THE RAZZ: MUSIC: Queens Of The Stone Age Lullabies to Paralze #####; ALBUM OF THE WEEK.

Byline: John Dingwall

JOSH HOMME'S monster rockers are back with 16 songs on an exceptional album which has classic written all over it. The Californian band's fourth album was recorded after bassist Nick Oliveri quit the line-up following a bust up with Homme over chemical dependancy. With Mark Lanegan also missing in action, that has left frontman-guitarist Homme in complete control of what turns out to be a claustrophobic collection of songs which conjure up images of pagan rituals and LSD trips in the desert.

But don't let the fact that this is a concept album put you off.

Mark Lanagan appears on one song on the album, an acoustic track called Lullaby. The album opens before QOTSA get spooky with Tangled Up In Plaid and guitar-driven belter Burn The Witch follows. You've Got A Killer Scene There, Man... - which features Shirley Manson and Distillers' Brody Dalle on vocals - is swamp blues. The Lighter in My Head and Little Sister show QOTSA aren't afraid of pop songs.