Lullabies to Paralyze

Untitled

Lullabies to Paralyze is a signature hard rock album by the American band Queens of the Stone Age, the band's first album in 3 years since 2002's Songs for the Deaf. The album title "Lullabies to Paralyze" takes its name from song lyrics on the bonus track from Songs for the Deaf, titled "Mosquito Song". The album was released on March 21, 2005 (see 2005 in music) internationally and a day later in the United States. The album sold 91,000 copies in America during its first week of release and debuted at number 5 on the Billboard chart, eventually selling over 350,000 copies. It is certified Gold in the UK where it has sold over 100,000 copies.

The "deluxe limited edition" of the album includes a bonus track and a bonus DVD containing "a look behind the scenes and special bonus footage". Strangely, music videos were produced for "Everybody Knows That You Are Insane" and "Someone's in the Wolf", although neither song was released as a single. The "Everybody Knows That You Are Insane" video was broadcasted frequently for a number of months on MTV during 2005, while the video for "Someone's in the Wolf" was featured on the bonus DVD of Lullabies to Paralyze.

Background

The album was delayed during 2004 because of some changes to the line-up: bassist Nick Oliveri was fired and on-off vocalist Mark Lanegan went on tour with his own band. Lanegan can nevertheless still be heard singing on several songs of the album, as well as contributing lyrics. Because of this turmoil, there had been rumours that Lanegan had left the band, which Josh Homme eventually clarified in several interviews, was never the case. Nevertheless he encouraged these rumours to draw the attention off the band by giving the press "something to focus on while I was just making the record".

And at the time, I was like, "Fuck, no one's even listening to this. It's too much about other stuff." And it would have been easy to make Songs for the Deaf 2, which is basically all I heard in my own head. But I can't do that. You've got to shake all that shit away.--Josh Homme, Pitchfork interview, April 13, 2007

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews, however slightly lower than its predecessor, the average score being 78 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 31 professional reviews.

Kevin Forest Moreau awarded it 3rd best album of the year 2005, Billboard magazine ranked it 7th best album, Magnet magazine ranked it 9th, and Filter magazine considered it 10th best album of the year 2005.

Lullabies To Paralyze was certified silver in the UK on April 15, 2005 with sales excessing 60,000 copies.

Track listing

All the tracks were written by Joshua Homme, Troy Van Leeuwen and Joey Castillo, except where noted. All the lyrics were written by Homme, except additional lyrics on "Medication", "Tangled Up In Plaid", "Long Slow Goodbye" by Mark Lanegan.

1. "This Lullaby" (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Castillo, Lanegan) – 1:22
2. "Medication" (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Castillo, Lanegan) – 1:54
3. "Everybody Knows That You Are Insane" – 4:14
4. "Tangled Up in Plaid" (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Castillo, Lanegan) – 4:13
5. "Burn the Witch" – 3:35
6. "In My Head" (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Freese, Castillo, Johannes) – 4:01
7. "Little Sister" – 2:54
8. "I Never Came" – 4:48
9. "Someone's in the Wolf" – 7:15
10. "The Blood Is Love" – 6:37
11. "Skin on Skin" – 3:42
12. "Broken Box" – 3:02
13. ""You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..."" – 4:56
14. "Long Slow Goodbye" (Homme, Van Leeuwen, Castillo, Lanegan) – 6:50
    • Includes a "Hidden Finale" which comes up at – 5:16

Bonus tracks

• "Like a Drug" (Homme, Bjork) – 3:15
  • Included on the deluxe edition and the UK and Japanese versions. The song was a new recording, originally on The Desert Sessions Volume 6.
• "Precious and Grace" (Beard, Gibbons, Hill) – 3:23
  • Included on the UK and Japanese versions.
• "Infinity" (new version)" (Homme) – 3:59
  • Included on the Japanese version, older version (4:40) available on the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack.

LP version

The LP release contains a different cover and the bonus tracks placed into the regular album. The vinyl cover is coloured orange and purple, the sides are named Once, You, Were & Lost, after a line from "Someone's in the Wolf".

