Released: 2007

Genres: Alternative Rock, Stoner Rock, Hard Rock

The Musiquarium’s Era Vulgaris Review Score: 5/5

Not as accessible as the preceding albums, largely due to its filthy and rusty production, but that very reason is what makes Era Vulgaris a stand out album in the band’s discography. Just look at the cover, there’s ring wear around the record. Era Vulgaris is like tossing away an MP3 player for a Walkman. Like swapping out a CD for a vinyl record. Like going from digital high definition, back to 1970s grindhouse cinema, with lots and lots of film grain.

Turnin’ on the Screw reintroduces an extra mechanical QOTSA, and oozes all kinds of cool. Sick, Sick, Sick is one of the band’s most feral tracks, with subtle backing vocal from Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. I’m Designer is tongue-in-cheek and humorous, with brilliant lyrics such as “… Like diamonds in shit”, “My generation don’t trust no one, it’s hard to blame, not even ourselves”, and “You’ve made me an offer that I can refuse, ’cause either way I get screwed, counterproposal: I go home and jerk off” — it’s one of QOTSA’s funniest tracks.

Into the Hollow sounds like it could have been written during the Lullabies to Paralyze sessions, with its forestal psychedelia. Misfit Love, Battery Acid and Run Pig, Run are nasty, fuzzed-out bangers. 3’s & 7’s is one of the band’s greatest singles, bolstered by an sexy grindhouse-style music video. The other most famous track here is the sensual Make It Wit Chu, which began its life on The Desert Sessions Vol. 9, preceding the album version by several years.

For those who still aren’t convinced that this is a great album, try adding the bonus tracks (Era Vulgaris, Running Joke and The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died) into the tracklist and it certainly elevates the album even higher — those are some of the best tracks the band had written and it’s a shame they were relegated to being rarities unheard of to those outside of the fandom, but that’s also what makes these songs all the more special, I suppose.

Era Vulgaris is dirty, filthy, rusted, rock n roll, and is vastly underrated.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Queens of the Stone Age on Discogs.

Back to the 2007 Album Guide or the Queens of the Stone Age Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nippard