Customer Reviews
Awful - By: M. Bosman, 22 Jul 2008 
As the title of this review says this album is awful. The best song by a long way is Sick, Sick, Sick which I first heard them perform live on the TV & thought, "Well hopefully things will get better". QOTSA are all about the tunes & heavy tunes at that.
This album is missing something & that something is Nick Oliveri. The bass is non-existent. Yuck this is just terrible.
I loved all their previous albums, I love the Desert Sessions, I loved Kyuss. What has gone wrong? I hate this album & all QOTSA have become: bloated crap.
Don't buy this! Buy any of their other albums! If you have all their other albums still don't buy it! Spend your money on some Nebula or Fu Manchu or put itin the bank.
To repeat myself: awful!!
(3.5 stars) The fairest review, all things considered - By: Karen L. Hutchison, 05 Jun 2008 
Perplexing, bizarre, unique & striking- but be it for better or worse? This is the conundrum that is Era Vulgaris by QOTSA.
1)Turnin' on the screw- A song that seems to typify the rest of the album. At times it hints at Queens best work(the lyrics & the churning riff about halfway through) but it also seems bland & rather irritating & doesnt end on the big, loud note we've come to expect from Qotsa album openers. 7/10
2)Sick Sick Sick- A song made up of so many parts. The grinding one-note riff, the bloody awesome riff that follows that(seriously OMG stuff), the weak chorus & the exciting climax. Could be made into a classic but is quite good as it stands. 8/10
3)I'm Designer- It starts off awkward & stays that way for some time until the superb chorus kicks in. Lyrics are smart,witty & wonderful to listen to throughout which saves the song from being below average. 7/10
4)Into the Hollow- LTP-esque song that works really quite well & succeeds due to its sheer simplicity. 8/10
5)Misfit Love- This is what the rest of the album SHOULD have sounded like. A journey of a song that is great until it reaches the last minute where it becomes quite breathtaking. superb. 9/10
6)Battery Acid- A confused, awkard and(honestly) annoying song that lurches forward rather than flow. The airy "mini-chorus" saves it from being totally abject. 6/10
7)MAke it wit chu- THe thing that was great about the Desert Sessions version is that it had very little produciton, giveing it a raw feel to it that embodied the song's content(sex). Here it sounds superificial, but listenable nonetheless. 7/10
8)3s & 7s-Great riffs that hark back to the days of self-titled. Takes various twists & turns during the 3 & a half minutes, but is always enjoyable & sounds fresh on every listen. 9/10
9)Suture up your future- Excellent. Simple but very effective. Homme's voice is haunting & sounds better here than anywhere else on the album.
9/10
10)Riverin the Road-Bland, goes nowhere & truly frustrating after two excellent tracks. 5/10
11)Run Pig Run- Quite what the song is about im not sure but it powers its way into your head with various hypnotic guitar work. A curious piece but works as it is one of the few true rock tracks on the album.8/10
Overall, this album has a few highs & lows but sadly its the lows that you tend to remember rather than the highs. Could have been great
Josh Homme Is Always Amazing - By: J. J. Arch, 29 Apr 2008 
at first i thought this just isnt qotsa, but suddenly i found my self singing 'River In A Road' & now i'm loving it! people says this albums pants, but its QOTSA & what ever josh homme does is AMAZING, so give it a good chance.
Queens come up trumps (again) on fifth album - By: M. J. Pucci, 04 Apr 2008 Very little of what Josh Homme has done with Queens of the Stone Age since their inception a decade ago has been obvious. The songs, the lyrics - even the line-up changes - have all been shroudedin mystery; suggestive & darkly intriguing rather than in-your-face or showy. Era Vulgaris is no different. In fact, the only things that remain obvious are that Homme is clearly unconcerned with other people's expectations... & that he is a damn fine guitarist. Many of the riffs here - notably on 'Sick, Sick, Sick & 'Turnin On The Screw' - are among the best he's ever written, & the overall sound is that of garage rock being twisted into weird new shapes - raw & edgy, but with a sinister, slightly cynical vibe (the unapologetically amorous 'Make It Wit Chu' notwithstanding).
Era Vulgaris is definitely a grower. Aside from the two singles, the aforementioned 'Sick, Sick Sick' & '3's & 7's', there's nothing here remotely as catchy as either 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret' from 2000's Rated R, or 'No-one Knows' from their 2002 breakthrough album Songs for the Deaf, but what we get instead is a superbly idiosyncratic rock record with an abundance of songs that will simply demand to be re-visited. Check out the sublime 'Into The Hollow' or the epic 'River In The Road' for proof. Era Vulgaris is not an easily accessible album (at least, initially) & - as has been proved by the mixed reviews already posted here - it will leave many listeners baffled & even disappointed. However, those with an ear for something different, a touch of patience & a willingness to look for colourin the shadows will be greatly rewarded.
Matt Pucci
Out on they're own - By: Trev, 24 Feb 2008 You never know what your going to get with this band but you know it's going to be good & they're totally into it. First play leaves you a bit shocked but after four plays I was singing along to it. Magical time changes & unheard guitar sounds abound. King Crimson meets Jack Bruce meets metal. Glorious & groundbreaking!
