Top 10 albums of 2017, No 1: Queens of the stone age – Villains

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Here it is people! 2017 is almost out the door and these are our 10 favorite albums of the year:

01. Queens of the stone age – Villains

 

People can be really mean at times. They also sometimes tend to rush to conclusions before they get all the facts. We all knew that already, but Queens of the Stone Age got to understand what it really feels like to be on the receiving end of that kind of criticism the moment they announced that their new album, Villains, would be produced not by someone who has been established as a rock music producer, but by Mark Ronson, an English musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has been known for producing the albums of artists like Bruno Mars, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Lilly Allen, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Nas, Wale, Daniel Merriweather, Duran Duran and Lady Gaga among others.

Especially when the album’s first single, “The way you used to do”, was released, lots of people seemed to go nuts. Even people that I would expect to be more open minded, started posting comments such as “QOTSA have lost it” and ”QOTSA have gone from a fucking awesome band to sell outs who make easy pop-rock songs”. And those are some of the most polite comments I read during that time.

But, as TrollingStone wrote on August 18, “we live in a time of misconception, where information travels so fast that we don’t really have the time to process things. At the same time, lots of people seem to be reluctant to accept change and that’s something that we see every day on things that are far more important than music“.

I really wonder what those people that fired shots at QOTSA before even listening to the whole album have to say now. Because, guess what: Villains is a fucking awesome album. No, actually it’s a FUCKING AWESOME ALBUM. And, yes, this is the best album of 2017 in our opinion and some of the best work that Josh Homme and QOTSA have ever done.

It actually lacks nothing. Catchy riffs and upbeat songs that make you wanna dance and start bouncing (such as “The way you used to do”, or “Head like a haunted house”), beautiful moody songs (such as “Un-reborn again” or “Villains of circumstance”) and an underlying darkness (both musically and lyrically) that makes everything come together to create a really solid album.

Josh Homme and Mark Ronson seem like a perfect match and the fact that Ronson’s contribution is evident without making QOTSA sound like a different band, pretty much establishes him as one of the best music producers of our time.

At the same time, the Queens of the Stone Age are at the top of their game and one can only hope that 2018 brings us more high quality albums such as this…