After making one of the best albums of the decade with 2002's Songs for the Deaf, each subsequent Queens of the Stone Age was a step backward from its predecessor, reaching a low point with 2007's Era Vulgaris, on which Josh Homme strangely decided to emulate late-period Led Zeppelin. None of these were bad albums by any means, but they (and Homme's awesomely named but so-so side project Them Crooked Vultures) were far from what we all knew QOTSA could accomplish. So by 2013, one had to wonder whether Queens' best days were behind them.
The short answer: they weren't.
...Like Clockwork broke this trend with aplomb. It has all the best attributes of Songs for the Deaf, balancing the strange and the catchy that complement each other well, without going to far over to either side.
Songs like "The Vampyre of Time and Memories" and opener "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" are QOTSA at their unsettling, moody best, while "I Sat by the Ocean" showcases their upbeat side, and it even better for it. Their songs, as usual, are super weird, but while on Era Vulgaris this weirdness came at the expense of good melodies, here it doesn't, and that's a huge improvement.
There are some negatives: at times, you can hear that Homme's voice isn't what it once was, and it's strange to hear Nick Oliveri on the album knowing his history and why he was originally kicked out of the band. But these are minor gripes with a stellar overall package, one of the best albums of the past year (it placed at #2 on my Top Ten albums of 2013.) This is their strongest work in a long time, and quite possibly their second-best album ever. Highly recommended.
Grade: A-
Video - "I Sat by the Ocean"
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