stone Age albums are supposed to be, not helped by the fact that Homme seems to have mislaid his lyrical wit.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
With the band sounding listless and drained of ideas, it starts trying anything.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.4 (out of 10) based on 104 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
GuidedByVoices gave it a5:
it's not crap, but it isn't a good album neither, they always suck from a lot of sources to build great songs, here they were looking for third rate bands,and they got second hand songs, QOTSA fanboys, is It as good as previous albums?, here they are as skilled as always, but skill is not all in a song, honestly, after beasts such as lullabies or rated I expected a lot more, I see very high scores for the album, sure you give everything that's brand newfive stars.
Chris K gave it an8:
QOTSA probably couldn't make a bad album even if they tried! This album is great, as you'd expect, just let down a bit by 1 or 2 of the songs...but with tunes like '3's and 7's' and 'Sick, Sick, Sick', you've got yourself a good deal. Also, the album's artwork is so cool!
Steven S. gave it a9:
I love this album, it's better than lullabies (which was great) and it's equal with songs for the deaf, it's absolutely addictive... kinda hard to explain what it sounds like... it's still QOTSA, but it's definitely unique, sometimes i even hear a little core-era STP influence, anyway, just buy it, it's awesome
Sarah gave it a10:
Every song has a hook, line has a catch-Homme has rewarded loyal Queens fans with snarky eyeroll aimed at corruption in the music industry and an openmouthed kiss fill with tongue, sweat, saliva, and a heap of good cranking tunes.
Mark K. gave it a9:
At times, the album seems to wonder away from it's path a little, but this is still Queens Of The Stone Age at their best.
Anonymous gave it an8:
A pretty much decent album from Qotsa. Although I do miss the guitar riffs from the previous albums, the sounds sound just good enough. Mostly every song on this album is pretty average to decent. But still, a good Queens of the stone age album that I wouldn't mind buying.
Hector A. gave it an8:
Not their most strongest album, but it is addicting and it grows on you. Pretty much a decent QOTSA album.
