Josh Homme

I haven't listened to the Desert Sessions a lot, but it always seems like a good idea to have an outlet for experiments, and to let fans check it out is cool.

In 1999-2001, he pretty much was the most promising rock and roll artist in the world—the first one and Rated R are both unbeatable. But Lullablies was kinda dull, possibly cuz Nick Oliveri wasn't around. I wish the MONSTROUS Alfredo Hernandez could be coaxed back…

To my mind he's one of those guys who is clearly talented (hey, I have all the Kyuss albums for a reason) and comes across as level-headed whenever I've seen him in interviews. But I kinda admit all the messiah of rock talk around him (not from him) doesn't work with me, and QOTSA is just...I dunno, kinda leaves me flat.

(Actually, I don't get the worship of the first QOTSA alb. I like it fine, but 'Rated R' and 'Songs' both got played constantly for months on end.)

The bonus footage has them in 2002 with Grohl; not that it hasn't been said before a million times, but that guy is a GODDAMN LOCOMOTIVE.

makes me feel even more annoyed with myself that I got too fucked up when they played at Bowery Ballroom that year, and now can't remember much about it…

well, it is pretty good (but they do verge on being a little too happy with themselves - the curse of jon spencer). but compared to qotsa, i don't know.

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/reviews/article2184483.ece

nah, dude, that's what i'm saying. it's "out of print" but widely available. which makes no sense, i know, but so it goes.

I would put this down to the departure of nick, even though his songs weren't exactly the standout points on the albums. but they did provide a bit of edge and contrast, added some spice and curtailed josh's tendency to meander.

oh, and the first queens album is fantasic.

the dvd is pretty damn good too - thought it was a bit thin sounding first few plays - then i realised it's set to 5.1 - changed it to 2 channel sound and sounds mad now

Just to elaborate; I love QOTSA, agree that their debut took stoner rock to a new level (just like Kyuss did in its time). Seems I'm a bigger fan of Rated R than many others, but it's still true that Songs for the Deaf is their best to date. That album doesn't hold a single weak track in my op. Reviewers made a point of Oliveri not being missed on Lullabies, but I disagree; while the album is still very good, it lacks some of that spontaneity and attitude that gave the previous releases that little extra push.

When I go to the lengths of calling Homme a genius, it's because of the success of all the side projects you guys have listed. The Desert Sessions are mainly recorded within one or two weeks (!), and the collaborations with PJ Harvey and Dave Grohl (to mention a few) work just as well as the tracks made by QOTSA's regular crew. I just think it's impossible for that man to make bad music.

About his current activities, there's a new QOTSA album scheduled for 2007 (summer, I think), and hopefully some touring activity to go with it. The last Eagles of Death Metal album, titled Death by Sexy, is worth checking out (Homme and his high school buddy, Jesse Hughes).

but yep this guy is awesome, i like queens a lot more than kyuss though. the first one is so great, but yeah i think songs of the deaf is their best too, except for those stupid radio commericals (grrrr)

granted, s/t QotSA is just him+Alfredo, so it CAN work! but, he never really went back that road again. DS's are always a spotty thing, 5+6 being the best that it gets.

as for Kyuss vs. QotSA, i think it depends- i heard Kyuss waaaay before QotSA was ever even a thought, so, i was way psyched to hear that he was doing something else. then, when i first heard it, it didn't sound too great. gave it time, it sank in- HARD. still think that albums' pretty perfect. nary a bad one on there. same w/ SftD. R is wierd to me. again, first listen 'Feel Good' stands out, 'Into the Fade' and 'Tension Head' just pummel, the rest are sorta stoned out jams (except for the othe Nick song).

best era- SftD tour, 3 headed hydra of rawk. 3 singers, pretty bombastic, and so very tight! they slayed everyone that came near, and are not the band you wanted to run into in an alley way @ night. which happened to me twice w/ them. it was kinda scary.
LtP felt super-flat to me. so little standout songs, a total lack of lowend, and i really don't dig the acoustic crap.
'Fun Machine' is where it's fuckin @!

i've heard way too much inside info on that band/man. another example of 'the singer is the band' despite years of rhetoric stating that if that ever happened he'd break it up.
yeah, right. wishful thinking i guess.

