A concept album at its core, the third studio offering from the Queens Of The Stone Age is perhaps their most eclectic piece of work to date. Playing like a radio station that accompanies a magic mushroom aided 4x4 trek across Death Valley, the album is interspersed with colorful radio broadcast interludes while the songs themselves are ripe with the bands incouragable blend of stoner and indie influenced rock n' roll, complete with colorful experimentation and mammoth grooves.

Vocally the Queens have always been a chameleon like unit and this trend continues on "Songs For The Deaf". Frontman/guitarist Josh Homme still handles a fair share of the singing with his nonchalant yearnful melodies and dreamy demeanor while band bassist Nick Oliveri kicks up the intensity with his punky screaming and abrasive barks. Longtime collaborator Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees) also makes his presence felt and his contributions seem to be even more plentiful now that he's pledged his full allegiance to the group, lending his heartfelt nature and often humbled grunge-ish harmonies and melodies in an intoxicating fashion to a number of the songs included. Meanwhile, like a cactus with 5000 volts pumping through it, the guitar work is sharp and electrified, full of barbed riffs that pierce with greatest of ease yet require far more effort to get out of your skin. Edgy and inviting, they come caked with enough desert rock flair to leave the listener picking sand out of their teeth but avoid the cliche stereotypes by incorporating enough atmospheric flourishes and traditional playing to display the band evolving into all the more of a sonically challenging unit. Serpentine bass lines with moments of firm solidarity broaden this approach and subsequently cement the riffs with their aggressive energy and clever progressions which wind and coil around so continuously that you would think band bassist Nick Oliveri is trying to charm a snake with his fretboard. Drum wise the album is peppered with a hard hitting playing style that has come to be trademark of the man who handled almost all of drumming on the effort, Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters/Nirvana fame. His reckless percussive intensity is still in fine form despite his choice to take over a guitarist/vocalist position for the past few years and this album clearly shows it. In fact, his anvil like hits and stiff variations are easily one of the most trance inducing factors the band have in their arsenal on this record, beating the listener into a lucid state of consciousness with a constant battering that is as intelligent as it is confrontational.

Sure the band are walking on thin ice with this record as the decision to bring a musician of Dave Grohl's visibility onboard will pull in far more attention from the mainstream media/audience than they've received with both of their last two albums combined, perhaps even risking overshadowing the band themselves in favor of the guest appearance. But those only looking for his involvement should be advised that this is not just a showcase of Dave's talents. Instead this is one of the most cleverly written rock records put out by a major label in years. It's empowering and explorative while flowing forth at a steady pace, sweeping the listener along with it whether they like it or not. Pound for pound the record is rife with great songs that show the band beginning to transcend their heavy stoner rock roots and progress into a whole different arena altogether. Invigorating, inspiring and best of all innovative, "Songs For The Deaf" is perhaps the most honest and heart warming portrayal of American rock n' roll in ages. No gimmicks, no contrived nostalgic retro wannabe Rolling Stones or the Stooges bullshit, just straight up rock the way it hasn't been done since the stone age, or is that the stoned age?.