Song: "Needles In The Camel's Eye"
Artist: Queens Of The Stone Age
Album: "Make It Wit Chu" single
Year: 2007
Place Of Origin: Palm Desert, California
Years Active: 1996 - present
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
I read a great explanation of this song on the site www.songmeanings.com so I'll credit the poster "thezpn" and paste what he/she wrote: "The title plays off of the parable that it is harder for a rich man to cross through the gates of heaven than it is for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. The painful image of the needle in the eye of the camel is a witty revenge against this, and as Brian Eno is a meta-rocker, I think here he is poking fun at the limitations of conventional morality and humility in favor of a rock and roll lifestyle. Rockers aren't concerned with the why, and the mysteries of existence, just the by and by of fun and pleasure seeking." Brian Eno, of Roxy Music fame, wrote and recorded this song for his 1974 solo album "Here Come The Warm Jets". For my song of the week, I used a cover version of the song by Queens Of The Stone Age. It is a b-side on the band's 2007 single "Make It Wit Chu".
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
1998 - Queens Of The Stone Age (Loosegroove Records)
2000 - Rated R (Interscope Records)
2002 - Songs For The Deaf (Interscope Records)
2005 - Lullabies To Paralyze (Interscope Records)
2005 - Over The Years And Through The Woods (Interscope Records)
2007 - Era Vulgaris (Interscope Records)
2013 - Like Clockwork (Matador Records)
2017 - Villains (Matador Records)
CURRENT STATUS OF QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE:
Queens Of The Stone Age formed out of the ashes of the band Kyuss. The project is essentially guitarist/vocalist Josh Homme's baby. The band was originally called Gamma Ray but changed to Queens Of The Stone Age to avoid legal action from a German band called Gamma Ray. The band dropped their first full length album in 1998 on Loosegroove Records, which was owned by Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard. It wasn't long before the major labels came calling and in 2000, Queens signed a long deal with Interscope Records which would last until 2007. 2000's "Rated R" was the band's first album to be certified gold, but it would not be their last. In fact, their 2002 album, "Songs For The Deaf", was a pivotal moment for the band. With the help of Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) on drums, Queens released what would be their most successful album, thanks to hit singles "No One Knows" and "Go With The Flow". While this album achieved gold status in the U.S., it went platinum in places like the U.K., Canada and Australia. The band would continue to have a major international following right up to the current date. The 2005 album "Lullabies To Paralyze" debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 charts, cementing Queens Of The Stone Age as headliner material. 2007's "Era Vulgaris" was a dark and heavy album by Queens' standards. It was also the last album the band released through Interscope Records. The band would go on a little bit of a hiatus after this album. Homme formed a supergroup with Dave Grohl and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones called Them Crooked Vultures, who released one album and toured in support of it. After that, Homme got an infection from a botched knee surgery that nearly took his life. Homme would recover and in 2013, Queens dropped "Like Clockwork", the band's first album to hit #1 on the Billboard 200 charts! The band's most recent release was 2017's "Villains" through Matador Records. Queens also put a major tour together to support this album which included their very first time headlining Madison Square Garden in New York, a very proud moment for Homme indeed. I said earlier in this paragraph that Queens Of The Stone Age is Josh Homme's baby and this is true. He is the only constant member from the conception of this band to the present day. Many artists have collaborated with this band, both in the studio and live performances. This list includes Joey Castillo, Chris Goss, Dave Grohl, Brody Dalle, Alain Johannes, Mark Lanegan, Troy Van Leeuwen, Nick Oliveri and many more. While Homme is the main songwriter, he encourages any musicians working with him at the time to bring music and ideas to the table. As for style and sound, Queens has been labeled "stoner rock" by some, a label that Homme hates himself and one that made him write the mocking song "Feel Good Hit Of The Summer" which basically just reels off names of drugs in the lyrics. Homme refers to the band as "robot rock". I just look at them as riff rock. You could tell they're influenced by 70's big riff bands. Their style is pretty unique when you think of what was going on in rock music in the late 90's and 2000's. Queens almost used electronic music grooves in a hard rock band format while other rock bands were trying to go for more melodic driven, big chorus type songs at the time. If Jimmy Page is the riff master, Josh Homme is sort of like the riff master lite. His songs aren't quite as iconic as Zeppelin's but if you like hard charging guitar riffs, then you'd like Queens Of The Stone Age.
TEN QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. No One Knows
2. Little Sister
3. 3's & 7's
4. Make It Wit Chu
5. Go With The Flow
6. The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret
7. If Only
8. The Way You Used To Do
9. I Sat By The Ocean
10. My God Is The Sun
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