Trust me, I know. :-)

can't stop listening to it.

I believe Josh is playing bass.

You can hear Earl play here - http://www.bkny.com/earl/baci.html

If it's like the other recordings I've heard of him, each song will be bumpered by frenzied cheering and shouts of "Earrrrl! EARL!!"

just had a brief chat to josh outside the bar that i'd been drinking at.
seconds later he tried to get into the same bar. bouncer, having no idea who he was, refused to let him in.
josh homme's response: "you think i'm drunk?? i'm not drunk at all. fuck you!" followed up by the middle finger. had some flousy groupie with him, sort of.

i'm curious now about the man behind the myth. anybody had any encounters?

From Rolling Stone, a good bit ago:

Queens of the Stone Age singer Josh Homme has pleaded no contest to two counts of misdemeanor battery stemming from an attack on Dwarves singer Blag Dahlia at a November Dwarves show in Los Angeles.

Homme was placed on summary probation for thirty-six months. He was also ordered to stay 100 yards away from Dahlia and the Dragonfly club (where the incident occurred), to not possess deadly weapons, to perform community service and to enroll in both an anger management program and a sixty-day residential rehab facility. (The records did not say what the rehab was for.) In exchange for Homme's plea, two other charges (battery and assault with a deadly weapon) were dropped.

Homme and Blag are former friends believed to have fallen out over Nick Oliveri, an ex-member of the Dwarves who was hired (and later fired) by QOTSA. The lyrics from "Massacre," off the Dwarves' 2004 CD The Dwarves Must Die, include: "This one goes out to Queens of the Trust Fund/You slept on my floor/And now I'm sleeping through your motherfucking records." Oliveri appears on the track.

Witnesses to the attack say Homme showed up backstage and poured a bottle of beer over Dahlia's head while singing, "Whatcha gonna do?" A shoving match ensued, and Homme struck Dahlia over the head with the bottle. Despite the blow, Dahlia performed as planned. After the show, his wife drove him to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he received stitches. Police were not called at the time, but security removed Homme from the venue. Dahlia (a.k.a. Paul Cafaro) pressed charges on December 29th.

Homme is due back at the Hollywood Courthouse, Division 79, on July 27th to prove that he enrolled in both anger management and rehab.
==============

Take Queens of the Stone Age's Josh Homme. He and Blag had been friends for years; Blag had guested on QOTSA's third album Songs for the Deaf in 2002 and they also shared a mutual bandmate in Nick Oliveri.

But when Josh kicked Nick out of the Queens for taking rock'n'roll behaviour to new heights of insanity, well, Blag had something to say.

But he waited until the release of the latest and greatest Dwarves record, The Dwarves Must Die in 2004, before he made his feelings clear. A song called Massacre contained the line: "This one goes out to Queens of the Trust Fund. You slept on my floor and now I'm sleeping through your mother-f**king album."

When Josh bumped into his old pal a few months later at the Dragonfly in LA, things got ugly. Someone poured beer over the other's head and the pair traded blows before bottles allegedly became involved.

Blag had to be taken to St Mary's Hospital in Hollywood to receive stitches and Josh was later charged with two counts of misdemeanour battery, sentenced to three years' probation and was ordered to enrol in anger-management therapy. He was also told to stay at least 100 yards away from the Dwarves frontman and is banned from carrying deadly weapons.

From the Belfast Telegraph, ca. August 2007

re: Gorge. Sometimes only a rock star can afford to do what everybody else knows needs to be done.

Here's another example.

Fighting's pretty common in bars, last I saw. However, most don't get banged up on it and shunted into anger management class.

Gorge- Everybody knows that when assholes get beat up, they call the cops.

Many assholes get beat up and don't call the cops. And some people who are not assholes get beat up and do and some don't and some who are only semi-assholes...

Now where's that link on the great US pasteurization conspiracy that causes us to have only poor-tasting cheese?

It's called snitching, Gorge.

