5. Queens Of The Stone Age – Lullabies To Paralyze (2005)

Lullabies To Paralyze is one of those rare albums that follows a masterpiece (Songs For The Deaf) and nearly equals it in quality. Think Kid A, or …And Justice For All, and like those albums, Lullabies largely succeeds by expanding on its predecessor’s sound rather than trying to repeat it. For Lullabies, Homme disbanded most of his backing band, including Nick Oliveri and Dave Grohl, by anyone’s estimation one of the best rhythm sections in rock history. On the resulting blank slate, Homme explored in greater detail the late-’60s psychedelic influences that peeked through on Rated R. Lullabies comes wrapped in such soft detail that even the faster and heavier songs — “Little Sister,” “In My Head,” — feel more velvet glove than iron fist. Homme’s songwriting took a step forward as well — album closer “Long Slow Goodbye,” very well might be his his finest stand-alone song.