9. Queens Of The Stone Age – Era Vulgaris (2007)

While Kyuss records more or less follow a single-minded trajectory, Homme’s work with the Queens was always more eclectic, and Queens records, more often than not, take abrupt left turns away from their immediate predecessors — not always for the better. Era Vulgaris may be the most varied and energetic Queens record, its barely restrained and squawking guitars rebel hard against the subdued psychedelia of Lullabies To Paralyze. The album is an ugly chimera with no flow — its first side rockets out the gate with a set of sassy chargers, some quite strong, and then stumbles. Homme marries Motorhead and Grinderman on “Sick, Sick, Sick.” Later, “I’m Designer,” rails against the vapid consumer culture that other acts celebrate(d) — pre-financial crash. But when Era misfires — the unforgivably boring pairing of “Misfit Love” and “Battery Acid” — it does so with whimpers, not bangs. The best cuts are on the more mellow second half. Of particular importance, “Make It Wit ‘Chu” is all soft keyboard hooks and lounge-lizard lust — it sounds nothing like the remainder of the album, and it’s notably better than its neighbors, too. No wonder it’s actually a re-recording of an earlier duet with PJ Harvey from one of the Desert Sessions tapes.