It appears, with the rash in popularity of single and hook driven pop music that one type of band is growing scare. The longevity of the experimental rock is seriously threatened by current music trends.
The advent of digital song purchases has limited album sales. Experimental bands such as Queens of the Stone Age are on their way out because of their pursuit to create Album Oriented Rock rather than popular singles.
More and more, rock music acts trend towards the pop end the spectrum cater to a wider market. Bands that fail to do so are more likely to fail, one reason why there have not been many innovative rock bands to emerge over the past decade.
Queens of the Stone Age is one the last remaining rock bands that could be considered experimental. Beginning in 1996, the California band has a difficult time staying in a single genre. Lead singer and Guitarist Josh Homme led Queens of the Stone Age through five studio albums and several tours. Their music is constantly changing from their breakout album, 2002’s “Songs for the Deaf” to their most recent release 2006’s “Era Vulgaris”. Queens of the Stone Age collaborated with such rock greats as the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons. They are not afraid to try various styles ranging from Hard Rock to Psychedelic Rock to Electronica.
Bands like Queens of the Stone Age are a dying breed. While they have produced many marketable singles like “No One Knows,” “Little Sister,” and “3’s and 7’s,” none have been exceedingly successful on the singles charts. “No One Knows” was the band’s lone single to top the US Alternative Rock Charts and despite their radio play on rock radio stations, not a single song ever charted in the US top 50. This is not indicative of poor talent or lack of musical success, rather it is an indication of changing musical tastes.
Queens of the Stone Age was formed on the heels of the Grunge movement. Grunge has gone the way of the dinosaur and pop centric music is the norm on all radio stations. Only a few vestiges of creative rock music remain in the mainstream.
The popularity of digital music has expanded the realm of musical possibilities but at the same time has pigeonholed artists into composing marketable singles. Radio stations only play the most popular songs and as a result, those songs are the only ones that sell at the expense of creative full albums. Bands that fail to produce a clean, marketable single are left behind and artists who would normally be considered “one hit wonders” are successful selling their “hit.”
Queens of the Stone Age makes albums. Each one is a creative, cohesive piece. While each individual song is art, each song is only a small part of the greater piece, the album in totality. They change their sound from album to album and song to song, but each album flows together. Individually, the songs might not be “single” worthy, but they are still representative of the talent that created them. This type of band is quickly disappearing because of diminishing radio play and great sales of singles instead of full albums.A new Queens of the Stone Age Album is due out soon, and hopefully they will continue their musical experiments. They are a remaining vestige to a creative style of music.
Until consumers realize a cohesive album is far and away superior to a single, the numbers of experimental bands will continue to decline.
Sources: Billboard Staff, “Queens of the Stone Age Chart History,” Billboard.com
Chris Kelter “Queens of the Stone Age Review,” The Fade.net
Spin Staff “Casablancas, Reznor Rumored Guests on QOTSA Album,” Spin.com
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