queens of the stone age formed in 2004.
when did queens of the stone age form?
2004
queens of the stone age (also known as qotsa) was formed in 1996 by guitarist and vocalist josh homme (formerly of kyuss) under the name gamma ray. the band signed with the independent label loosegroove records and released the "kyuss/queens of the stone age" extended play in 1997. in 1998, the band released its full-length debut, "queens of the stone age". the band subsequently signed with interscope records and released its first album for a major label, "rated r", which became the first queens of the stone age album to chart.
queens of the stone age discography
reviewing the album after queens of the stone age had gained mainstream success with 2000's "rated r" and 2002's "songs for the deaf", stephen thomas erlewine of allmusic gave the debut album four stars out of five, remarking that "hearing queens of the stone age's long out of print debut many years after its initial 1998 release does pack the shock of revelation: josh homme's tightly wound blueprint for qotsa was in place from the very beginning. [...] there is sex and swagger to "queens of the stone age", there's a swing to the rhythms, there's a darkly enveloping carnal menace buttressed by muscle and lust that keeps the album from being an insular stoner headpiece. certainly, there's enough sinewy force to suggest the mighty brawn of "rated r" and "songs for the deaf"; homme retained enough of the desert spaciness of kyuss to give "queens of the stone age" an otherworldly shimmer, a hazy quality he later abandoned for aggressive precision, so this winds up as a unique record in his catalog, a place where you can hear homme's past and future intertwining." critic robert christgau viewed the album negatively, however, rating it a "dud" in his "consumer's guide" column for "the village voice".
queens of the stone age (album)