You might want to look further into both of these cases; you should know there's a lot more to them than an article in Rolling Stone is going to tell you.

So when are you going to reveal the truth about fluoride being put in the water?

Is that you, Blag?

How punk of Blag to diss a man then call the cops when he reacts. (Homme is still a dick tho)

Yeah, but -- there's a lot more to this than a simple diss in a song.

there is not!

touche!

Excerpts from LATimes feature, June 2007:

IF you really want to hear about it, Josh Homme, creative mastermind behind the heavy metal group Queens of the Stone Age, will tell you about his temper -- about the three separate court-ordered sessions of anger management classes he had to take and their effect on his life. "I learned nothing through anger management," Homme said flatly, seated earlier this month in a tequila bottle-strewn North Hollywood rehearsal studio that reeked of stale marijuana.

With a little prodding, Homme (rhymes with "mommy") will admit he is still on probation after pleading no contest to two counts of battery against Blag Dahlia, the lead singer of a punk outfit called the Dwarves. It happened at the Dragonfly club in Hollywood three years ago; an incident Homme regrets not one iota. "I went there to attack and humiliate him," he said. "That's what I did."

Among other dicey talking points the QOTSA lead singer and songwriter does not shy away from: how he arrived at a mental and physical collapse while on tour with Nine Inch Nails in 2005 and his problem with prescription medication -- specifically, how around that time he was taking "enough Vicodin to kill a small child."

But what Homme, 34, who has the imposing physique of a longshoreman, standing nearly 6-foot-7 in his motorcycle boots, really wants to talk about is his new hobby. "Sewing is the best thing!" he exclaimed. "I can feel my heart rate going down when I do it. I forget everything else. It's great when you're on the tour bus."

As for the run-in with Dahlia, a longtime friend of Oliveri's, Homme said: "I wasn't there to hurt. He got stitches, but that's just because of positive friction." ....

============

He refused to be pinned down on the specifics of what caused the attack -- or even mention Dahlia by name, instead calling him "someone who doesn't deserve any press." But Homme outlined some of what led to two counts of misdemeanor battery to which he pleaded no contest, resulting in 60 days of residential rehab, anger management and three years of probation.

"I was there alone (but) all his people were there. I said, 'Does anyone have anything they'd like to say before I get started?' It was totally quiet. So I was like, 'OK, I'll get started,' " Homme said. "Everyone in this world deserves to be slapped -- not too hard -- and I hope they are because it's a great teaching tool."

Dahlia, who has known Homme since the QOTSA frontman was 21, recalled the incident differently. He said Homme became enraged after hearing his 2004 song "Massacre," in which Dahlia sings: "\This one goes out to Queens of the Trust Fund / You slept on my floor / And now I'm sleeping through your ... records\."

"I was seated with my back to him," Dahlia said. "He poured a beer over my head. When I got up, he hit me over the head with a bottle. Then he was hustled out of there and ran down the street."

He added: "He became a horrible person ... somebody that none of us recognized or liked very much. I threw a good-natured but pointed barb his way, and he just couldn't take it."

Buckling down

COUNTERINTUITIVELY, the road to recovery started with more work: Homme produced a second Eagles of Death Metal album...

Homme (rhymes with "mommy")

learn something every day!

Gorge - I remember my first Lexis/Nexis search too.

i got kicked out of a show once and josh homme was outside and joked with me and got me back in the show. the guy is a total dude.

Yes, there must be a lot more behind the fluoride in Homme's water case than you'll find in popular accounts.

the guy is a total dude

OTM

"I went there to attack and humiliate him," he said. "That's what I did."

Awesome.

I know Goss has played with some big and awesome names, but that initial line-up of Syracuse dudes was filled with amazing musicians. They ruled. They probably won't ever get back to together for a reunion concert, but I wish they would just one. Man. The Eyes of Texas...

This pretty much sums up how I feel.

don't care much for qotsa anymore but josh homme interviews are always fun to read.

