6. Queens Of The Stone Age – …Like Clockwork (2013)

If the most productive Queens years were fueled by “nicotine, valium, vicodin, marijuana, ecstasy and alcohol” then, …Like Clockwork’s engine runs on Ambien. As if the six-year gap between albums never existed, the record rejects Era Vulgaris’s frenetic side A in favor of the mellow, romantic tracks on its flip. Homme’s guitar takes a back seat to vocals and keyboards, but …Like Clockwork is at its best when his riffs share prominence with the organ, such as on “The Vampyre Of Time And Memory.” Nick Oliveri and Dave Grohl return to the mix, but never kick things into high gear — which is not a critique, merely an observation that people looking for Songs For The Deaf II will not find it here, as Michael has already described.