Side one: Once

1. "Lullaby" – 1:23
2. "Medication" – 1:54
3. "Everybody Knows That You're Insane" – 4:14
4. "Tangled Up in Plaid" – 4:13
5. "Burn the Witch" – 3:35

Side two: You

1. "In My Head" – 4:01
2. "Little Sister" – 2:54
3. "I Never Came" – 4:48
4. "Someone's in the Wolf" – 7:16

Side three: Were

1. "Infinity" (new version, see above) – 3:59
2. "The Blood Is Love" – 6:38
3. "Like a Drug" – 3:18
4. "Skin on Skin" – 3:43

Side four: Lost

1. "Broken Box" – 3:00
2. "Precious and Grace" – 3:24
3. ""You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..."" – 4:58
4. "Long Slow Goodbye" (contains the hidden track) – 6:54

Outtakes

• "The Fun Machine Took a Shit and Died"
• "'Til Tomorrow"
• "I Wanna Make It Wit Chu"

Bonus DVD

1. "The Way Finds You" – 27:20
2. "Someone's in the Wolf" (Castillo, Homme, Van Leeuwen) – 7:24
3. "Josh's Session" (starring Josh Homme and Sara Silverman) – 10:24

Bonus UK CD

Live from Earthlink in Atlanta, GA March 19 2005.

1. "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" – 3:54
2. "Little Sister" – 2:56
3. "In My Head" – 3:56
4. "No One Knows" – 6:48
5. "Song for the Dead" – 6:24
6. "Regular John" – 9:48

Most online retailers list the songs on the bonus CD as coming from the March 19 2005 show in Atlanta, but at least "The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret" and "Regular John" are actually from the show in Washington, DC on March 27, 2005.

The final item on the song listing (located behind the CD in the normal version, or inside the booklet in the deluxe edition), below "Long Slow Goodbye" reads:

"The Fun Machine took a shit and died – Was lost or misplaced. (There is a reward for the return of said tapes)"

During that time, the band assumed that the tapes of that song were either lost or stolen. A live version of this song can be found on the DVD release Over the Years and Through the Woods. Homme: "The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft."

Personnel

As common for Queens of the Stone Age recordings, Lullabies does not feature one single line-up but rather a core group of Homme, Castillo and Van Leeuwen that would also form the tour line-up, as well as other contributors, mostly close friends to the band.

Band lineup

• Josh Homme – vocals, guitar, bass, piano, drums
• Troy Van Leeuwen – guitar, bass, lap steel, piano, keyboards
• Joey Castillo – drums, piano
• Alain Johannes – bass, guitar

Guest appearances

• Mark Lanegan contributed lead vocals on "This Lullaby" and vocals on "Burn the Witch" and "You Got a Killer Scene There Man...". He also contributed lyrics to or co-wrote "Medication", "Tangled Up in Plaid", and "Long Slow Goodbye".
• Chris Goss from Masters of Reality contributed vocals to "You Got a Killer Scene There Man..."
• Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top contributed vocals and guitar parts to "Burn the Witch".
• Dave Catching
• Jack Black (actor/musician) is seen contributing handclaps and stomps for "Burn the Witch" during the bonus DVD.
• Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal contributed a flute part to "Someone's in the Wolf".
• Shirley Manson from Garbage contributed vocals on "You Got a Killer Scene There, Man..."
• Brody Dalle from The Distillers contributed vocals on "You Got a Killer Scene There Man..."
• Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle and The Vandals co-wrote "In My Head".

Charting positions

Album

Year	Chart	Peak position
2005	Billboard Top 200	5

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Peak position
2005	"Little Sister"	US Hot 100	88
2005	"Little Sister"	US Modern Rock	2
2005	"Little Sister"	US Mainstream Rock	13
2005	"Little Sister"	UK Singles Chart	13
2005	"In My Head"	US Modern Rock	32
2005	"In My Head"	UK Singles Chart	44
2005	"Burn the Witch"	US Modern Rock	40

References