Gorge - Physical violence isn't always an expression of anger.

i'm curious now about the man behind the myth

Here's a clue:

""Do me one favor, though. Don't throw any shit at me. You throw something at me, I'm not so sick that I can't go down there and beat the fucking shit out of you, you know what I'm saying?! I may have a fucking 102 temperature and been puking for three days, but I'll still butt-fuck you in front of all your friends. [Spots the culprit in the crowd] Hey, you, right there — hey, you, with the fucking hat on! Hey, pussy! Turn around, you fucking pussy with the black hair! Turn the fuck around, you chickenshit fucking f****t! Hey, you — you fucking pussy motherfucker! I will fuck you up! C'mon up here! C'mon up here, you fucking little f****t! You know what?! Get your fucking ass up here! You're so fucking stupid you'll come up here. Lift him up so that I can kick him in the fucking face. [Throws something at the alleged 'shit-thrower'] Miserable fucking cunt. Go back to your mom's house, you 12-year-old dickless fucking turd! And his friends, you wanna throw something too or are you all cool? You're all good? You know this dickless fucking turd has no friends anyway, man. I came here for the rest of you — not for this asshole. I'm never too sick to fight."

Faggot? That's nice.

f****t vs cunt

I didn't realize those were asterisked out. (whoa, is "asterisked" actually a word? Spell check didn't catch it) Yeah, what a total asshole. I can't say I cared for his music much anyway, but I won't be looking into it any further, that's for sure.

yeah, Josh Homme is a great musician, but really an asshole...

I feel so conflicted...but I still have a crush on him! damn

I've heard that he'll butt-fuck you in front of all your friends, if you're into that.

Yeah...he did say that

I'm not into PDA though

Homme's response, posted on Stereogum and elsewhere:

Member of the Peanut Gallery:

Some journalists & citizens on the internet & are wondering: Q? Am I a homophobe because I included a slang for gay in with other "acceptable" curse words during a verbal lashing I gave a young concertgoer, after being hit by his shoe, during a show the other day? A= Nope. My gay family & friends, as well as myself, KNOW I am not a homophobe. For years now I've known gay is not a choice; one's skin color doesn't determine one's intelligence level; & red hair doesn't mean you're someone's stepchild. You see, it's not the words, it's their intent. I never said, nor suggested, that being gay is wrong, but apparently, based on your outrage to my flu-infused rant, you do! By that logic... I also told that young whipper snapper I'd have anal sex with him... how can I possibly reconcile these opposing viewpoints? I called him a pussy too. Does it mean I hate our one worlds' collective vagina? I never have been nor intend to be politically correct. That's your cross to bear. To me, that PC world would suck more shit than the porta-potty truck at Glastonbury. Homophobic? I'm in Queens of the Stone Age for crissake... You say, "So. Your band name doesn't prove anything." Maybe not. But it's a helluv a lot more definitive than the logic of some watchdog... (sorry canine-American, canine-European, canine-African, canine-Australian & canine-Asian) moralist, keeping score from pure perfectionville? If your glass house is squeegeed that clean & you need to do something, do what the great philosopher Bill Hick's once suggested: - forgive me-. Or don't. I'm not asking for either, OK? I think you should let both of your cheeks go loose so the stick will drop out. Either way I expect that you'll soon find another injustice from your chair, then roll to your bullhorn & point it out to the rest of us... Because you're so above it all. Or If you'll allow me to translate a wish of mine into your PC lingo:
Will you please go have, consensual, sex with yourself.
Pretty please with all natural, carbon offset sugar on top.

Sincerely,
Mr. Missundastood
A.K.A. Joshua, Baby Duck, Jho
Head Choreographer & Do Stuff Corporation's pansexual spokes-thing

No holes to be found in that argument.

Josh Homme is the head honcho of several belligerent hard rock bands. If he hadn't called someone who through a shoe at his head during a concert all manner of rude and offensive names, I'd be disappointed.

threw not through

Maybe I've been desensitized or whatever but I find his 'column in the student newspaper' style of rebuttal much more offensive than him calling someone (who by the sound of it was lucky not to get a physical beating) a faggot

Yeah, his reply was very 'student newspaper letters page', and not good for it.

how would you have non-consensual sex with yourself?

your hands want but your dick's not willing

I know that feeling.