The Cavern
Rock & Words
THEM CROOKED VULTURES
"You Know The Devil’s In There
Alone In The garden,
Like lumbering giants,
In a shameful parade”
“D”
Main Decade: 00’s
Main Eras:
Alt/Hard Rock (2000-???)
Key Members:
Josh Homme, Guitar and Vocals
John Paul Jones, Bass
Dave Grohl, Drums
Key Songs:
Scumbag Blues, Bandoliers, No One Loves Me & Neither Do I, New Fang, Dead end Friends, Gunman, Spinning in Daffodil, Reptiles.
Them Crooked what??? Pffffffffff! And who are these guys????? Corvan, have you gone mad? How can you put anonymous guys with almost unpronounceable names among the best albums of the decade? What planet are they from? What were you smoking?
No. Believe me. First of all, you've probably already heard them and share my opinion. If not, I assure you this album is worth it. I still can't stop listening to it at least once a week. Everyone I've recommended it to who's listened to it has ended up buying it. It's that simple. And I don't get a commission, haha. Secondly, they're not unknown. Does the name Dave Grohl on drums ring a bell? An impressive Josh Homme on guitar and vocals? And a certain John Paul Jones on bass? I bet you recognized at least two out of three!
Well, yes, this is the very definition of a supergroup, with the expected influences from Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin, where its members come from. And it's one of the few recent instances where a supergroup truly deserves the name, after the doubts left by Velvet Revolver, Audioslave, or Dead Weather, for example, who fell short of the expectations they had created. In most supergroups, pedigree and ego end up overshadowing the band's true ability, but in this case, thankfully, it's an exception. And with the Vultures, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (which are already superlative); they sound better than anything Queens of the Stone Age has done, with all the virtues of Rated R and Songs for the Deaf, and none of Homme's usual flaws and excesses. In fact, I had to revisit QOTSA's entire discography, and I really don't have anything that perfect, even though there are some excellent tracks. Dave Grohl, for his part, also sounds magnificent, powerful, inspired, driving the song forward with his drumsticks, and I'd even venture to say he holds back a bit to let his bandmates shine. If I ever criticized or doubted him because of his role with Nirvana, I completely retract my opinion after seeing this Grohl, who has completely silenced me. And it also sounds better than anything Mr. John Paul Jones was doing, who had kept a lower profile since ’80, apart from the brief reunion at the O2. He was evidently busy not only as a producer and arranger, but also saving some of this amazing catalog of riffs for the right moment.
On the other hand, here John seems to be getting over the slap in the face that both Plant and Page gave him in the '90s by excluding him from No Quarter and its tour, as well as the recent disappointment after Plant's refusal to reunite Zeppelin for a world tour. With this album, Jones seems to be saying: "I don't care about Led Zeppelin, I'm going to be in the best rock band on the planet anyway." He also demonstrates that he was crucial to the Led Zeppelin sound. He was once asked why his later work sounded so much like Zeppelin. I loved his answer: "They never ask Jimmy that. Don't they realize that I was also a quarter of the band? It's not that Led Zeppelin influenced me, I influenced Led Zeppelin." Nothing could be truer, and here, ladies and gentlemen, is the irrefutable proof.
If the Coverdale-Page collaboration in 1993 gave us a glimpse of what Led Zeppelin would have sounded like in the '90s, Them Crooked Vultures is like an updated, amplified continuation with plenty of fresh energy. It's not exactly the Zeppelin sound (just like the Coverdale-Page collaboration isn't), but the influence is noticeable and appreciated.
Little more can be said about this supergroup, as their history and discography are quite short. They surprised the world without much fanfare, massive marketing campaigns, or excessive hype. Their concerts sold out just three days after the album's release, and when the tour started, about two weeks later, people were already singing along to every song.
We just have to keep our fingers crossed. It's understood that this is a side project; Homme's priority is his long-time band, Queens of the Stone Age, and Grohl's is the Foo Fighters. We need to be clear that these are THEIR priorities, especially considering the great album the Foo Fighters released in 2010. Even so, it seems the three of them have taken this band very seriously and are all excited to record their next album as soon as possible. Rumor has it they might release something by the end of 2011, but nothing is official. It's perhaps the album I'm most looking forward to right now.
Given their very short discography, I think it's unfair to give it a C like I did previously. It's undoubtedly a tremendous album, and the Vultures have more than enough potential to become the new Cream and even reach a B. But we shouldn't jump to conclusions. With only one album released, they still have a long way to go, and above all, to prove they're not just a flash in the pan. Or even whether the project will last. Therefore, for now, I'm giving them a D, which is what a band with a perfect 10 album deserves. We can adjust this grade depending on what this supergroup delivers in the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, one of the most pleasant surprises of the late 2000s, living proof that top-quality hard rock is not dead: Them Crooked Vultures.
By Corvan
Jan/27/2011
